Your wind, western front, aromatic: Translation of a poem by Yehuda HaLevi

Photo by Flying Carpet on Unsplash

It was the week before Shavuot in the year 4901 (May, 1141) when Yehuda Halevi boarded a ship headed for Israel, his final destination in life. He waited seven days aboard the boat for the winds to shift and send the boat on its way. Finally, on the eve of Shavuot the winds shifted and the boat made its departure on the first day of Shavuot (May 14, 1141). Moshe Gil and Ezra Fleischer surmise that he wrote the following poem while waiting for the winds to shift (Yehuda Halevi and His Circle, 2001, p. 251) 

This is my translation (followed by the Hebrew original):

Your wind, western front, aromatic–

in its wings the aroma of balm and fragrant fruit

Sourced from the treasuries of perfumers, 

for you cannot be from the treasuries of the wind

Murmurings of the wings of the sparrow call to me: freedom–

like pure myrrh from the bundle taken

How the people long for you, whom, for your sake, 

they rode on the back of the sea on a meager raft

Let not your hand slacken from this craft, 

as the day encamps and dissipates

Let the depth spread out, split the heart of the sea and reach the holy mountains–

and there take rest

Give rebuke in the east–give storm to the sea until–

the heart of the sea stirs like a boiling cauldron

What shall a prisoner in the hand of the Rock do, who is–

at once detained, the next moment delivered

For certain, the secret of my wish is in the hand of the Most High, and He–

is Maker of the highest mountains, Creator of the wind

זֶה רוּחֲךָ צַד מַעֲרָב רָקוּחַ

הַנֵּרְדְּ בִּכְנָפָיו וְהַתַּפּוּחַ

מֵאוֹצְרוֹת הָרֹכְלִים מוֹצָאֲךָ

כִּי אֵינְךָ מֵאוֹצְרוֹת הָרוּחַ

כַּנְפֵי דְּרוֹר תָּנִיף וַתִּקְרָא לִי דְרוֹר

וּכְמָר-דְּרוֹר מִן הַצְּרוֹר לָקוּחַ

מַה-נִּכְסְפוּ לָךְ עָם אֲשֶׁר בִּגְלָלְךָ

רָכְבוּ בְגַב יָם עֲלֵי גַּב-לוּחַ

אַל נָא תְרַפֶּה יָדְךָ מִן הָאֳנִי

כִּי יַחֲנֶה הַיּוֹם וְכִי יָפוּחַ

וּרְקַע תְּהוֹם וּקְרַע לְבַב יַמִּים, וְגַע

אֶל הַרְרֵי קֹדֶשׁ וְשָׁם תָּנוּחַ

וּגְעַר בְּקָדִים הַמְסָעֵר יָם עֲדֵי

יָשִׂים לְבַב הַיָּם כְּסִיר נָפוּחַ

מַה יַעֲשֶׂה אָסוּר בְּיַד הַצּוּר אֲשֶׁר

פַּעַם יְהִי עָצוּר וְעֵת שָׁלוּחַ

אַךְ סוֹד שְׁאֵלָתִי בְּיַד מָרוֹם, וְהוּא

יוֹצֵר מְרוֹם הָרִים וּבוֹרֵא רוּחַ.