I am in dread, facing the maker of heaven

Isaac Ibn Qapron

2nd Half of the 10th Century

I am in dread, facing the maker of heaven.
I have no response—my lips are dumb.
I am young and lame, but may I see Your kindness,
[as if I were] comely as an old man, blameless and upright.
I look forward to Your kindness, act mightily with my heart,
and no longer say, “I am merely young in d a y s .”
I arise, and awaken [the community], with the permission of old and young,
O Yah, I open my mouth widely in supplication—
may You bring me mercy!
When I call out to You, listen, for the wretched places his fate
in Your hands, O Yah, rock of eternity.
O Shining One, from Your lair, do not hide Your vision from me.
  and avenge me, with Your right hand, O
God, from attackers.
They have laid Your sanctum waste, and dragged me around,
and placed traps and snares at my feet.
Our glorious [Temple] has been befouled, and our heart is broken,
  for we have no father; we are like orphans.
We have descended into shame, and been consumed by fre,
as they hack at Your Temple with axes and hammers.
We have been dispersed to distant islands, and despised,
  a byword among nations, scorned among peoples.
They have plotted and assembled, and plowed over my back,
and muttered over me, by night and by day.
Restore Your joy for me, and heed my cry,
O King, enthroned upon a seat of mercy!1
Translated by Gabriel Wasserman.

Notes

[This last line serves as a bridge to the passage in the penitential services that begins “O King, enthroned upon a seat of mercy” and is recited after every poem that is used in the ser v ice.—Tran s.]

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

Engage with this Source

Isaac Ibn Qapron’s selihah, a penitential poem, would have been recited around the time of Yom Kippur. It laments the fact that the Jews are in exile and beseeches God to restore their former glory. This text is the sole surviving poem from Ibn Qapron, who, as a student of Menahem Ibn Sarviq, rejected the use of Arabic meter in Hebrew poetry. This poem thus contains lines of a fxed number of syllables, ignoring the Arabic distinction between long and short syllables. Ibn Qapron writes this text in the first-person singular, giving the reader the impression that the words are his own and thus deviating from the practice of earlier liturgical poets, who spoke in the voice of the congregation as a whole.

Read more

Creator Bio

Isaac Ibn Qapron

Ibn Qapron, 10th Century

Active in Córdoba in the second half of the tenth century, Isaac Ibn Qapron was a disciple of Menaḥem Ibn Sarūq. He denounced the use of Arabic metrics in Hebrew poetry. Instead, he proposed the use of syllabic meter for the Hebrew language, a technique he uses in the one liturgical poem of his that survives. Also extant is a grammatical work he coauthored with Isaac Ibn Gikatilla and Judah Ibn Da’ud.

You may also like

Azharot

His Holy One (Isaiah 49:7) warned His priests from becoming drunk—they may not draw near His seat; they may not approach. A sojourner and a hired servant may not eat consecrated foods. The verse…
View Source

I said to the stones

I said to the stones distinctly, not in a whisper: “Give me of your strength, so that I may feel again; for griefs have consumed me and made me lean. Is my strength the strength of stones? Is my fesh…
View Source
Photo of a stone capital featuring a relief of an eagle.
Tooltip info icon

Then he opened

Then he opened the hoards of hidden treasures which he and kings of old had stored away. He brought out precious vessels and gold Darics and presented them to his chieftains, to each according to his…
View Source

I call out upon Your name

I call upon Your name; I awake to hold on to You. With the wee-hour vigil I arrive early, I wake the dawn. I approach the ark to speak choice words. I formulate my thoughts precisely, moving the…
View Source