Samuel Ha-Nagid

Samuel Ha-Nagid (993-1056), original name Ismail ibn Nagrel'a, was a Spanish Hebrew poet and scholar. He also served as vizier of Granada. He was one of the first Hebrew poets to write secular verse. He ushered in Golden Age of Hebrew literature.

Wisdom & Quotes

• Consider how shameful rejoicing is,

Since it comes between two bouts of woe.
You wept when you came into this world,
And another will mourn you when you go.
- Two Bouts of Woe

• At times of distress, strengthen your heart,

Even if you stand at death's door.
The lamp has light before it is extinguished,
The wounded lion still knows how to roar.
- The Wounded Lion

• You laugh at me, now that you are young,

Because you see me old, and grey-haired.
I am an old man, but I have seen workmen
Make a coffin and a bier for a young lad.
- The Old Man's Warning

• War is at first like a young girl,

With whom every man desires to flirt.
And at the last it is an old woman,
All who meet her feel grieved and hurt.
- War

• Man's wisdom is at the tip of his pen,

His intelligence is in his writing.
His pen can raise a man to the rank,
That the scepter accords to a king.
- The Power of the Pen

Ibn Hazm