Shabbat Songs : Deror Yikra

Deror yikra leven im bat. 
veyintzarechem kemo vavat. 
ne'im shimchem velo yushbat. 
shevu nuchu beyom shabbat: 

Derosh navi ve'ulami. 
ve'ot yesha aseh immi. 
neta sorek betoch karmi. 
she'eh shav'at benei ammi: 

Deroch purah betoch batzerah. 
vegam bavel (n": edom) asher gaverah. 
netotz tzarai be'af ve'evrah. 
shema koli beyom ekra: 

Elokm ten bammidbar har. 
hadas shittah berosh (n": berosh) tidhar. 
velammazhir velannizhar. 
shelomim ten kemei nahar: 

Hadoch kamai chai el kanna. 
bemog levav uvimginnah (n": uvamginnah). 
venarchiv peh unemallenah. 
leshonenu lecha rinnah: 

De'eh chochmah lenafshecha. 
vehi cheter leroshecha. 
netzor mitzvat kedoshecha (n": eloheicha) 
shemor shabbat kodshecha:

Freedom shall He proclaim for His sons and daughters 
and will keep you as the apple of his eye
Pleasant is your name and will not cease to be 
repose and rest on the Sabbath day

Seek my home and my temple 
and give me a sign of deliverance
Plant a choice vine in my vineyard 
turn to the need of my people

Tread the wine-press in Botzra 
and also Babylon who overpowered
Crush my enemies in anger and fury 
hear my voice on the day I call out

Lord, let the dessert bloom like a mountain 
myrtle, acacia, cypress and elm
To those who counsel and to those who are cautious 
give peace as flowing as a river’s waters

Conquer those who rise against me, Oh zealous God 
fill their hearts with fear and despair
Then we shall open our mouths 
and fill our tongues with Your joyful song

Know wisdom for your soul 
and it shall be a crown upon your head
Keep the commandment of your Holy One 
observe the Sabbath, your sacred day

Deror Yikra is one of the oldest and most popular Shabbat songs, known and sung throughout Jewish Diaspora and history. The many tunes to this piyut vary from ancient original compositions through borrowed and adapted foreign ones to modern day Israeli creations. It was written by Dunash ben Labrat, the tenth Century poet and philologist, who is considered the pioneer of the measured meter in Hebrew poetry and the harbinger of the golden age of Spain. His name appears in the first, second and fifth stanzas as an acrostic and is concealed in a playful manner in the other two.
The piyut revolves around the idea of the spiritual haven provided for the Jew on Shabbat. This personal, microcosmic salvation interweaves with the communal one of the Jewish people and in turn brings macrocosmic redemption to the whole world and elevates it to a higher spiritual level. The Jewish people are analogized in the Midrash to the groom while the Shabbat is the bride, and as spouses they take care of and protect each other. Just as the Jew observes the Shabbat so the Shabbat preserves and protects him. It redeems him from the burden of the daily routine and lets him taste a sample of the world to come, the flavor of the full and real redemption.