Selected Religious Poems of Solomon ibn Gabirol, tr. by Israel Zangwill, [1923], at sacred-texts.com
"Ask of Me, beautiful mouth,
What dost thou ask of Me?
For thy suppliant cry
Hath ascended on high
Inclining My ear to thy plea."
"First with the lion we met,
Next came the leopards leap,
We were fain to take flight
From our gardens delight
And into a hiding-place creep.
"Hardly these creatures had passed,
Sated with Judahs spoil,
Than the wild ass we feared
Out of midnight appeared
To trample and dwell on our soil.
"Ishmaels offspring command
Back to his Arab land,
As his mother of old
To her mistress was told
To return and submit to her hand."