אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (מנהג הספרדים)‏ | Adōn Olam (rhyming translation by Jacob Waley, before 1873)

Contributor(s):

Jacob Waley, Shlomo ibn Gabirol and Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Shared on:

10 June 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Arvit l'Shabbat, Morning Baqashot, Bedtime Shema, Musaf l'Shabbat

Tags:

cosmological, 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., rhyming translation, 19th century C.E., אדון עולם Adon Olam, Nusaḥ Sefaradi, פיוטים piyyutim, 57th century A.M.

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Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר מָלַךְ בְּטֶֽרֶם כׇּל־יְצִיר נִבְרָא׃ לְעֵת נַֽעֲשָׂה כְּחֶפְצוֹ כֹּל אֲזַי מֶֽלֶךְ שְׁמוֹ נִקְרָא׃	Lord of the Universe! who reigned ere yet was formed created thing, When all was by Thy bidding made, then was Thy Name proclaimed King.
וְאַֽחֲרֵי כִּכְלּוֹת הַכֹּל לְבַדּוֹ יִמְלֹךְ נוֹרָא׃ וְהוּא הָיָה וְהוּא הֹוֶה וְהוּא יִֽהְיֶה בְּתִפְאֲרָה׃	And after all shall pass away, He shall alone tremendous reign. He was, He is, and He will be, to Him doth glory appertain.
וְהוּא אֶחָד וְאֵין שֵׁנִי לְהַמְשִׁיל לוֹ לְהַחְבִּירָה׃ בְּלִי רֵאשִׁית בְּלִי תַּכְלִית וְלוֹ הָעֹז וְהַמִּשְׂרָה׃	The Lord is one and there is none with Him to liken or compare. Without beginning, without end, all things His majesty declare.
בְּלִי עֵֽרֶךְ בְּלִי דִמְיוֹן בְּלִי שִׁנּוּי וְהַתְּמוּרָה׃ בְּלִי חִבּוּר בְּלִי פֵרוּד גְּדׇל־כֹּחַ וְהַגְּבוּרָה׃	Without a measure or a form, beyond the reach of mind and sense.^[1] This verse is only included in the version of this ancient morning Hymn used by the Spanish and Portuguese congregations. And matter’s laws of change and cause, sublime in pow’r and excellence —
וְהוּא אֵלִי וְחַי גּֽוֹאֲלִי וְצוּר חֶבְלִי בְּיוֹם צָרָה׃ וְהוּא נִסִּי וּמָנוֹס לִי מְנָת כּוֹסִי בְּיוֹם אֶקְרָא׃	My God and my Redeemer lives. Rock of my trust when griefs befal, My Banner and my Tower of strength, and my cup’s portion when I call.
בְּיָדוֹ אַפְקִיד רוּחִי בְּעֵת אִישַׁן וְאָעִֽירָה׃ וְעִם רוּחִי גְּוִיָּתִי אֲדֹנָי לִי וְלֹא אִירָא׃	To Him my spirit I commend at morn and eve with faith sincere, My spirit and its mortal frame — The Lord with me I will not fear.

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 12 line version familiar to Sepharadi congregations. (There are also fifteen and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim. The Ashkenazi version has ten lines.) The rhyming translation here by Jacob Waley was transcribed from the prayerbook of his daughter Julia M. Cohen’s The Children’s Psalm-Book (1907), pp. 298-299.

Source(s)

Notes[+]

Notes
1	This verse is only included in the version of this ancient morning Hymn used by the Spanish and Portuguese congregations.

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (מנהג הספרדים)‏ | Adōn Olam (rhyming translation by Jacob Waley, before 1873)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Jacob Waley

Jacob Waley (17 March 1818 – 19 June 1873), was an English legal writer and co-founder of the United Synagogue.

Shlomo ibn Gabirol

Solomon ibn Gabirol (also Solomon ben Judah; Hebrew: שלמה בן יהודה אבן גבירול‎ Shlomo ben Yehuda ibn Gabirol, Arabic: أبو أيوب سليمان بن يحيى بن جبيرول‎ Abu Ayyub Sulayman bin Yahya bin Jabirul, Latin: Avicebron or Avencebrol) was an 11th-century Andalusian poet and Jewish philosopher. He published over a hundred poems, as well as works of biblical exegesis, philosophy, ethics, and satire.

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

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Works of related interest:

adon olam (David de Aaron de Sola 1836) - cropped

אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (מנהג הספרדים)‏ | Adōn Olam (rhyming translation by David de Aaron de Sola, 1836)

"Observable Universe Logarithmic Illustration" by Pablo Carlos Budassi, a CC BY-SA licensed logarithmic scale conception of the observable universe with the Solar System at the center, inner and outer planets, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, Alpha Centauri, Perseus Arm, Milky Way galaxy, Andromeda galaxy, nearby galaxies, Cosmic Web, Cosmic microwave radiation and Big Bang's invisible plasma on the edge.

אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (מנהג הספרדים)‏ | Adōn Olam, rhyming translation by Rabbi David de Sola Pool (1937)

אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (מנהג הספרדים)‏ | Adōn Olam, rhyming translation by Rosa Emma Salaman (1855)

אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (מנהג הספרדים במזרח)‏ | Adōn Olam, translation by Annie Kantar

Adon Olam Asher Malakh (trans. Isaac Pinto 1766)

אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (מנהג הספרדים)‏ | Adōn Olam, translation by Isaac Pinto (1766)

Adon Olam (trans. David Prato 1949) p. 273

אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (מנהג הספרדים)‏ | Adōn Olam (Italian translation by Rabbi Dr. David Prato, 1949)

Adon Olam (Artur Carlos de Barros Basto 1939) p. 52

אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (מנהג הספרדים)‏ | Adōn Olam (Portuguese translation by Artur Carlos de Barros Basto, 1939)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17