My soul is thirsting for the living God

Abraham Ibn Ezra

Mid-12th Century

About This Entry

This reshut (introduction) for the prayer that begins “Nishmat kol hay” (“May the soul of every living being”) on Sabbath mornings elaborates on the theme of that prayer: the soul’s praise of God. Reflecting here on God as the creator of the soul and moving through several different subjects, including the soul’s propensity to sin, the poet concludes with a request for redemption. Each stanza ends with the Hebrew word hay (“alive,” “living,” “live”). Except for the closing stanza, each of the last lines derives from biblical verse; the final line contains the opening words to Nishmat. Abraham signed his name in the acrostic.

My soul is thirsting for the living God.
My heart, my flesh sing to the living God.
God, Who is One, created me,
And said, “As I live,
No man shall gaze upon Me
And remain alive.”
He made all things with wisdom,
Sagacity and counsel.
He is altogether hidden
From the sight of all alive.
 
His glory is above all. 
Every mouth proclaims His glory. 
Blessed is He in Whose hand 
Is the soul of all that lives.
He set Jacob’s seed apart
To teach them His commandments,
Which a person should
Observe that he may live.
How can one who is mere dust
Claim that he is sinless?
Truly, in Your sight, no one
Is righteous among the living.
The impulses of the heart
Are like an adder’s venom.
How, then, can the flesh
return again and live?
If sinners have the will,
They may repent their ways,
Before they take the place
Assigned to all who live.
For everything, I thank You.
All mouths proclaim Your unity,
You Whose hand is open
To satisfy all who live.
Remember Your ancient love,
Restore the sleeping folk,
And bring about the day
When Jesse’s son will live.
See how the concubine
Says to the true wife,
“Your son is the dead one;
It is my son who lives.”
Down to the ground I bow,
And spread my hands toward You,
As now I open my mouth to recite
“The breath of all that lives.”
Translated by Raymond P. Scheindlin.
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Credits

Abraham Ibn Ezra, “Tsame’a Nafshi [My soul is thirsting for the living God],” trans. Raymond P. Scheindlin, from Debra Band, Kabbalat Shabbat: The Grand Unification (Potomac, Md.: Honeybee in the Garden, LLC, 2016), 222–23. Used with permission of the publisher.

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

Engage with this Source

This reshut (introduction) for the prayer that begins “Nishmat kol hay” (“May the soul of every living being”) on Sabbath mornings elaborates on the theme of that prayer: the soul’s praise of God. Reflecting here on God as the creator of the soul and moving through several different subjects, including the soul’s propensity to sin, the poet concludes with a request for redemption. Each stanza ends with the Hebrew word hay (“alive,” “living,” “live”). Except for the closing stanza, each of the last lines derives from biblical verse; the final line contains the opening words to Nishmat. Abraham signed his name in the acrostic.

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Related Guide

Early Medieval Liturgical Poetry (Piyyut)

7th to 12th Century

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