යාඤා පැය! යාඤා පැය!
මා සිත් සනසන පැය
ඉන් මා ඕනෑකම් හිම්ට
හැකි වේය පවසන්ට
දුක් පීඩා පැම්ණී විට
ආත්මේ ලැබිය පිහිට
සාතන්ගෙන්ද මා මිදීය
අහෝ නුඹ යාඤා පැය!
යාඤා පැය! යාඤා පැය!
නැතිකරයි මා සිත් බිය
මා කන්නලව හිමි වෙත
ගෙනයයි නුඹ නියත
එතුම මා කැඳවයි දැන්
යනමෙන් එබැවින් සැණෙන්
බලා භිඳිම් පෙම්වත් පැය
පමා නොවෙන් යාඤා පැය!
යාඤා පැය! යාඤා පැය!
නුඹේ සැනසුම් ඕනෑය
පිස්ගාවෙන් දැක මා නිවෙස්
ඉගිල යන තෙක් එදෙස්
හැරලා මේ කය එකල්
යන්නෙම් ලබනට කිරුල්
අහශි හඬ නඟම්ය
"ඉතින් නිමයි යාඤා පැය!"
යාඤා පැය! යාඤා පැය! - ජේ. ඇස් ද සිල්වා ඉංග්‍රීසි ගීතිකාව සිංහළට පරිවර්ථන කරන ලදි.
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
The joys I feel, the bliss I share,
Of those whose anxious spirits burn
With strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
Where God my Savior shows His face,
And gladly take my station there,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face,
Believe His Word and trust His grace,
I’ll cast on Him my every care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
May I thy consolation share,
Till, from Mount Pisgah’s lofty height,
I view my home and take my flight:
This robe of flesh I’ll drop and rise
To seize the everlasting prize;
And shout, while passing through the air,
"Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer!"
Words: William Walford, 1845. Appeared in The New York Observer, September 13, 1845, accompanied by the following, written by Thomas Salmon:
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
The joys I feel, the bliss I share,
Of those whose anxious spirits burn
With strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
Where God my Savior shows His face,
And gladly take my station there,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face,
Believe His Word and trust His grace,
I’ll cast on Him my every care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
May I thy consolation share,
Till, from Mount Pisgah’s lofty height,
I view my home and take my flight:
This robe of flesh I’ll drop and rise
To seize the everlasting prize;
And shout, while passing through the air,
"Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer!"