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<<Previous Poem | View All Poems by Rabbi Abraham Abulafia | Next Poem >>

And YHVH spoke to me when I saw His name

by Rabbi Abraham Abulafia
(1240 - 1295?) Timeline

English version by
Peter Cole

Original Language
Hebrew

Jewish
13th Century

And YHVH spoke to me when I saw His name
spelled out and merged with the blood in my heart,
separating blood from ink and ink from blood:
and YHVH said to me: Bohold,
blood is the name of your soul, and ink the name of your spirit:
your father and mother are vessels for my name and a sign.
And then I fathomed the tremendous difference between
my spirit and soul, and a great joy came through me.
For I knew my soul was dwelling in the redness as blood,
and my spirit was dwelling in the blackness as ink.
And there raged a war in my heart between
the blood and the ink: the blood from the wind
and the ink from dust, and the black ink
over the blood was victorious --
as the Sabbath subdues all days of the week.

And so my heart rested within me -- and I offer
praise to the Lord, to the Name in my heart forever.

 

 

-- from The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain, 950-1492, Edited by Peter Cole

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Bliss
  Heart
  Night
  Smile
  Womb


Recommended Books


A Big Jewish Book: Poems and Other Visions of the Jews from Tribal Times to the Present, Edited by Jerome Rothenberg
The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain, 950-1492, Edited by Peter Cole
Meditation and Kabbalah, by Aryeh Kaplan

 

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.