Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
The first time Adam witnessed the sinking of the sun be was also seized
with anxious fears. It happened at the conclusion of the Sabbath, and
Adam said, "Woe is me! For my sake, because I sinned, the world is
darkened, and it will again become void and without form. Thus will be
executed the punishment of death which God has pronounced against me!"
All the night he spent in tears, and Eve, too, wept as she sat opposite
to him. When day began to dawn, he understood that what he had deplored
was but the course of nature, and he brought an offering unto God, a
unicorn whose horn was created before his hoofs,[108] and he sacrificed
it on the spot on which later the altar was to stand in Jerusalem.[109]
THE BOOK OF RAZIEL
After Adam's expulsion from Paradise, he prayed to God in these words:
"O God, Lord of the world! Thou didst create the whole world unto the
honor and glory of the Mighty One, and Thou didst as was pleasing unto
Thee. Thy kingdom is unto all eternity, and Thy reign unto all
generations. Naught is hidden from Thee, and naught is concealed from
Thine eyes. Thou didst create me as Thy handiwork, and didst make me
the ruler over Thy creatures, that I might be the chief of Thy works.
But the cunning, accursed serpent seduced me with the tree of desire
and lusts, yea, he seduced the wife of my bosom. But Thou didst not
make known unto me what shall befall my children and the generations
after me. I know well that no human being can be righteous in Thine
eyes, and what is my strength that I should step before Thee with an
impudent face? I have no mouth wherewith to speak and no eye wherewith
to see, for I did sin and commit a trespass, and, by reason of my sins,
I was driven forth from Paradise. I must plough the earth whence I was
taken, and the other inhabitants of the earth, the beasts, no longer,
as once, stand in awe and fear of me. From the time I ate of the tree
of knowledge of good and evil, wisdom departed from me, and I am a fool
that knoweth naught, an ignorant man that understandeth not. Now, O
merciful and gracious God, I pray to Thee to turn again Thy compassion
to the head of Thy works, to the spirit which Thou didst instil into
him, and the soul Thou didst breathe into him. Meet me with Thy grace,
for Thou art gracious, slow to anger, and full of love. O that my
prayer would reach unto the throne of Thy glory, and my supplication
unto the throne of Thy mercy, and Thou wouldst incline to me with
lovingkindness. May the words of my mouth be acceptable, that Thou turn
not away from my petition. Thou wert from everlasting, and Thou wilt be
unto everlasting; Thou wert king, and Thou wilt ever be king. Now, have
Thou mercy upon the work of Thy hands. Grant me knowledge and
understanding, that I may know what shall befall me, and my posterity,
and all the generations that come after me, and what shall befall me on
every day and in every month, and mayest Thou not withhold from me the
help of Thy servants and of Thy angels."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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