And YHVH spoke to me when I saw His name
spelled out and merged with the blood in my heart,
and YHVH said to me: Behold,
blood is the name of your soul, and ink the name of your spirit:
your father and mother are vessels for my name and a sign.
And then I fathomed the tremendous difference between
my spirit and soul, and a great joy came through me.
For I knew my soul was dwelling in the redness as blood,
and my spirit was dwelling in the blackness as ink.
And there raged a war in my heart between
the blood and the ink: the blood from the wind
and the ink from dust, and the black ink
over the blood was victorious —
as the Sabbath subdues all days of the week.
And so my heart rested within me — and I offer
praise to the Lord, to the Name in my heart forever.
Rabbi Abraham Abulafia [Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia] (1240 - c.1295) Spain
Translated by Peter Cole
Source: Poetry Chaikhana
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