The Love of the Sabbath

Shalem Shabazī

ca. 1679/80

The love of the Sabbath    
“Remember and Keep”    
Preparing my way    
For Intellect and Soul,

To greet the bride,    
Give joy to the tribes    
In mercy draw    
And say to my soul,     

My thoughts, my mind    
The spirit spurns    
The spirit ascends,    
And gazes in Eden

My lover is standing    
Fearsome, exalted,    
Bear witness, my soul,    
That the Lord is my portion,

The jewel of the soul    
On the Sabbath and festivals,   
The body is saved    
gets no sorrow

My love makes ready    
Starting with many    
An additional soul    
Bringing joy and delight

From man’s creation    
The seal of creation,    
Mineral, vegetable,    
Animals and man—

Blessing outpouring    
Do not, friend, take lightly    
The body, so weakened    
Treat it to wine, meat,

The soul first came    
But then longs and yearns    
Among the faithful,    
With whom the Lord

Here ends my poem.    
A poem joining   
And with it, I greet    
Residing in Sana‘a,    
is the pith of my praise.
provides the rule,
for bridegroom and bride,
my celestial companions.

come, my friend.
sheltering in your shade.
your favor over me.
“Rejoice and be glad.”

are with the Sabbath ever.
corporeality.
while the body is sleeping,
on paradise supernal.

amid the myrtles,
lofty, and lone.
by night and by day
my God and my king.

is knowledge of mysteries.
it yearns for paradise.
from humiliation,
from the Left Side.

the three Sabbath feasts.
evening delights.
arrives to give thanks,
to my weakened body.

on the sixth day,
chief of all creatures—
and all things that are planted,
ruler of all.

abounds on this day.
the day’s sanctity.
all through the week—
and all the best food.

to reside in matter,
to reach the intelligences,
the perfect folk
of splendor is pleased.

It is my gift.
intellect with form,
the assembly’s great elders,
my homeland so dear.
 

Translated by

Raymond P. 
Scheindlin

.

 

Credits

Shalem Shabazi, “The Love of the Sabbath” (poem, Taiz, Yemen, ca. 1679/80) [Hebrew]. Published as: “Poems by R. Shalom Shabazi (Hebrew),” in Pirke shirah = Pirkei shirah: From the Hidden Treasures of Jewish Poetry, ed. Yosef Tobi, vol. 2 (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University; Jerusalem: Misgav Yerushalayim, 1999): 123–124.

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

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Creator Bio

Shalem Shabazī

17th Century

Very little is known about the life of Shalem (Sālim) ben Joseph, “al-Shabazī,” the most celebrated Yemenite poet, and one of the most acclaimed premodern Jewish poets. According to legend, he wandered Yemen in poverty and became famed as a saint and miracle worker. His tomb in Taiz was a shrine visited by Jews and Muslims alike. His poems, written in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Arabic, focus largely on religious themes, although a few concern secular topics and have scientific themes. Shabazī’s poetry was heavily influenced by the Mawza Exile of 1679; he expressed the suffering and yearning of his generation, drawing faith and hope from the glorious past of the Jews in their own land. Shabazī’s poems exhibit the influence of pre-Lurianic kabbalah and mysticism, and many are dedicated to special occasions or festivals. He also composed ethical poetry. Around 550 of Shabazi’s poems have survived. His poems account for about half of the Yemenite diwan and some have been recorded by modern singers.

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