Proximity and Distance: Medieval Hebrew and Arabic Poetry

423 Pages·2004·1.624 MB·English

by  Tobi, Joseph

PROXIMITY AND DISTANCE
ÉTUDES SUR
LE JUDAÏSME MÉDIÉVAL
FONDÉES PAR
GEORGES VAJDA
DIRIGÉES PAR
PAUL B. FENTON
TOME XXVII
PROXIMITY AND DISTANCE
PROXIMITY AND DISTANCE
Medieval Hebrew
and Arabic Poetry
BY
YOSEF TOBI
TRANSLATED FROM THE HEBREW
BY
MURRAY ROSOVSKY
BRILL
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2004
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tobi, Yosef.
[Keruv u-deÈiyah. English]
Proximity and distance : medieval Hebrew and Arabic poetry / by Yosef Tobi.
p. cm. — (Études sur le judaïsme médiéval, ISSN 0169-815X ; t. 27)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 90-04-13798-X
1. Hebrew poetry, Medieval—Spain—History and criticism. 2. Hebrew poetry,
Medieval—Middle East—History and criticism. 3. Hebrew poetry, Medieval—Arab
influences. 4. Arabic poetry—History and criticism. I. Title. II. Series.
PJ5023.T6313 2004
892.4’1209946—dc22
2004040777
ISSN 0169-815X
ISBN 90 04 13798 X
©Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
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PRINTEDINTHENETHERLANDS
To my children:
Zohara, Yannai, Dikla and Renana
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
Preface ........................................................................................ ix
INTRODUCTION
Chapter One Research on the Affinity of Hebrew Poetry
to Arabic Poetry in the Middle Ages .................................. 3
PART ONE
THE BEGINNING OF THE CONTACTS IN THE EAST
Chapter Two The Encounter of Hebrew and Arabic
Poetry in the East in the Tenth–Twelfth Centuries .......... 31
Chapter Three Sa'adia and Arabic Poetry: Philosophical
Culture and Philosophical Poetry ........................................ 65
Chapter Four Sa'adia’s Poetics: Old Wine in a New
Bottle ...................................................................................... 117
PART TWO
HEBREW SECULAR POETRY IN SPAIN
Chapter Five Hebrew Poetry and Arabic Poetry in Spain:
Similarity and Distinctiveness ................................................ 179
Chapter Six Philosophy in Medieval Hebrew and Arabic
Poetry in Spain ...................................................................... 205
Chapter Seven Medieval Hebrew Secular Poetry:
Pagan Ideas Versus the Tenets of Judaism .......................... 217
viii contents
Chapter Eight The Poetry of Sh6muel Ha-Nagid against
the Background of Arabic Poetry of Self-Praise ................ 247
PART THREE
THE POETICS OF HEBREW POETRY IN SPAIN
Chapter Nine Metaphor in Hebrew Medieval Poetry ........ 269
Chapter Ten Modifications of Language and of Metre in
Hebrew Medieval Poetry Compared with ∂arùrat al-shi'r,
zi˙àfàt, and 'ilal in Medieval Arabic Poetry .......................... 291
Chapter Eleven The Source of Al˙arìzì’s t6na"e ha-shi'r
(Conditions of Poetry) in 'amùd al-shi'r of Arabic Poetry .... 309
Chapter Twelve Aristotle’s Poetics in Medieval Jewish
Literature ................................................................................ 323
APPENDICES
Appendix One The Proverb Writer Sa'ìd B. Bàbshàd:
A Tenth-Century Eastern Hebrew Poet .............................. 345
Appendix Two Sh6lomo b. Gabirol and Ba˙ye b. Paqùda:
Philosophical Ideas in Spanish Liturgical Poetry ................ 356
Appendix Three A Poem by the Jewish Apostate to Islam
Abraham B. Sahl? .................................................................. 364
Bibliography ................................................................................ 375
Indices ........................................................................................ 397
PREFACE
The first steps in Hebrew secular poetry took place around the turn
of the ninth century, under the evident impact of contemporary
Arabic poetry. By that time the latter had become consolidated as
a courtly poetry, in which luxury and pleasure were among the
supreme aspects of social life. Nevertheless, this poetry still preserved
many of the social and conceptual values by which it was charac-
terized it its early stages in the jàhiliyya. Hebrew poetry was then
written in accordance with Arabic poetic rules, in terms of content—
jàhilì and courtly, prosody (metre and rhyme), linguistic outlook, and
rhetorical texture.
Students of Hebrew poetry who are fairly well acquainted with
Arabic poetry have taken note of this link between the two. Such
scholars include Sha"ul 'Abdallah Yosef and David Yelin in the first
half of the twentieth century. A more systematic study has been con-
ducted by contemporary scholars such as Y6huda Ratzaby, Israel
Levin, and Arie Schippers. Indeed, it is simply impossible really to
understand medieval Hebrew poetry without examining it against
the Arabic poetry by which it was influenced and from which it lav-
ishly borrowed conceptual as well as figurative, poetic, and linguis-
tic values. The impact of the Arabic on the Hebrew poetry was so
great that some researchers, incorrectly, define the latter as a poetic
school which is distinct from the Arabic school only on account of
its Hebrew language.
All the above holds not only for secular poetry. It is also true of
another genre created in Hebrew medieval belles-lettres, the maqàma;
and even Hebrew sacred poetry, originating in the ancient Ereß-
Israeli piyyut and intended for liturgical-religious use, was not free
from the impact of Arabic poetry, although far less than secular
Hebrew poetry.
This critical approach, which I explicitly state on the title-page of
this book, seemingly does not need to be proved or sustained, although
there are scholars who disregard it or belittle and even deny it.
Obviously, when approaching a person’s creative work to grasp and
interpret it, particularly if he is of a time and place so remote from
us, we should delve into the roots of its spiritual environment and