Cuando el rey Nimrod al campo salia Mirava en el cielo y en la estreyeria Vido una luz santa en la juderia Que havia de nacer Avram avinu Avram avinu, padre querido, padre bendicho, luz de Israel La mujer de Terah quedo preñada Dia en el dia el le preguntaba - De que tenes la kara demudada? Ella ya sabia el bien que tenia
When King Nimrod went out to the fields,
he looked to the heavens and to the stars;
he saw a holy light over the Jewish quarter
for Avraham Avinu was to be born. Avraham Avinu, beloved father,
blessed father, light of Israel. The wife of Terah conceived a child
day after day he asked her,
“Why has your face become so pale?”
She already knew the good she carried within her.
Jerusalem National Sound Archives placement: Y 2919/8 Referenced and notated in: El ciclo de la vida, pg. 121, Editorial Alpuerto, 2013 Susana Weich-Shahak. This Coplas' text is probabaly influenced by late midrashim (Sefer Hayashar), placing Abraham's birth in Ur Kasdim, during the kingdom of Nimrod, son of Kus (as in Genesis, 10, 6-12): When King Nimrod went to the fields, he looked on to the sky and the stars and saw a holy light in the Jewish quarter, because Avram our forfather was to be born (vss.1-4). Terah's wife was pregnant; every day he asked her: - why are you so pale (or so changed)? she already knew what blessing she had (vss.7-10). The refrain says: Abraham our father, beloved father, blessed father, light of Israel (vs.5-6). The strophes are quartets with three rhyming verses. The music is in maqam Hidjaz.
This website was created by Orit Perlman with the collaboration and blessings of Dr. Susana Weich-Shahak in 2025