The “WHO?” of lbn Abitur of Cordoba - Yosef lbn Abitur

who
ANCHORED the high skies
who
SET OFF the wheels for those who shine
who'd
BE a god as great as El
could tell El’s greatness
who
COMES to praise El Elohim
with silence
who
DID speak & speech became
the day he pitched his skies
who
EMITTED utterance & utterance remained
the day he set his earths
who
FIXED the ocean's depth
the day he placed his lines
who
GLUED earth‘s clods together
the day he laid his valleys' floors
who
HELD its measurements in place
whose plumb line touched the earth
who’s
IN a king’s robe
fancy garments
who
JUDGES righteousness
on country roads
who’s
KNOWN as strong Yah many—powered
all who stand up bow to him
who
LETS out secrets drop hy drop
then names them speaking
who
MAKES speech bring to life without his word
hut him
who
NARROWED the sea breakers
into sea deeps
who
OPENED 300 horses’ hooves
between each wave
who
PRONOUNCED words
that broke a channel for the current
who
QUESTlONED the rain coming
two drops at a time to wash it out
who
ROUNDED up the winds in his cupped palm
trapped the waters in his robe
who
SIGNALS ninety-nine
birthshrieks for the mountain goat
who
TOLD the eagle she could grasp her children
in between her wings ascending
who
URGED the dragon
to bite the goat’s womb
who
VISIONS to every thunderclap
a roadway of its own
who
BROKE a channel for the current
a road for his bolts of lightning
who
YIELDED to every man
the number of hairs for his head
who
YET made each hair unique
to keep from jamming together
who
ORNAMENTED what man constructs
like the beauty of firstborn Adam
who
SAID that this should be like that
same form same speech same voice
who
EXPRESSES commands to his face
& pays him when he obeys
whose
in the five great beasts of this world
FIVE years were instilled
who
ORDAINED a fear of mosquitoes
beneath the elephant’s thick hide
who
FORCED the fear of thc squirmer
on ancient Leviathan
who
CALLED out loud to show them
that he rules over them all
who
OPPOSES his ways
& can soften his heart to peace
who
REVERSES oppressed & oppressor
so oppressor can't break loose
who
DREW the sudden fear of the locust
over the lion’s mind
who
OVERCOMES the scorpion
with fear of the squirming spider
who
BROUGHT the fear of the swallow
to the eagle up in the sky
who
ANCHORED the ends of the earth

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Yosef lbn Abitur (mid-tenth century-c. 1012), Spain
Translated by Jerome Rothenberg & Harris Lenowitz
Source: Poems for the Millennium, Volume Four: The University of California Book of North African Literature, Pierre Joris and Habib Tengour, University of California Press, 2013