The night when the fair maiden
The night when the fair maiden revealed the likeness of her form to me,
the warmth of her cheeks, the veil of her hair,
golden like a topaz, covering
a brow of smoothest crystal—
She was like the sun making red in her rising
the clouds of dawn with the flame of her light.
Slightly adapted from the translation of Nina Salaman.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.
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Jerusalem! Have you no greeting?
Jerusalem! Have you no greeting
for your captive hearts, your last remaining flocks,
who send you messages of love?
Here are greetings for you from west and east,
from north and south, from near and…
Rejoice, O young man
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,and gather the fruit of your joy,you and the wife of your youth who comes to your house.Precious blessings of the only God shall come upon your head together,and…
So pressed by longing for the living God
So pressed by longing for the living God,
to greet the seat of my people’s kings,
I never stopped to kiss my wife,
my children, friends, or kin.
I never weep for the orchard I planted,
the garden I…
What folly my homeland has committed
Lament on the death of his mother. [Son:] What folly my homeland has committed, for it has put away the glory of my lady!It did not know that it was taking all its lovely things, when it took what I…
Hurry to the lovers’ camp
Hurry to the lovers’ camp,
Dispersed by Time, a ruin now;
Once the haunt of love’s gazelles,
Wolves’ and lions’ lair today.
From far away I hear Gazelle,
From Edom’s keep and Arab’s cell,
Mourning…
My heart’s desire
My heart’s desire and my eyes’ delight: the hart beside me and a cup in my right hand!
Many denounce me for loving, but I pay no heed. Come to me, fawn, and I shall vanquish them. Time will consume…
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Jerusalem! Have you no greeting?
Jerusalem! Have you no greeting
for your captive hearts, your last remaining flocks,
who send you messages of love?
Here are greetings for you from west and east,
from north and south, from near and…
Rejoice, O young man
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,and gather the fruit of your joy,you and the wife of your youth who comes to your house.Precious blessings of the only God shall come upon your head together,and…
So pressed by longing for the living God
So pressed by longing for the living God,
to greet the seat of my people’s kings,
I never stopped to kiss my wife,
my children, friends, or kin.
I never weep for the orchard I planted,
the garden I…
What folly my homeland has committed
Lament on the death of his mother. [Son:] What folly my homeland has committed, for it has put away the glory of my lady!It did not know that it was taking all its lovely things, when it took what I…
Hurry to the lovers’ camp
Hurry to the lovers’ camp,
Dispersed by Time, a ruin now;
Once the haunt of love’s gazelles,
Wolves’ and lions’ lair today.
From far away I hear Gazelle,
From Edom’s keep and Arab’s cell,
Mourning…
My heart’s desire
My heart’s desire and my eyes’ delight: the hart beside me and a cup in my right hand!
Many denounce me for loving, but I pay no heed. Come to me, fawn, and I shall vanquish them. Time will consume…