Selected Poems (Engelse vertaling)

106 JEHUDAH HALEVI

71

THOUGH I SIT IN DARKNESS

O silent Dove,¹ pour out thy whispered prayer,
Ps. 120,5. Stricken amid the tents of Meshekh;
And lift up thy soul unto God—
Thy banner, thy chariot and thy horseman—
Who kindleth the light of thy sun:
isa. 45,7. Who formeth light and createth darkness.

To the Whole He called with His word,
And it arose in a moment, at His bidding,
To show unto all the strength of His glory
In the world which, no longer void, He had
formed,

What time, from the east, unto His light
Ex. 10,21. Tie called and moved the darkness.

And the host of His heavens heard
The word: "Let there be Light"; and it

was known
That there is a Rock by whom are cleft

¹  See heading of Ps. 56.