Ki Eshmera Shabbat

Shabbat Zemirot (table songs) are an interesting phenomenon in Jewish liturgy, at the nexus between the sacred and the secular. These songs, traditionally sung at the shabbat table, are definitely religious in content, but they are also optional, and meant to be fun and entertaining, for the purpose of adding to the joy of Shabbat. (One writer on the Zemirot has said that the closest analogue in Christian tradition would be Christmas carols.)

Ki Eshmera Shabbat was written by Avraham ibn Ezra (12th c. Spain), using a quantitative meter that was in self-conscious imitation of Arabic poetry. This may have meant that it was originally intended to be sung to a popular Arabic melody of his era. I don’t know who wrote the melody that I am singing today, but I learned it from a 1960s-era recording of the Parvarim who describe it as a Sefardic melody.
כִּי אֶשְׁמְרָה שַׁבָּת אֵל יִשְׁמְרֵנִי. אוֹת הִיא לְעוֹלְמֵי עַד בֵּינוֹ וּבֵינִי. אָסוּר מְצֹא חֵפֶץ. עֲשׂוֹת דְּרָכִים גַּם מִלְּדַבֵּר בּוֹ דִּבְרֵי צְרָכִים. דִּבְרֵי סְחוֹרָה אַף דִּבְרֵי מְלָכִים אֶהְגֶּה בְּתוֹרַת אֵל וּתְחַכְּמֵנִי. אוֹת הִיא לְעוֹלְמֵי עַד בֵּינוֹ וּבֵינִי.
translation from Siddur Lev Shalem:
As I keep Shabbat, God keeps watch over me.
It is a sign forever, between God and me.
It is forbidden to do business or travel long distances on Shabbat.
One should not talk about one’s commercial needs, business matters, or governmental transactions. Rather, it is a day for studying God’s teaching in order to achieve a measure of wisdom.