'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 leopard's leap,
We were fain to take flight
From our garden's delight
And into a hiding-place creep.

'Hardly these creatures had passed,
Sated with Judah's spoil,
Than the wild ass we feared
Out of midnight appeared
To trample and dwell on our soil.

'Ishmael's offspring command
Back to his Arab land,
As his mother of old
To her mistress was told
To return and submit to her hand.'
Translated by Israel Zangwill