Be thou as a brother, strengthening his brother's heart in all cases, as it is written: 'And to his brethren he said, be of good courage' – so was he to me. He was as a friend who amuses his friend when meeting him, thus would he be amused and take pleasure when I would come to him; even when he was ill and lying in bed, on his deathbed, when hearing the sound of my footstep at the threshold of his house he would take heart and be strengthened, and would sit up in bed and speak with me to dispel his sorrow, and eat and drink, and would be very glad of spirit, as his sons are well aware and as is, in particular, his wife who upholds the house.
Therefore do I mourn you, my teacher and master, I grieve for you, father, I grieve for you, brother, who are like my soul; I grieve, my friend. Who is there left for me, through whom my grief to dispel, my comfort lies in the branches you have grown, saplings that resemble their roots, the pleasing Naaman in particular, beloved sapling called the light of time, 'with fair branches, and with a shadowing mantle' as is the cedar of Lebanon, well-read and well-bred.