XXVII. The World to Come

Selected Religious Poems of Solomon ibn Gabirol, tr. by Israel Zangwill, [1923], at sacred-texts.com

XXVII.

O Lord, who shall do deeds like unto Thine?
For Thou hast established under the throne of Thy glory
A standing-place for the souls of Thy saints, p. 103
And there is the abode of the pure souls
That are bound up in the bundle of life.
They who were weary and faint here await new strength,
And those who failed of strength may here find repose;
For these are the children of rest,
And here is delight without end or limit,
For it is The-World-To-Come.
And here are stations and seeing-places for the standing souls,
Whence, in "mirrors of the serving-women,"
They can behold and be seen of the Lord.
In the palaces of the King do they dwell,
And at the King’s table stand,
And glory in the sweetness of the fruit of Intelligence,
For He giveth them of the dainties of the King.
This is the rest and the heritage
Whose goodness and beauty are endless,
Such is "the land which floweth with milk and honey and such the fruit thereof."