Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE BOOK BAHIR: ON THE NATURE OF EVIL, by ANONYMOUS


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BOOK BAHIR: ON THE NATURE OF EVIL, by                    
First Line: And god warned israel
Last Line: Anchored the ends of the earth
Subject(s): Evil;mysticism - Judaism


108. And God warned Israel. He said, "If you will attend to the voice of God .
. ." This may be compared to a king, who had a beautiful daughter and others
desired her. The king heard of the matter and, since he could not strive
against those who were trying to lead his daughter into evil conduct he warned
his daughter, "Do not attend the words of these who would harm you and they will
not overcome you. Do not go to the opening of the house. Do your work inside;
never be idle; and they can never see you nor do you harm. For they have a
certain Character: they keep distant from every good way and choose every evil
way. And when they see someone directing himself along a good way and walking
upon it they hate him."

109. And who is this? The satan. This gives instruction that God has a
Character and its name is "Evil." And it is in the north as it is written, "The
evil shall open forth from the north." That is, any evil which comes to any of
the dwellers of the earth comes from the north.
And what is this Character? It is the form of a hand. It has many emissaries
and the name of them all is "evil, evil," though there are greater and lesser
among them. They destroy the world; for Tohu is to the north and Tohu means
nothing other than that which confuses man until it causes him to sin. It is
the origin of all the evil nature in man.
And why is it set to the left? Because it has no domain in the world but in
the north. It seeks only to be in the north and is only used to the north.
Since if it were to be in the south until it learned the ways of the south then
how could it pervert man? It would be hindered those days it was learning and
not be able to cause man to sin. Therefore it is always to the left and this is
what is meant by what is written, "The nature of man's heart is evil from his
youth." It is evil since its youth and turned only towards the left for there
it is already used to be. Thus it is that God said to Israel, "If you will
attend to the voice of God and do what is straight in his eyes and give ear to
his commandments" -- and not to the commandments of the evil nature -- "and keep
his laws" -- and not the law of the evil nature -- "I, God, am your healer."

CODA
who
ANCHORED the high skies
set off the wheels for those who shine
who'd
BE a god as great as El
could tell El's greatness
who
COMES to praise El Elohim
with silence
who
DID speak & speech became
the day he pitched his skies
who
EMITTED utterance & utterance remained
the day he set his earths
who
FIXED the ocean's depth
the day he placed his lines
who
GLUED earth's clods together
the day he laid his valleys' floors
who
HELD its measurements in place
whose plumbline touched the earth
who's
IN a king's robe
fancy garments
who
JUDGES righteousness
on country roads
who's
KNOWN as strong Yah many-powered
all who stand up bow to him
who
LETS out secrets drop by drop
then names them speaking
who
MAKES speech bring to life without his word
but him
who
NARROWED the sea breakers
into sea deeps
who
OPENED 300 horses' hoofs
between each wave
who
PRONOUNCED words
that broke a channel for the current
who
QUESTIONED the rain coming
two drops at a time to wash it out
who
ROUNDED up the winds in his cupped palm
trapped the waters in his robe
who
SIGNALS ninety-nine
birthshrieks for the mountain goat
who
TOLD the eagle she could grasp her children
in between her wings ascending
who
URGED the dragon
to bite the goat's womb
who
VISIONS to every thunderclap
a roadway of its own
who
BROKE a channel for the current
a road for his bolts of lightning
who
YIELDED to every man
the number of hairs for his head
who
YET made each hair unique
to keep from jamming together
who
ORNAMENTED what man constructs
like the beauty of first-born Adam
who
SAID that this should be like that
same form same speech same voice
who
EXPRESSES commands to his face
& pays him when he obeys
whose
FIVE fears were instilled
in the five great beasts of this world
who
ORDAINED a fear of mosquitoes
beneath the elephant's thick hide
who
FORCED the fear of the squirmer
on ancient Leviathan
who
CALLED out loud to show them
that he rules over them all
who
OPPOSES his ways
& can soften his heart to peace
who
REVERSES oppressed & oppressor
so oppressor can't break loose
who
DREW the sudden fear of the locust
over the lion's mind
who
OVERCOMES the scorpion
with fear of the squirming spider
who
BROUGHT the fear of the swallow
to the eagle up in the sky
who
ANCHORED the ends of the earth


Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA
98368-0271, www.cc.press.org




Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net