My Heart Clamours Poem by Shlomo ibn Gabirol

My heart craves to praise Thee,
But I am unable.
Would my understanding
Were as spacious as Solomon's.
Without it my wisdom
As yet ill suffices
For expounding Thy wonders
And Thy deeds of beneficence
Wrought for me and all mankind.
Without Thee all's hopeless,
And where is the rock
Sustaining, suspending
The weight of the world?
I am as one orphaned;
Nay, on Thee I am cast.
What then can I do
But look to Thee, wait on Thee,
In whose hand is the spirit
Of all that is living,
In whose hand is the breath
Of all the creation?


Translated by Israel Zangwill