Again, by the divine power, I write the proverbs, to wit, the story of Aḥiḳar, sage and secretary of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and Nineveh.
1. In the twentieth year of Sennacherib, son of Sarḥadum, king of Assyria and Nineveh, I, Aḥiḳar, was the king’s secretary.
2. And it had been said to me when I was a boy, that no son will be born to thee: and the wealth that I had acquired was too vast to tell. Sixty wives had I wedded and sixty castles did I build them: and I had no son.
3. Thereupon I, Aḥiḳar, built me a great altar, all of wood; and I kindled fire upon it, and laid good meat thereon, and thus I spake:
4. ‘O Lord, my God; when I shall die and leave no son, what will men say of me?
they will say that this, then, is Aḥiḳar the just and good and God-serving: he is dead, and has left no son to bury him, no! nor a daughter: and his possessions, as if he were accursed, no man inherits.
5. But I ask of Thee, O God, that I may have a male child; so that when I shall die, he may cast dust on my eyes:
6. and this voice was heard by me, ‘O Aḥiḳar, wise scribe, all that thou hast asked of me I have given thee; but as to thy having left thee childless, let it suffice thee: perplex not thyself: but behold! Nadan thy sister’s son: he shall be a son unto thee: so that with the growth of his stature thou shalt be able to teach him everything.’
Story of Ahikar — Harris, Lewis and Conybeare (1913)
The Story of Ahikar — Syriac Version A — Page 724
Story of Ahikar — Harris, Lewis and Conybeare (1913)