O mighty and powerful one

Se‘adya Ga’on

First Half of the 10th Century

O my soul, bless the Lord.
O Lord, my God, You are very great.
You are clothed in glor y and majesty. (Psalms 104:1)
O mighty and powerful one,
Bless, glorify, and give praise forever to the mighty and powerful One, the high and exalted, abiding forever.
O created one, whose days have an end andappointed times,
Bless the Creator and Shaper of all, Who has no end and Whose years have no number.
O great lady, mistress of the whole body, whom it can neither control nor defy,
Bless the Master Who rules without partner, Who is free to give motion or cessation, to join or to sunder.
O you who wield power over all men’s acts and through whom they have reason,
Bless the One Who bestrides the heights of the earth and the circle of the heavens, through
   Whose word they were established.
O you who fll the whole body, who keep it from falling apart,
Bless the One Who flls the heavens and the earth, which could never contain Him were they ever s o m a n y.
O you who see all but cannot be seen,
Bless and bow down to the Preeminent One,
Who sees all, but can neither be seen norlooked upon.
O you who sustain every limb with its due fat and food,
Bless Him Who sustains the souls of all living creatures, supplying nourishment in proper measure.
O my living one, who bear and carry the entire bodily mass,
Bless Him Who lives forever, Who bears all things, the high fortress and support.
O you who are pure of all pollution and clean without washing,
Bless the Pure One, Who brooks neither falseness nor calumny.
O you who are unique, who have no peer among all the limbs,
Bless the Sole and Unique One, Who has no second or peer.
O you who are shut in, weary, tired and exhausted with vexation,
Bless The Mighty One Who restores your strength without tiring or exhaustion.
Bless, and never fall silent or give yourself respite,
Him Who fghts your enemies, rescues you from the pursuer, and saves you from sorrow.
O you who are smitten with grievous illnesses, who cry out because of your festering wound,
Bless Him Who provides you with healing and heals your wounds when you have reached the gates of death.
O you who stray after your desires, who hunger for bread and thirst for water,
Bless Him Who leads you to restful waters, flls you and sates you from the downpour of water.
Bless evermore, and give no sleep to your eyes, Him Who protects and guards you when you are foolish, for He is your lord.
O you who act perversely and treacherously, who heap evil deeds on top of your sins,
Bless Him Who pardons your iniquities and bears away all your guilt.
O you who are fearful, who groans when evils and troubles befall you,
Bless Him Who redeems you from them all and brings you out of close darkness into a spacious place.
O you who cry out in anxiety, not knowing what the day will bear for you,
Bless Him Who foresees what is to come, Who knows the signs and changes them to good for you.
O you who are vexed, who lament your iniquities, for they are so many that they have fooded over your head,
Bless Him Who gathers them on the tenth day to cast them into the depths, so that they approach you no longer.
O you who are always running and rushing, who are pressed all your days to seek a livelihood,
Bless Him Who bestowed you, and to Whom you will return, for with Him is the source of life.
O you who are subject to a promissory note, whose accounts are many during your short days
Bless your Judge; perhaps He will show you grace and not exhaust His judgments upon you.
O you who were constituted from nothing, who return to your sheath as though you never existed,
Bless Him who made you, Who will neither depart, nor end, nor pass away
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Translated by Raymond P. Scheindlin.

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

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This popular medieval piyyut survives in dozens of copies. Se‘adya drew on a passage in the Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 10a, which considers the fve times that the phrase “O my soul” appears in the Bible as referring to fve parallels between God and the soul. Just as God nourishes the world, for example, the soul nourishes the body. Se‘adya plays with this analogy, refecting on the soul’s immateriality and on its particular duty to praise God. The popularity of this poem can be seen in Baḥya Ibn Paqūda’s decision to develop this theme in his own piyyut (see his “Bless the Lord, O my soul”).

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Creator Bio

Se‘adya Ga’on

882–942

Se‘adya ben Joseph al-Fayyūmī, from the town of Dilāṣ in the Fayyūm region of Egypt, was one of the most significant figures in the early medieval world, reshaping rabbinic thought and literary culture according to the norms of the medieval Islamicate intellectual world in which he lived. Se‘adya played a decisive role in communal events and numerous intellectual fields. He polemicized against Karaites; composed early and influential works in Judeo-Arabic, of biblical exegesis, theology, linguistics, and law; composed a prayer book; and wrote liturgical poetry. He also translated much of the Hebrew Bible into Judeo-Arabic. Se‘adya began his literary career in Egypt but, around the year 900, went to study in the Palestinian academy in Tiberias. In 902, while still young, he composed the first Hebrew dictionary, the Egron, revising and expanding it until 930, when it had more than a thousand entries. At some point before 921, he came to Baghdad and participated in the calendar controversy that shook the Jewish world in 921 and 922. In 928, he was chosen to head the Sura academy by the exilarch David ben Zakkai. Only two years later, however, they began a conflict that went on for six or seven years, each of them deposing the other and appointing a replacement, until they finally reconciled.

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