Hymn to the Sabbath

Solomon ha-Levi Alkabetz

16th Century

Come, my beloved, to meet the bride,
 we’ll greet the Sabbath’s arrival.
Observe and remember in a single utterance
 the singular Lord instructed us;
 the Lord is One, and One is His Name,
  for glory, for praise and renown.
   Come, my beloved, to meet the bride,
    we’ll greet the Sabbath’s arrival.
Come, we’ll go toward the Sabbath now,
 for she is the source of all blessing;
 pouring forth from the fountain of time,
  creation’s end, though first in conception.
   Come, my beloved, to meet the bride,
    we’ll greet the Sabbath’s arrival.
Royal city, shrine of our King,
 arise and depart from your ruin;
 you’ve dwelled in the valley of weeping too long:
  but He will show you compassion.
   Come, my beloved, to meet the bride,
    we’ll greet the Sabbath’s arrival.
Shake yourself from the dust and arise,
 put on, my people, the robes of your splendor,
 through Jesse’s son, of Bethlehem:
  “Draw near to my soul and redeem her.”
   Come, my beloved, to meet the bride,
    we’ll greet the Sabbath’s arrival.
Awake, arise, your light has come,
 Rise up now, awake and shine:
 awake, arise, and utter a song,
  through you has His glory been seen.
   Come, my beloved, to meet the bride,
    we’ll greet the Sabbath’s arrival.
You will not be abashed or shamed,
 why, then, be abject and mourn?
 Through you our afflicted will find protection,
  and the city be built on its ruins.
   Come, my beloved, to meet the bride,
    we’ll greet the Sabbath’s arrival.
Those who sought your ruin will be ruined
 and they who’d destroy you be driven away,
 in you the Lord will find delight,
  as a bridegroom delights in his bride.
   Come, my beloved, to meet the bride,
    we’ll greet the Sabbath’s arrival.
Right and left, you’ll spread abroad—
 in awe and worship, revering the Lord;
 through Judah’s son, the line of Peretz,
  we will exult in joy.
   Come, my beloved, to meet the bride,
    we’ll greet the Sabbath’s arrival.
Come in peace—O crown to her husband—
 in joyfulness come, in gladness, and song;
 among the faithful of this treasured people,
  come, my bride, my bride, come:
   My bride, my Sabbath Queen.
    Come, my beloved, to meet the bride,
     we’ll greet the Sabbath’s arrival.

 

Translated by

Peter 
Cole

.

Credits

Solomon ha-Levi Alkabetz, “Hymn to the Sabbath,” from The Poetry of Kabbalah, ed. and trans. Peter Cole, co-ed. Aminadav Dykman (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2012), pp. 133–35. Used with permission of Yale University Press.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

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Creator Bio

Solomon ha-Levi Alkabetz

1505–1584

Solomon ha-Levi Alkabetz was a kabbalist and mystical poet. In 1529, Alkabetz embarked on a journey to the land of Israel, during which he visited Adrianople, met Joseph Karo in Nikopolis—where the two apparently initiated the custom of studying throughout the night of Shavuot—and preached in various locations. He finally completed his journey in 1535, settling in Safed. Alkabetz was a prolific author, composing works about kabbalah and the Bible, although many manuscripts of his works were stolen after his death and none of his purely kabbalistic texts have survived. According to legend, Alkabetz meditated at the graves of saints in order to understand the secrets of the Zohar. He is also said to have established the custom of going out into the fields to greet the Sabbath.

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