Selected Poems (Engelse vertaling)

37 JEHUDAH HALEVI

IN THE PATHS OF THE ARK
20

Turn aside with me to Zoan, to the'Red Sea,

to Mount Horeb.
I will go round unto Shiloh to the heap of

the ruined shrine,
And will get me along in the paths of

the Ark of the Covenant,
Until I taste the dust of its hiding place

that is more sweet than honey,
And I see the habitation of that beauteous

one who hath forgotten her nest,
Since the doves be driven away, and ravens¹abide there.

Because of this my soul is sorely sick and
grieved,

For through my sin the morn is turned to

evening time.
Verily, my heart fainteth and longeth for

the mount of myrrh,
Even as the soul desireth to find its inmost
home.

¹  ערב—Raven or Arab.