256 r Merav Rosenfeld-Hadad
but also through its content, that is, the intimate and direct appeal to God
(Fleischer 1975, 402). Six out of his eight poems in the Mishaf, including
Shfal Ruah, are qita ̔.
The rhyming scheme is typical of the qit ̔a: aa, ba, ca, da, etc. The poem
is structured on the Arabic meter called wāfir, hamerubeh in Hebrew,
which has eleven syllables in each hemistich of each line.^10
Ibn Gabirol uses wide-ranging and versatile sources of biblical quota-
tions and vocabulary.^11 In a few cases, he quotes the biblical version as is.
For example, the first two words of the poem are taken from Isaiah 57:15
and Proverbs 17:19 and 29:23. In others, just like Dunash, he makes few
adaptations to fit the words into his poem. An interesting example is the
two words shfal qomah (low stature) in line 1, quoted from Ezekiel 17:6,
and translated in the poem as “lowered... head.” Here, Ibn Gabirol sepa-
rates the words: shfal, which appears at the beginning of the verse, and
qomah at the end. He then slightly twists the grammatical form of the
verb shfal: in Ezekiel it appears in the feminine form, gefen sorahat shiflat
qomah (a spring vine of low stature) and in the poem in the masculine,
referring to a male worshipper. The word qomah (stature) is also changed
to veqomah (and stature), and between this pair of words, Ibn Gabirol
inserts another word, berekh (knee), perhaps intended to emphasize the
insignificant rank of the worshipper.
The thoughts, aspirations, and ordeals of the individual worshipper
are at the center of this poem. The influence of secular Arabic poetry on
the content is expressed through the direct and rather intimate speech of
the worshipper to his creator, God. The neo-Platonic idea combined with
Islamic mysticism, according to which the human soul has the potential,
the ability, and the need to unite with God through a spiritual process, is
also expressed here.
The earthly human body gives the worshipper a keen sense of worth-
lessness (lines 1 and 2). This human weakness creates a huge chasm be-
tween God and the worshipper, who nonetheless yearns to reach his
maker. The cosmic gap widely separating the two is expressed in its two
extremes: on the one end stands the humble and fearful worshipper, who
considers himself unworthy (lines 2, 3b and 4b); and on the other end
stands the Almighty God with His infinite measures of goodness and
greatness (lines 3a, 4a, and 5a). The yearning of the worshipper to unite
with God, and thus to close this huge gap, is expressed through a dynamic
process of self-struggle which is described throughout the poem. The last