## The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem

###### The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 1
[The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/The%20Improvement%20of%20the%20Moral%20Qualities/s/Translator%27s%20Poem/r/1)

**אָמַר הַמְתַרְגֵּם:**


###### The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 2
[The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/The%20Improvement%20of%20the%20Moral%20Qualities/s/Translator%27s%20Poem/r/2)

עֲזֹב חִידוֹת יְשָׁנוֹת וַחֲדָשׁוֹת   וְהִתְבּוֹנֵן בְּמִדּוֹת הַנְּפָשׁוֹת.


###### The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 3
[The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/The%20Improvement%20of%20the%20Moral%20Qualities/s/Translator%27s%20Poem/r/3)

וּבָהֶם תִּמְצָאָה דַּעַת קְדוֹשִׁים   וְכָל דִּבְרֵי גְּבוּרוֹת וַחֲלוּשׁוֹת.


###### The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 4
[The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/The%20Improvement%20of%20the%20Moral%20Qualities/s/Translator%27s%20Poem/r/4)

וּבֵית מִדּוֹת זְנַח נָא וַעֲלִיּוֹת   מִרְוָחִים וְאַשְׁפָּר וַאֲשִׁישׁוֹת.


###### The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 5
[The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/The%20Improvement%20of%20the%20Moral%20Qualities/s/Translator%27s%20Poem/r/5)

וּמִדּוֹת נַפְשֶׁךָ כּוֹנֵן וּבָם תַּעֲלֶה   אֶל מַעֲלוֹת רוּחוֹת קְדוֹשׁוֹת.


###### The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 6
[The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/The%20Improvement%20of%20the%20Moral%20Qualities/s/Translator%27s%20Poem/r/6)

וְדַע עֵת לֶאֱהֹב וּשְׂנֹא וְלִרְצוֹת   וְלִכְעֹס וַעֲנוֹת רַכּוֹת וְקָשׁוֹת.


###### The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 7
[The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/The%20Improvement%20of%20the%20Moral%20Qualities/s/Translator%27s%20Poem/r/7)

וְעֵת לָתֵת וְלִמְנֹעַ, וְעֵת לַעֲשׂוֹת   וַעֲזֹב וְעֵת דַּבֵּר וְלַחֲשׁוֹת.


###### The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 8
[The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 8](https://torahapp.org/share/book/The%20Improvement%20of%20the%20Moral%20Qualities/s/Translator%27s%20Poem/r/8)

וְאָז תִּשְׁכּוֹן מְנוּחוֹת שַׁאֲנָנוֹת   וְתִהְיֶה שַׁלְאֲנָן מִכָּל רְגָשׁוֹת.


###### The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 9
[The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 9](https://torahapp.org/share/book/The%20Improvement%20of%20the%20Moral%20Qualities/s/Translator%27s%20Poem/r/9)

וְתִמְצָא חֵן וְשֵׂכֶל טוֹב וּלְךָ   תַאֲווֹתֶיךָ יְהוּ בָּאוֹת וְחָשׁוֹת.


###### The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 10
[The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Translator's Poem 10](https://torahapp.org/share/book/The%20Improvement%20of%20the%20Moral%20Qualities/s/Translator%27s%20Poem/r/10)

**עַל** דַּעַת הַחֲכָמִים הַקַּדְמוֹנִים אֲשֶׁר חִבֵּר הֶחָכָם הַגָּדוֹל, הַפִּילוֹסוֹף הַמֻּבְהָק ר' שְׁלֹמֹה בֶּן גְּ'בִירוֹל ז"ל מִמְּדִינַת סַרַקֹסְטָה וְחִבְּרוֹ בִּלְשׁוֹן עֲרָב. בְּחֹדֶשׁ נִיסָן שְׁנַת תת"ה וְהֶעְתִּיקוֹ בִּלְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ הֶחָכָם ר' יְהוּדָה בֶּן תִּבּוֹן מֵרַמּוֹן סְפָרַד בְּמִגְדּוֹל לוּנִיל שְׁנַת תתקכ"ז.

**The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, Stephen S. Wise, 1902:**
TRANSLATION OF THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE MORAL QUALITIES¹
 THIS is an essay on the improvement of the moral qualities (i.e., character), according to the opinion of the greatest of the ancient sages, composed by the learned, the worthy, the scholarly Solomon ben Gabirol, the Israelite,² the philosopher may God sanctify his soul. He composed it in the city of Saragossa, in the month of Nissan, in the year 828(?)³ of the Alexandrian era.

footnotes:
¹ Rosin renders the title more freely by "The Ennoblement of the Character."
² The term "Israelite" is replaced in the Hebrew versions, printed and manuscript, by "the Spaniard."
³ Cf. Introduction, p. 6, note 3, and p. 7, note i.