[Satirical writer and philosopher. He was born at Arles in 1286, and died in the first half of the fourteenth century. He lived for some time in Rome, and acquired fame as an original writer and translator. His best known works are Eben Bohan (Stone of Investigation) and Masseket Purim. The former, written in rhymed prose, and modelled to some extent after Jedaiah ha-Bedersi’s Behinat ‘Olam, is a sharp criticism of the author himself and of his contemporaries, while the latter is an extremely clever parody of the Talmud. He also translated scientific books into Hebrew.]
Admonitions To His Heart[219]
O my heart, draw nigh, I pray thee; keep silence, and hearken; consider my meditation; know and discern the coming out of my words; give ear to my sayings. Shalt thou never observe the covenant? shalt thou be like an adamant harder than flint? and shalt thou not take the flint of the testimony to cut off thy foreskin and to remove thy reproach?[220] If in the days of delight and in the time of good will thy ways are unstable, what will happen when the end is come upon thee? The days of evil shall rise against thee to destroy thee; thou shalt be driven forth from the midst of men; in solitude shalt thou dwell, deserted and forsaken. What will become of thy dreams? Thou wilt be grieved for the former days that were better, and wilt groan at thy latter end.
O my heart, consider, hearken unto this. Knowest thou not that youth lasts not forever, and that the end of man is to die? A brother cannot redeem, none has power, and the riches of the gold of Sheba and the heights of the mountains profit not. Even if I ascend up into the heaven, and make my bed in Sheol, I shall never be able to redeem my life from destruction. Behold, a day is coming, a day of vengeance and a year of recompense, in which He will fill me with bitterness. There is no escape, for the snares of death will overtake me within the straits. As for Him who tries the hearts, His eyelids will on that day try the open and secret deeds of the children of men.
O my heart, turn round, and seek thy God within thee. It is enough for thee to reveal thyself as one of the vain fellows. Turn behind thee, for there is still hope now. Thou shalt again dwell in tents as in the days of the solemn feast, settled in a pleasant place. Fear God, and keep His commandments which are enjoined upon thee. If thou seekest Him, God will be gracious unto thee; it is from Him that thy fruit is found, the fruit which He gives according to thy deeds. Perform good deeds while thy mind is at ease, thy body fresh, and thy constitution, not lacking the right proportion, abides under the shadow of good health. It is within thy power to lift up the curtain, so that the cloud may be consumed. Look upon thy weapons wherewith thou doest thy work, thy quiver and thy bow; the strength and the blood of the body are thy rod and thy staff; in them lies the stability of thy fortune; thou shalt find them when thou seekest them; none among them is perverse or crooked.
O my heart, be strong and of good courage while the freshness of youth yet lasts: the tree of knowledge is yet in its greenness, its leaves are not scattered, and the twin-leaf is not divided; before old age strips me of the coat of youth, and sets me naked and bare: before ‘the one that departeth and cometh not back’[221] will be taken away from me; while the cord that fell unto me in pleasantness is not yet loosed, and before the golden bowl is broken; before the pure pieces of gold are changed, and before the wheel which turns about in the world by the command of the Almighty on high is broken. Then shall follow days of terror, during which the half-dead and feeble will not die for a month or for some years. But it shall happen one day that we shall awake and see that we were like unto them that dream.
O my heart, if not now, when shall I seek rest for me? Shall I do it in the days of hoary hair, when the strength fails? The branch of all mortals shall wither; even the tender and delicate shall be dried up and wither when they grow old; their skin shall shrivel. Will God create a new thing in me, that I may have youth after I have grown old? Behold, I was formed out of clay; nature fashioned me small in my dimensions; I have the face of a man, not the face of an eagle that renews its youth at the time of old age. Moreover, I am of contrite spirit; to my disadvantage, I was different from the young men my companions. In my youth, without old age and without mature years, I almost grew old and became grey. My strength was enfeebled as that of a woman. My senses grew weak, my thoughts became deranged, and yet I was not advanced in years. My face was wrinkled before my time, and my skin was dried up, so that it became like furrows. My head which, while in its freshness, was as the most fine gold, and upon which brown hair was grown, has white branches now, because hoariness, snowing in its midst, is scattered over it. In the prime of my life, while still in its full strength, my hair was plucked and torn out, and was moved out of its place. Shall my stature, which was like a palm-tree, and my back, which was straighter than a hedge, now be bowed down as a rush, so that none can raise it? My locks, which were curly and intertwined, fall out and are scattered. The tresses of my head, which were desirable as gold, and the hair thereof which was like purple, has become scanty, and through its departure has left breaches. What shall I do when God arises to seek my iniquity; for behold, my sins shall surely be found.
