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Selected Religious Poems of Solomon ibn Gabirol, tr. by Israel Zangwill, [1923], at sacred-texts.com


p. 82

50

THE ROYAL CROWN

May this my prayer aid mankind
The path of right and worth to find;
  The living God, His wondrous ways,
  Herein inspire my song of praise.
Nor is the theme at undue length set down,
Of all my hymns behold
"The Royal Crown."

I.

Wonderful are thy works, as my soul overwhelmingly knoweth.
Thine, O Lord, are the greatness and the might,
the beauty, the triumph, and the splendour.
Thine, O Lord, is the Kingdom, and Thou art exalted as head over all.
Thine are all riches and honour: Thine the creatures of the heights and depths.
They bear witness that they perish, while Thou endurest.
Thine is the might in whose mystery our thoughts can find no stay, so far art Thou beyond us.
In Thee is the veiled retreat of power, the secret and the foundation. p. 83
Thine is the name concealed from the sages,
The force that sustaineth the world on naught,
And that can bring to light every hidden thing.
Thine is the loving-kindness that ruleth over all Thy creatures,
And the good treasured up for those who fear Thee.
Thine are the mysteries that transcend understanding and thought.
Thine is the life over which extinction holdeth no sway,
And Thy throne is exalted above every sovereignty,
And Thy habitation hidden in the shrouded height.
Thine is the existence from the shadow of
whose light every being was created,
Of which we say, in His shadow we live.
Thine are the two worlds between which Thou hast set a boundary,
The first for deeds and the second for reward.
Thine is the reward which Thou for the righteous hast stored up and hidden,
Yea, Thou sawest it was goodly and didst hide it.


Next: II.