O Sleeper! Wake, Arise!
O sleeper! wake, arise!
Delusive follies shun,
Keep from the ways of men and raise thine eyes
To the exalted One.
Hasten as haste the starry orbs of gold
To serve the Rock of old.
O sleeper! rise and call upon thy God!
Behold the firmament
His hands have wrought on high,
See how His mighty arms uphold the tent
Of His ethereal sky,
And mark the host of stars that heaven reveals—
His graven rings and seals.
Tremble before His majesty and hope
For His salvation still,
Lest, when for thee the gates of fortune ope,
False pride thy spirit fill.
O sleeper! rise and call upon thy God!
Go seek at night abroad
Their footsteps, who erewhile
Were saints on earth, whose lips with hymns o'erflowed,
Whose hearts were free from guilt.
Their nights were spent in ceaseless prayer and praise,
In pious fast their days.
Their souls were paths to God, and by His throne
Their place is set anigh.
Their road through life was but a stepping-stone
Unto the Lord on high.
O sleeper! rise and call upon thy God!
Weep for thy sins, and pause
In wrongful deeds, to implore
God's pardoning grace, nor fret thyself because
Of evildoers more.
Cleave to the right, and of thy substance bring
To honor Him, thy King.
When saviours then Mount Zion joyfully
Ascend with eager feet,
And nations shout for gladness, thou wilt be
Prepared thy God to meet.
O sleeper! rise and call upon thy God!
Whence does man's wisdom flow—
Man, who of dust is wrought,
Whose poor pre-eminence on earth does show
Over the beast as naught?
Only those gazing with the inward eye
Behold God's majesty:
They have the well-spring of their being found,
More precious far than wine.
Thou also thus, though by earth's fetters bound,
Mayst find thy Rock divine.
O sleeper! rise and call upon thy God!
The Lord is Lord of all,
His hands hold life and death,
He bids the lowly rise, the lofty fall,
The world obeys His breath.
Keep judgment, then, and live and cast aside
False and rebellious pride,
That asketh when and where, and all below
And all above would know;
But be thou perfect with the Lord thy God!
O sleeper! rise and call upon thy God!
Jehuda Halevi.