Abstract
The Second Kontakion of Theophany: The Forerunner and Adam
Archimandrite Parthenios Allati
The author of this article provides an Arabic translated prose of the second kontakion of the Theophany attributed to Saint Romanos the Melodist, who was born in Homs in the late fifth century and lived until the middle of the sixth century. It also offers poetic metering for this praising liturgical hymn. This metering takes into account, as much as possible, the meaning of the original text. This hymn consists of a proemium and eighteen stanzas ending with the same refrain. The author placed the Arabic-translated prose text to the reader’s right and the metered poetic text to the left along the prose text. The concept behind this metering was an attempt to transfer this tradition from its most suitable original forms to its most suitable forms in Arabic. The proemium of the kontakion with its first stanza are the ones used in the liturgy of the Eastern Church to the present time on the Feast of the Synaxis of Saint John the Forerunner on January 7.
Keywords: The Forerunner, Adam, Arabic translation, kontakion, Theophany, Saint Romanos the Melodist, poetic metering.
