This brief, mystical poem is by Yehuda Halevi (ca. 1075-1141 CE). Halievi is one of the most revered of the medieval Jewish poets, and his life encapsulates many of the historical events and currents of his time. He was born in the Christian north of the Iberian peninsula, but migrated south to Muslim Cordoba, where he lived for a time under the North African Almoravids, earning his living as a court poet and as a physician. Like many Jews, he migrated to Castile to avoid persecution, but when the tolerant Alfonso VI died, Halevi had to leave because of anti-Jewish riots. Near the end of his life he longed to go to Jerusalem and pray in its holy places, but it was unsafe to do so as it was held at that time by Crusaders. He journeyed as far as Egypt, and the last that is known of him is a poem written aboard a ship just outside of Alexandria.

True Life

I run to the source of the one true life,
turning my back to all that is empty and vain.
My only hope is to see the Lord, my king—
apart from Him I fear and worship nothing.

If only I might see Him—at least in a dream—
I’d sleep forever, so the dream would never end.
If I could see his face in my heart’s chamber,
I’d never need to look outside again.

Tr. Peter Cole