Royal Crown

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Royal Crown (1899)
by Solomon ibn Gabirol, translated by Israel Abrahams

Translation of an excerpt from the original, found in Israel Abrahams, Chapters on Jewish Literature, 1899.

41565Royal CrownIsrael AbrahamsSolomon ibn Gabirol
My God, I know that those who plead
To you for grace and mercy need
All their good works should go before,
And wait for them at heaven's high door.
But I have no good deeds to bring,
No righteousness for offering,
No service for my Lord and King.


Yet do not hide your face from me,
Nor cast me out far from you;
But when you command my life to cease,
O, may you lead me forth in peace
To the world to come, to dwell
Among your pious ones, who tell
Your inexhaustible glories.


There let my portion be with those
Who arose in eternal life;
There to purify my heart right,
In your light to see the light.
Raise me from the deepest depths to share
Heaven's endless joys of praise and prayer,
That I may evermore declare:

Though you were angered, Lord, I will give thanks to you,
For now your wrath is past, and you do comfort me.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.


The longest-living author of this work died in 1925, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 98 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

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