I will give now an example of Hebrew literature. This is a poem by
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Abraham Abulafia, a Kabbalist and poet born in the 13th century in Spain.
This poem, "The battle of blood and ink," is a meditation on the Divine name
where here the
Heh
is replaced with
Dalet
perhpas emphasizing the nurturing,
Shadai, aspect of the Divine:
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Here is an English translation:
Then YDVD spoke to me when I saw His Name spelled out in blood and designated in my hear, separating the blood form the ink and the ink form the blood. And YDVD said to me: 'Know that your soul's name is blood, and ink is the name of your spirit. Your father and mother long with all their hearts for this Name of mine and for my Title.' When I heard the great difference between my soul and my spirit, I was filled with great joy. Then I knew that my soul was encamped under its own colour, in the mirror that is red as blood, and that my spirit was encamped under its own colour, in the mirror that was black as ink. And there was bitter warfare in my heart between the blood and the ink - the blood was from the air, the ink from the earth - and the ink triumphed over the blood. and the Shabbath overcame all the days of the week!
zebri@garnet.berkeley.edu