Utility of Explanations

An ornate drop cap initial B (Բ) begins the paragraph.

However, it is incumbent upon us in this order of praises to confess no small blame for our own sloth, having arrived late to receive these worthy gifts and for bringing a suspicion of ingratitude toward them through our lack of discernment. For although this volume has been accessible to all from ancient times until our own, and the author is celebrated, yet no care was shown by the ancients, and by only a few of the later ones, to bring the obscurity contained within it to light with worthy clarification. Because of this, those who pray remain untasting of the intoxication of its meanings; they pray with the spirit, but with little understanding. They attest that this man is a treasury of precious stones, but they remain blind to the shining light of his face.

In other nations, we see many ancient and modern commentators established for a single cryptic volume, striving one against another in a noble rivalry of emulation to clarify it. And what was left behind, omitted, or concealed by the ancients, the later ones hasten to fulfill, expand, and bring to light, so that the volume is entirely illuminated. The author is honored and his labors are celebrated; the commentators are praised as equal in merit; the readers proceed as if on a path without stumbling. There was a need for an even greater effort in this Narekian volume referring to the Book of Lamentations by Gregory of Narek for clarification, in which we see the veil of obscurity spread wide over every chapter, stealing the vision of its meanings even from the sharp-sighted, to say nothing of the dim-sighted.

But now, even if the ancients did not bequeath us an early composition of commentary, perhaps hindered by lack of leisure or other reasons, yet some among the later ones strove to reveal them. And they were found worthy of praise through their willingness, as if they were volunteers in fulfilling the debt owed by the ancestors, for the payment of even a small debt is commendable. And truly, they would have been worthy of even greater praise if, along with their willingness, the results of their labors had emerged through accurate investigation and authentic clarification. Yet, having been found wanting in these matters, they left for those who followed the cause of diligent work: to undertake a new investigation and provide sufficient clarification, even if not the most perfect—which is among the desired, but not the attained, in human compositions.

But here, before we embark upon the volume itself,