You are One
by
Solomon Ibn Gabirol

You are One,
prior to all computation
    and ground to all figuration.

You are One,
and your oneness's mystery amazes the wise,
    who've never known what is was.

You are One,
        and in your oneness
know neither loss nor addition,
neither lack nor magnification.

You are One,
but not as one that's counted or formed,
for neither enhancement nor change pertains to you,

    neither description nor name.

You are One,
and my speech can't establish your boundary or line,
therefore I said I would guard my ways,

    so as not to sin with my tongue.

And you are One,
sublime and exalted above all that might fall -

    that One might fall is impossible ...

Quoted after: Cole, Peter (Trans.) (2001). Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol. Princeton, Oxford: Princeton University Press. P.141

Last updated: 2003/10/09

Home