ʿAmr Hnanisho'

[Siʿrt #85 on Hnanishoʿ the Monk]

This man was of the Ahl al-Hîra, named ʿAmr b. ʿAmr. He served king al-Nuʿman b. al-Mundhîr. Khusro recognised him too for his bravery and prowess in battle. On pondering worldly things and their transitory nature; he decided to renounce them. Under command of al-Nuʿman he gave away his wealth, freed his slaves and was made a monk. He followed Elias the monk who'd built the convent of Mosul; and George who'd been a Magian and [would be] martyred by Khusru at [Gabriel] the Sinjari's instigation. Having passed the greater part of his life in luxury, Hnanishoʿ inhabited an inclement cave. He aided Elias in building his convent. He was blessed with great intellect and surpassed all his contemporaries in the art of [theological] controversy. He was present at the controversy over Gabriel the Sinjari and the [Had-Qnoma] heretics, whose mouth he shut. Mar Babay in one of his books affirms that in his time nobody could match Hnanishoʿ in orthodoxy of doctrine and in asceticism in life. He wrote a book in which he refuted Isaiah Tahlaya; he reduced also to silence Meskena ʿArbaya who had been at some point malpana of Balad's school. ...

After having completed these works, and when Gabriel was dead, he went to the country of Darabad, where he converted many people; he built churches for the new faithful; monks gathered around him, he built them a monastery. One night, brigands attacked the convent; for his prayer they were stricken with blindness and remained thus all night, not knowing where to go. When it was day, their eyes opened again, and they recognized their way. The Saint went out to approach them, he gave them something to eat and drink; and they pledged never to approach the convent again. He lived twenty years after the construction of the monastery. After his death, he was buried in the temple of the convent; it is called the convent of ʿAmr-Hannûn: because the Saint had given hnâna to the wife of one of the chiefs of the region and she begat a son.