יְדִיד נֶֽפֶשׁ אָב הָרַחֲמָן, מְשׁוֹךְ עַבְדְּךְ אֶל־רְצוֹנֶֽךָ, יָרוּץ עַבְדְּךָ כְּמוֹ אַיָּל, יִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה אֶל מוּל הֲדָרֶֽךָ, יֶעֱרַב לוֹ יְדִידוּתֶֽיךָ, מִנֹּֽפֶת צוּף וְכׇל־טָֽעַם׃ |
י You who love my soul
Compassion’s gentle source, Take my disposition and shape it to Your will. Like a darting deer I will flee to You. Before Your glorious Presence Humbly I do bow. Let Your sweet love Delight me with its thrill Because no other dainty Will my hunger still. |
הָדוּר נָאֶה זִיו הָעוֹלָם, נַפְשִׁי חוֹלַת אַהֲבָתֶֽךָ, אָנָּא אֵל־נָא רְפָא נָא לָהּ, בְּהַרְאוֹת לָהּ נֹֽעַם זִיוֶֽךָ, אָז תִּתְחַזֵּק וְתִתְרַפֵּא, וְהָֽיְתָה לָּהּ שִׂמְחַת עוֹלָם׃ |
ה How splendid is Your light
Which worlds do reflect! My soul is worn from craving For Your love’s delight. Please, good God, do heal her[1] cf. Numbers 12:13. And show to her Your face, So my soul can see You And bathe in Your grace. There she will find strength And healing in this sight. Her joy will be complete then Eternal her delight. |
וָתִיק יֶהֱמוּ רַחֲמֶֽיךָ, וְחוּסָה נָּא עַל בֵּן אֲהוּבֶֽךָ, כִּי־זֶה כַּמָּה נִכְסוֹף נִכְסַֽפְתִּי, לִרְאוֹת בְּתִפְאֶֽרֶת עֻזֶּֽךָ, אֵֽלֶּה חָמְדָה לִבִּי, וְחֽוּסָה נָּא וְאַל תִּתְעַלָּם׃ |
ו What pity stirs in You
Since days of old, my God! Be kind to me Your own child Begotten by Your love. For long and longing hours I yearned for Your embrace To see my light in Your light Basking in Your grace. My heart’s desire is To harmonize with Yours Do not conceal Your pity Hide not that light of Yours. |
הִגָּלֶה נָא וּפְרוֹס חָבִיבִי עָלַי אֶת־סֻכַּת שְׁלוֹמֶֽךָ, תָּאִיר אֶֽרֶץ מִכְּבוֹדֶֽךָ, נָגִֽילָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה בָּךְ, מַהֵר אָהוּב כִּי בָא מוֹעֵד, וְחָנֵּֽנוּ כִּימֵי עוֹלָם׃ |
ה Help, my Lover, spread
Your canopy of peace. Enfold all human beings Give all pain surcease. Your presence on this earth plane Do make known to us And we shall respond then With song and with dance. Rush, my love, be quick, The time for love is now, Let Your gentle favor Grace us as of old… |
Yedid Nefesh is a piyyut of uncertain authorship. Rabbi Elazar Moshe Azikri (1533-1600) included the piyyut in his Sefer Haḥaredim (1588). (The images below are of pages with Yedid Nefesh handwritten by Azikri.) A version of the piyyut “with noteworthy text, spelling and pointing”[2] Stefan C. Reif, The Hebrew Manuscripts at Cambridge University Libraries: A Description and Introduction Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, page 93. may be found on folio 146 (verso) of Samuel b. David b. Solomon’s Commentary On the Book of Numbers (ca. 1437 CE). Presumably, this text was added to the 15th century manuscript sometime in the 17th century after the popularization of Yedid Nefesh. The piyyut has since appeared with a number of variations in various siddurim.
Source(s)

“יְדִיד נֶפֶשׁ | Yedid Nefesh, interpretive translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi” is shared by the contributors with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
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