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

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), David de Sola Pool and Unknown Author(s)

Shared on:

22 November 2019 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

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

Tags:

rhyming translation, Nusaḥ Sefaradi, אדון עולם Adon Olam, פיוטים piyyutim, Openers, cosmological, 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., חתימות ḥatimot (concluding prayers), ABCB rhyming scheme

TOGGLE COLUMNS (on/off):

ADJUST COLUMN POSITIONS: select the column header cell and drag it where you want. show me!

COPY INDIVIDUAL COLUMN(S): use CopyTables, a browser extension.

TABLE HELP

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר מָלַךְ בְּטֶֽרֶם כׇּל־יְצִיר נִבְרָא׃ לְעֵת נַֽעֲשָׂה כְּחֶפְצוֹ כֹּל אֲזַי מֶֽלֶךְ שְׁמוֹ נִקְרָא׃	Creation’s Lord! He ruled from aye Ere yet created form was made. What time He willed this world to be, Then homage to His rule was paid.
וְאַֽחֲרֵי כִּכְלּוֹת הַכֹּל לְבַדּוֹ יִמְלֹךְ נוֹרָא׃ וְהוּא הָיָה וְהוּא הֹוֶה וְהוּא יִֽהְיֶה בְּתִפְאֲרָה׃	And when all things shall cease to be, Alone His awe shall be displayed. He was. He is. He e’er shall be In glory that can never fade.
וְהוּא אֶחָד וְאֵין שֵׁנִי לְהַמְשִׁיל לוֹ לְהַחְבִּירָה׃ בְּלִי רֵאשִׁית בְּלִי תַּכְלִית וְלוֹ הָעֹז וְהַמִּשְׂרָה׃	Unique, alone, without compare Is He by whom all else was made. Without beginning, without end; His might. His rule, must be obeyed.
בְּלִי עֵֽרֶךְ בְּלִי דִמְיוֹן בְּלִי שִׁנּוּי וְהַתְּמוּרָה׃ בְּלִי חִבּוּר בְּלִי פֵרוּד גְּדׇל־כֹּחַ וְהַגְּבוּרָה׃	Without compare, unchanging He Whose thoughts infinity pervade. Without associate, complete, In might supreme He is arrayed.
וְהוּא אֵלִי וְחַי גּֽוֹאֲלִי וְצוּר חֶבְלִי בְּיוֹם צָרָה׃ וְהוּא נִסִּי וּמָנוֹס לִי מְנָת כּוֹסִי בְּיוֹם אֶקְרָא׃	He is my God, my living hope In troubled hour, my rock, my aid, My banner, refuge, portion true, My guide to whom my prayer is prayed.
בְּיָדוֹ אַפְקִיד רוּחִי בְּעֵת אִישַׁן וְאָעִֽירָה׃ וְעִם רוּחִי גְּוִיָּתִי אֲדֹנָי לִי וְלֹא אִירָא׃	I rest my spirit in His hand; Asleep, awake, by Him I’m stayed. My body and my soul with God, I face my future unafraid.

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 translation appearing here was transcribed from Rabbi David de Sola Pool’s Tefilot l’Rosh haShanah (1937).

Source(s)

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (מנהג הספרדים)‏ | Adōn Olam, rhyming translation by Rabbi David de Sola Pool (1937)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

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.)

David de Sola Pool

David de Sola Pool (דוד די סולה פול;‎ 1885–1970) was the leading 20th-century Sephardic rabbi in the United States. A scholar, author, and civic leader, he was a world leader of Judaism. Born in London, England, de Sola Pool was descended from an old and renowned family of rabbis and scholars, de Sola, which traces its origins to medieval Spain. His great grandparents were Rabbi (R.) David Aaron de Sola and Rebecca Meldola, his great-great grandfather was Haham Raphael Meldola, a prominent English Rabbi. He was also related to R. Abraham de Sola, R. Henry Pereira Mendes and Dr. Frederick de Sola Mendes. He studied at the University of London. He held a doctorate in ancient languages, summa cum laude, from the University of Heidelberg. In 1907, de Sola Pool was invited to become the rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel — often called the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue — located in New York City, the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. He served as its rabbi for 63 years.

Unknown Author(s)

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.

Pocket Pinterest Reddit 𝕏 Facebook Telegram WhatsApp SMS Email

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 Rosa Emma Salaman (1855)

adon olam (trans. Jacob Waley 1907) - cropped

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

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

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

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 (Artur Carlos de Barros Basto 1939) p. 52

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

prev next

Comments, Corrections, and QueriesCancel reply

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=28261

Associated Image:

“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.

(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in shared links on social media.)

Source: XML | JSON | HTML | ODT

Terms of Use: Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:

Properly attribute the work to Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), David de Sola Pool and Unknown Author(s).
Clearly indicate the date you accessed the work and in what ways, if any, you modified it. (If you have adapted the work, let us know so that the contributor might consider endorsing your revision.)
Provide the stable link to this resource: <https://opensiddur.org/?p=28261>.
Indicate that the original work was shared under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication. (To redistribute or remix this work in any format, modified or unmodified, you must refer to the terms of the license under which the work is shared.)

Additional Notes:

The views expressed in this work represent the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of contributors, patrons, or institutional partners.
We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.

Support this work: The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture. If you like what you've found here, please help keep our project alive and online with your financial contribution.

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