My son, join your soul

Baḥya Ibn Paqūda

ca. 1080

My son, join your soul to your Rock, when you declare the oneness of the one God, who fashioned you.
Investigate, consider, and contemplate his wonders, and make wisdom and the righteous Law be your belt.
Fear God, and keep his testimonials and statutes, forever, and your footsteps will not fail.
Let your heart be confident and sure, rely on the Rock, and He will be your helper.
With a pure heart, fulfill His statutes, for His sake, and do not flatter any humans in your generation.
See that the end of a creature from the dust will be back in dust, and humble yourself, for you are living in sand and a body made of dust.
May your intelligence fight against your folly, and may you repent from your evil thoughts and inclination.
God’s ways, in justice, righteousness, and uprightness—wisely consider them in your thoughts, deep inside you.
Remove youth and the prime of life from your heart, and do not yearn for the delights of your early years.
Then you will see God’s face, as you desire, and your soul will join to your Rock.

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 ten-line Hebrew mnemonic poem was composed by Baḥya Ibn Paqūda and placed at the end of his philosophical and ethical treatise, The Book of Direction to the Duties of the Heart. Each line refers to the subject of one of the ten chapters of the book; for example, the first chapter is titled “On the Unity of God,” and the first line of the poem expresses the idea that, by declaring the Unity of God, one can unite one’s soul to the divine. Baḥya writes explicitly at the end of the treatise that the poem is meant to be memorized as an easy way to remember the main themes of the work. The first Hebrew letters of each line make up an acrostic of Baḥya’s name.

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Related Guide

Intellectual Culture in the Early Medieval World

6th to 12th Century

Creator Bio

Baḥya Ibn Paqūda

ca. 1050–ca. 1120

Surprisingly little is known about the life of Baḥya ben Joseph Ibn Paqūda, an influential pietist and poet. Perhaps a native of Saragossa, Baḥya flourished in the second half of the eleventh century during the height of Andalusi Jewry. His popular and influential ethical work, The Book of Direction to the Duties of the Heart, has much in common with Sufism and other important streams in Islamic thought. Baḥya was also a poet; his liturgical poems reflect his theological and ideological positions.

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