A Book of Jewish Thoughts

שַׁחַר אֲבַקֶּשְׁךָ at the Dawn I Seek Thee

Refuge, Rock sublime;

Set my prayer before Thee in the morning,

And my prayer at eventime.

I before Thy greatness

Stand and am afraid:

All my secret thoughts Thine eye beholdeth

Deep within my bosom laid.

And, withal, what is it

Heart and tongue can do?

What is this my strength, and what is even

This, the spirit in me, too?

But, indeed, man’s singing

May seem good to Thee;

So I praise Thee, singing, while there dwelleth

Yet the breath of God in me.

SOLOMON IBN GABIROL, 1050.
(Trans. Nina Salaman.)