Creator Bio
Sa‘adia Longo
b. ca. 1520
Sa‘adia Longo was probably born in Istanbul. He served as a cantor in the Castilian congregation of Salonika. As he testifies in his own writings, Longo engaged in writing poetry from a young age. A collection of his eulogies and poems, Seder zemanim (Order of Times), was published in 1594. Hundreds of his poems and letters remain in manuscript.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
Primary Source
Awake, my heart, from your slumber!
A poem that I, Sa‘adia Longo, wrote to an important and wealthy man from Nicopolis, who came here to Salonika to marry a woman. I was not able to participate in his celebration because I was…
Primary Source
A fountain surges from my verse’s house
A fountain surges from my verse’s house.
Its flowing waters quench the thirst of men—
A fountain from the rock of perfect rhyme,
With waters cold to please the yearning man—
A flow unending…
Primary Source
I sinned, so Time has weighed me down with chains
I sinned, so Time has weighed me down with chains;
therefore I can’t attend you in your joy.
But though my chariots—my feet—are slow,
Do not refuse the wish of your anointed (Psalms 132:10).
…