Pregueres d'amor: De poder e d'amor
Prayer for Knowledge of Love
The friend asks the Beloved for the knowledge of love so that he may make himself and others loving.
The friend prayed to his Beloved to make him know love, so that he would know how to make himself and others loving through loving.1
Prayers for Power to Love and Serve
The lover asks for the power of love to love fully, to be lord and subject of love, to destroy false love, to rejoice in sorrow, to share love, and to bring lovers into concord.
ii. "Beloved," said the Lover, "give me all the power of love so that I can love you with all love." iii. The Lover prayed the virtues to arrange with his Beloved that He would make him both lord and subject of the power of love, so that everything might be in love as agent and as patient.2 iv. The Lover asked the Beloved for the power of truth and love, so that he might use it to destroy and kill false love.3 v. Beloved, the Lover said, give me the power of glory, so that when I am in sorrow for love, I can rejoice. vi. The Lover prayed to his Beloved to give him the power of love, so that he could give it and share it among many lovers.4 7. Beloved, said the Lover: give me the power of love, so that with it I may bring many lovers into concord in loving, honoring, and serving you.5
Prayers for Virtuous and Encompassing Love
The lover asks good Love for power to oppose bad love, to begin a virtuous loving, to be clothed in love from its middle place, and to have love's end.
viii. The Lover prayed good Love to give him her power, so that he could oppose bad love. ix. Love, said the Lover: you who are generous, virtuous, and great, give me your power so that I may from you and through you begin a great and virtuous loving.6 x. The Lover prayed his Beloved to give him, from the middle place of love, power to love, so that everything would be clothed and encompassed by love.7 xi. "Beloved," said the Lover, "give me the power and the end of love, so that I may not love without love's end."8
Prayers for Endurance and Protection
The lover asks for greater power to bear love's toils, the prayer of Equal Love for equality in loving, and a final petition for defense against the temptation of lesser love.
12. The Lover prayed to his Beloved to give him the greater power of love, so he could bear the greater toils and weariness that one suffers for love. xiii. Equal Love of the Lover and the Beloved prayed to the Lover to give it, in glory, equality of love and loving, so that it could love the sovereign Lover and Beloved with all its love. xiv. The Lover prayed to the greater power of love to defend him from the lesser power of love, which every day tempted him to love a lesser goodness and virtue of love.
Read the original Catalan
Pregava lamic son amat que li feés conèxer amor, per so que sabés amificar sí metex, e los altres, damar.
ij. Amat, dix lamic: donam tot lo poder damor, per so quet pusca amar ab tota lamor.
iij. Pregava lamic vertuts que li procurassen ab son amat quel feés senyor e sotsmès del poder damor, per so que tot fos en amor agent e pacient.
iiij. Poder de veritat e damor demanà lamic al amat, per so quen pogués destruir e ausiure falsa amor. V. Amat, dix lamic: donam poder de glòria, per so que con son en tristicia per amor, me pusca alegrar.
vj. Pregà lamic son amat que li donàs poder damor, per so que la pogués donar e partir enfre molts amadors.
vij. Amat, dix lamic: donam poder damor, per so que ab cl pusca concordar molts amadors en tu amar onrar e servir.
viij. Pregava lamic amor bona que li donàs son poder, per so que pogués contrastar a mala amor. viiij. Amor, dix lamic: tu qui és liberal vertuosa e gran, donam ton poder per so que pusca de tu e per tu comensar gran e vertuós amar. X. Pregava lamic son amat que li donàs, del mig loc damor, poder d amar, per so que tot fos vestit e comprès damor.
xj. Amat, dix lamic: donam poder e fi damor, per so que no pusca amar sens fi damor.
xij. Pregava lamic son amat que li donàs lo major poder damor, per so que pogués sostenir los majors trebayls e langors que hom ha per amor.
xiij. La egual amor damic e damat, pregava lamic, que li donàs en glòria egualtat damor e damar, per so que pogués amar de tota sa amor lo sobirà amic e amat. V xiiij. Pregava lamic lo major poder damor quel defescs del menor poder damor, qui tots jorns lo temptava a amar menor bontat e vertut damor.
Notes
- 1 ↩Catalan amificar is Llull's technical verb for causing or filling with love; rendered here as 'make ... loving' rather than left as 'amify'.
- 2 ↩Catalan agent e pacient is the scholastic pair (active/passive): love that acts and love that is acted upon. Rendered as "agent and patient" to keep the technical force.
- 3 ↩Medieval Catalan ausiure (= auciure, 'to kill/slay'); rendered as 'kill' beside destruir 'destroy'.
- 4 ↩Feminine pronoun 'la' most naturally picks up 'amor' / the power of love as what is given and shared, despite 'poder' being masculine; rendered as 'it'.
- 5 ↩Source reading 'ab cl' is corrupt or OCR-damaged. Translated as 'ab ell' ('with it'), taking the power of love just requested as the instrument; less likely alternatives include 'ab ço' ('thereby').
- 6 ↩Catalan 'liberal' rendered as 'generous' (free-giving), not modern political 'liberal'.
- 7 ↩Llull's technical 'mig loc d'amor' rendered as 'middle place of love' (the medial locus between lover and Beloved where loving stands).
- 8 ↩Catalan 'fi d'amor' is Llull's teleological term for love's end/purpose (final cause), not mere termination; rendered as 'end of love' to keep that sense.
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