Shabbat Songs : Agadelcha

agaddelcha elohei chol neshamah
ve'ovdecha berav pachad ve'eimah

be'amedi toch kehalach tzur leromem
lecha echra ve'achof rosh vekovmah

reki'ei rovm halo natah vemivta
veha'aretz yesadah al belimah

hayuchal ish chakor et sod yetzaro 
umi hu zeh bechol kedemah veyammah 

meromam hu alei chol peh velashon 
asher hifli ve'asah chol bechochmah 

veyitgaddal begov kadoosh ve'elyon 
veyitkaddash shemeih rabba be'alema

I will praise You, God of all souls
And I will thank you with great fear and awe.

As I stand among your worshipers, Lord, and exalt you
Before you I will kneel and bow head and body.

The high heavens - has God not stretched them forth with speech?
And earth founded upon nothingness.

Can a man explore the secret of his Creator?
And who is God at the far ends of the East and the West?

God is exalted by every mouth and tongue
God who did wonders, and has done all with wisdom.

God’s name will be magnified among the holy nation.
May God’s name be sanctified in the world!

Agadelcha, written by the poet Abraham Ibn Ezra, is a deeply personal expression of faith, humility, and praise. In this Piyut, Ibn Ezra focuses on the power of singing in community as a pathway for connecting with the divine. Agadelcha is sung every Shabbat in the Aleppo tradition in a different melody according to the maqam of the particular Shabbat. It is also featured in the Babylonian and Moroccan practices of bakashot.
Agadelcha is widely known throughout the Jewish world by the more modern melody composed in the 20th century by Mordechai Khalfon, which captures the full range of emotions in the poem, from reverence, respect and feeling of insignificance, to praise, exultation, and joy.