‘Adon Olam’
‘Lord of the universe’, the title, after the opening words, of a popular hymn of uncertain authorship. In many liturgies this hymn forms the beginning of the daily morning services and the closing hymn on the Sabbath and festival services. Because the final stanza reads: ‘My soul into His hand divine | Do I commend: I will not fear, | My body with it I resign, | I dread no evil: God is near’, this hymn is often recited as part of the night prayers before retiring to sleep and, where possible, on the deathbed after the
confession
. A number of melodies ...