Kingly Crown: The Wonders of Creation

Solomon Ibn Gabirol

Keter malkhut: X-XIV; XXIII-XXIV; XXIX-XXX

Mid-11th Century

The Wonders of Creation

X

Who can utter Thy mighty deeds when Thou madest the globe of the earth divided in two, one part dry land and one part water?
And Thou didst encompass the water with the sphere of air, the air that turns and turns and rests on its turnings.
And Thou didst encompass the air with the sphere of fire.
But the foundation of…
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Ibn Gabirol’s forty-stanza (or canto) poetic devotional prayer “Kingly Crown” (Keter malkhut) begins with praise for God and His attributes. The second part (excerpted here) is a hymn to God as creator, describing the created world from the earth to the heavens before turning to the soul. The work has neither fixed rhyme scheme nor meter but is written in elevated Hebrew.

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