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Selected Religious Poems of Solomon ibn Gabirol, tr. by Israel Zangwill, [1923], at sacred-texts.com
Who shall know the secret of Thy operations?
For Thou hast provided the body with the means to do Thy work,
And Thou hast given it eyes to see Thy signs
And ears to hear of Thy tremendous deeds,
And thought to understand the fringe of Thy secrets,
And a mouth to declare Thy praise,
And a tongue to proclaim Thy might to all corners,
Even as I to-day, "Thy servant, the son of Thy handmaid",
Am declaring according to the feebleness of my tongue.
A shadow of a shade of Thy sublimity, p. 107
For these are but a fraction of Thy ways.
How mighty then must be the sum of them,
"For they are life to those who find them."
By them, all who hear of them may recognize Thee,
Even if they cannot see the face of Thy splendour.
For whoso hath not heard of Thy might,
How can he recognize Thy Godhead,
And how can Thy truth enter his heart,
And how can he fix his thoughts on Thy service?
Therefore hath Thy servant found the heart
To make mention before his God
Of a shade of a shadow of the sum of His praises.
Peradventure thereby less shall be exacted of his iniquity
"For wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his Lord if not with these heads?"