Yehuda Halevi Quotes

One grey hair appeared on my head I plucked it out with my hand. It answered me: "You have prevailed against me alone - What will you do when my army comes after me?

My heart in the East But the rest of me far in the West— How can I savor this life, even taste what I eat? How, in the bonds of the Moor, Zion chained to the Cross, Can I do what I’ve vowed to and must? Gladly I’d leave All the best of grand Spain For one glimpse of the ruined Shrine’s dust.

Bit by bit they slipped back into their old strange talk. Maimonides, Yehuda Halevi’s Kuzari, Philosophy, Spinoza, and other such nonsense which went in one ear and out the other.

Tis a fearful thing to love what death can touch. A fearful thing to love, to hope, to dream, to be – to be, And oh, to lose. A thing for fools, this, And a holy thing, a holy thing to love. For your life has lived in me, your laugh once lifted me, your word was gift to me. To remember this brings painful joy. ‘Tis a human thing, love, a holy thing, to love what death has touched.

In the garden where roses blush, where lilies bend their heads, A quiet wind carries whispers, where fleeting passion treads. Each petal tells a story, each fragrance bears your name, And in their fleeting beauty, my love for you, the same.

Tis a human thing, love, a holy thing, to love what death has touched.