Beautiful is the charming girl

Joseph Ibn Tsadik

First Half of the 12th Century

Beautiful is the charming girl and concealed from the eye.
All you that are of wise mind, know whence and how and why?
She descended into the material house [the body], when matter and form came together,
and she was concealed there, not desiring this, but trapped.
She was captured, but not by hand; sold, but not by silver,
to work the land—the body, and to give it splendor and dignity.
He [God] decreed to distinguish it from the beasts, by giving it a discerning mind.
Your wondrous mysteries, O Rock, are so hard to understand!
The mightiness of Your creation, which combined gold [soul] and stone [matter] into humanity,
is the pinnacle of Your actions, so why is chaf mixed with pure grain?
Your powerful hand combined my body with soul.
It established my physique, embroidered out of earth.
The soul begs for freedom from what she has been forced to serve,
the day when she will rest—and the labor will not burden her.
For the foundation of the soul of a living person will not be extinguished on the day of parting.
She is older than the body, before it existed, she did,
but in accordance with the uprightness of her deeds, she will fnd [divine] favor or rage.
O God, Your glory is honey, and Your word is manna and nectar.
Your mighty deeds are a sign and indication of Your greatness.
Show kindness to Your congregation assembled in Your house of prayer.
The souls of all earth-dwellers are overwhelmed by You, like a maidservant,
with an unending call: “Praise the Creator of all souls!”
Translated by Gabriel Wasserman.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.

Engage with this Source

This poem is a muwashshah, called a shir ezor (girdle poem) in Hebrew. It is a complicated form, developed in al-Andalus (Muslim Spain). In this poem, Ibn Tsadik describes the connection between the body and the soul, according to his Neoplatonic beliefs. The “lady” here is the soul, unseen and forced into a human body. In keeping with Neoplatonism, the soul desires release from the mortal world and to return to God.

Read more

Related Guide

Early Medieval Liturgical Poetry (Piyyut)

7th to 12th Century

Creator Bio

Joseph Ibn Tsadik

1075–1149

A native of al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), Joseph ben Jacob Ibn Tsadik was a poet, a philosopher, and a judge who served on the same Jewish court as Maymūn ben Joseph, the father of Moses Maimonides (1138–1204), in Córdoba. He exchanged poetry with certain leading Jewish Andalusi poets of his day, and about fifteen of his liturgical poems survive. His best-known work is his Microcosm (‘Olam katan), a Neoplatonic and philosophical treatise inspired by kalām (rationalist theology) that was written in Judeo-Arabic. In it, Ibn Tsadik dealt with central issues of Arabic philosophy, such as epistemology, the nature of the soul, and reward and punishment. Maimonides wrote highly of Ibn Tsadik but also commented that he had not seen this work.

You may also like

Merciful are You

Merciful are You, and we look forward to Your mercy. When we come to beseech You, we speak words of supplication. For the sake of the one [Abraham] who approached…
View Source

Happy is the man

Happy is the man who fears the voice calling out,    while he still breathes: “What is a man worth? He’ll go and not return,    when he returns to the ground.” His spirit is lofty in him, his heart…
View Source

The stars above and the mortals below

The stars above and the mortals below All come from one Father whose name is a blessing forever. “God awesome in splendor; all greatness is His due!” An army proclaims it making haste on its rounds…
View Source