A Hymn Of Praise To Ra
When He Riseth In The Eastern Part Of Heaven.
Those who are in his following rejoice, and the Osiris, the scribe Ani, whose
word is truth, saith:- Hail, thou Disk, thou lord of rays, who risest on the
horizon day by day. Shine thou with thy beams of light upon the face of the
Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, for he singeth hymns of praise to thee at dawn,
and he maketh thee to sit at eventide [with words of adoration]. May the soul of
the Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, come forth with thee into heaven! May he
set out with thee in the Matet Boat [in the morning], may he come into port in
the Sektet Boat [in the evening], and may he cleave his path among the stars of
heaven which never rest.
The Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, being at peace [with his god], maketh
adoration to his Lord, the Lord of Eternity, and saith:-
Homage to thee, O Heru-khuti, who art the god Khepera, the self-created. When
thou risest on the horizon and sheddest thy beams of light upon the Lands of the
South and of the North, thou art beautiful, yea beautiful, and all the gods
rejoice when they behold thee, the king of heaven. The goddess, the Lady of the
Hour, is stablished upon thy head, her Uraei of the South and of the North are
upon thy brow, and she taketh up her place before thee. The god Thoth is
stablished in the bows of thy boat to destroy utterly all thy foes. Those who
dwell in the Tuat come forth to meet thee, and they bow to the earth in homage
as they come towards thee, to look upon thy beautiful Form. And I, Ani, have
come into thy presence, so that I may be with thee, and may behold thy Disk
every day. Let me not be kept captive [by the tomb], and let me not be turned
back [on my way]. Let the members of my body be made new again when I
contemplate thy beauties, even as are the members of all thy favoured ones,
because I am one of those who worshipped thee upon earth. Let me arrive in the
Land of Eternity, let me enter into the Land of Everlastingness. This,
O my Lord, behold thou shalt ordain for me.
SAITH:- Homage to thee, O thou who risest on thy horizon in the form of Ra,
who restest upon Law, [which can neither be changed nor altered]. Thou passest
over the sky, and every face, watcheth thee and thy course, for thou thyself art
hidden from their gaze. Thou dost show thyself [to them] at dawn and at eventide
each day. The Sektet Boat, wherein Thy Majesty dwelleth, setteth forth on its
journey with vigour. Thy beams [fall] upon all faces, thy light with its
manifold colours is incomprehensible [to man], and thy brilliant rays cannot be
reported. The Lands of the Gods see thee, they could write [concerning thee];
the Deserts of Punt could count thee. Thy creation is hidden. It is one by the
opening of thy mouth. Thy form is the head of Nu. May he (Ani) advance, even as
thou dost advance, without cessation, even as Thy Majesty [ceaseth not to
advance] even for a moment. With great strides thou dost in one little moment
pass over limitless distances which would need millions and hundreds of
thousands of years [for a man to pass over; this] thou doest, and then thou
sinkest to rest. Thou bringest to an end the hours of the night, even as thou
stridest over them. Thou bringest them to an end by thine own ordinance, and
dawn cometh on the earth. Thou settest thyself before thy handiwork in the form
of Ra, and thou rollest up on the horizon....... Thou sendest forth light when
thy form raiseth itself up, thou ordainest the increase of thy splendours. Thou
mouldest thy limbs as thou advancest, thou bringest them forth, thou who wast
never brought forth, in the form of Ra, who rolleth up into the height of
heaven. Grant thou that I may reach the heaven of eternity, and the region where
thy favoured ones dwell. May I unite with those holy and perfect Spirit-souls of
Khert-Neter. May I come forth with them to behold thy beauties as thou rollest
on at eventide, as thou journeyest to thy mother Nut (the Night-sky), and dost
place thyself at the right hand (in the West). My two hands are raised to thee
in praise and thanksgiving when thou settest in life. Behold, thou art the
Creator of Eternity, who art adored when thou settest in Nu. I have set thee in
my heart, without wavering, O thou who art more divine than the gods.
The Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, saith:- Praise and thanksgiving be unto
thee, O thou who rollest on like unto gold, thou Illuminer of the Two Lands on
the day of thy birth. Thy mother brought thee forth on her hand, and thou didst
light up with splendour the circle which is travelled over by the Disk. O Great
Light who rollest across Nu, thou dost raise up the generations of men from the
deep source of thy waters, and dost make to keep festivals all districts and
cities, and all habitations. Thou protectest [them] with thy beauties. Thy KA
riseth up with the celestial food hu and tchefau.
O thou mightily victorious one, thou Power of Powers, who makest strong thy
throne against the sinful ones, whose risings on thy throne in the Sektet Boat
are mighty, whose strength is widespread in the Atett Boat, make thou the Osiris
Ani to be glorious by virtue of his word, which is truth, in Khert-Neter. Grant
thou that he may be in Amentet free from evil, and let [his] offences be [set]
behind thee. Grant thou that he may [live there] a devoted slave of the
Spirit-souls. Let him mingle among the Heart-souls who live in Ta-tchesert (the
Holy Land). Let him travel about in the Sekhet-Aaru (the Elysian Fields),
conformably to [thy] decree with joy of heart- him the Osiris Ani, whose word is
truth.
[And the god maketh answer]:--Thou shalt come forth into heaven, thou shalt sail
over the sky, and thou shalt hold loving intercourse with the Star-gods. Praises
shall be made to thee in the Boat. Thy name shall be proclaimed in the Atett
Boat. Thou shalt look upon Ra within his shrine. Thou shalt make the Disk to set
[with prayer] every day. Thou shalt see the Ant Fish in his transformations in
the depths of the waters of turquoise. Thou shalt see the Abtu Fish in his time.
It shall be that the Evil One shall fall when he deviseth a plan to destroy
thee, and the joints of his neck and back shall be hacked asunder. Ra saileth
with a fair wind, and the Sektet Boat progresseth and cometh into port. The
mariners of Ra rejoice, and the heart of the Lady of the Hour is glad, for the
enemy of her Lord hath been cast to the ground. Thou shalt behold Horus standing
on the pilot's place in the Boat, and Thoth and Maat shall stand one on each
side of him. All the gods shall rejoice when they behold Ra coming in peace to
make the hearts of the Spirit-souls to live, and the Osiris Ani, whose word is
truth, the assessor of the holy offerings of the Lords of Thebes, shall be with
them!
|