Book of Prayers

We are inclined to rise up against the lack of knowledge, which has absolutely no communion with wisdom; yet, we do not abandon the truth-loving nature that accompanies a nature-loving character. For this reason, having surrendered ourselves to the task of providing these renewed interpretations, we have striven to maintain an order so that in every instance, the authenticity of the meanings may be sought, and along with authenticity, clarity, and in both, a respect for brevity.

In order to discover the authentic meanings of the book, the authenticity of the bnagir original text is the first thing to be sought. For this reason, we take as our base for interpretation the original book according to the copy that was printed in Constantinople, which was corrected from many errors, and also our own. However, we have also re-examined the handwritten copies that are in our possession, especially the one that is superior, written in our year 304 AD 855 in the Armenian era, and subsequently compared it with another copy belonging to a certain Vardapet doctor of the church Mkhitar. The short memoir added to that copy gives us reason to place great confidence in it. From this copy, we note in many places, in the order of our interpretations, the differences that exist in the printed edition, marking them as being in the "better copy" or in "your copy."

Having secured ourselves in this way regarding the original text, we did not agree to pass over any place requiring explanation according to our own will or through idle speech. Whether they are poetic, theological, philosophical, or historical, we have taken care to confirm everything from the very sources. At the same time, we have compared the passages in the original text with those that precede and follow them, for it often happens that a meaning may be true in itself, yet not fit within the context of the woven text. But if, at any point, a word or a statement did not become clearly understood after careful examination, we indicated what was probable or proceeded with questioning faces, deeming it better to appear righteous than to appear as an expert.

We have attempted to arrange the flow of the interpretations in a clear manner, as is the custom of commentators, so that the beauty of the meaning may itself shine forth, lacking the need for flowery language. In every place where the meaning is circular, we mark it briefly and bring the interpretation over it to complete the sense, leaving the reader to greet the original text with complete eyes, so that the meanings may not be thought of as incomplete or disparate. For the ease of those who are not well-versed in the language of the books, in some places within the order of interpretations, and even more so at the end, we have explained the secular and foreign words according to the meanings they carry in the book.

But since our intention was to maintain a moderate brevity in our plan, we have carefully taken leave of anything that causes unnecessary length. Therefore...