Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/439

391 "



!

891

!

THE JEWISH E^CYC•LOi>KUIA

were many poets in liis days, tliouirli of far inferior rank; hence there wasu eerlain indifTerence in (helicartsof t lie former jialrons of Hel)rev literature. All.iarizi was made lo ixpericrK-e tliis ]iainfullv on Ids travels: lie received n<i such welcome as .ludah liathere

Levihad; and lie iilainlivcly deplored the passing of the bygone times when Solomon CJabirol, Jiidah liaLcvi, and Moses ihn Ezra gaine<l such valuable rewards from the lovers of literature. He found the well-springs of liberality clos<(l tu him; and thus he sang:

"The fiitliiTMcif suni;, ShI.'.mio, iukI .luiiuh, Ami Mnsrs hfsidfs nil shniif In the west. And rlcli iiicii ut-ri- nfr tlu-n who piirchiksed the pearls of their mt II(»w sad is my let now tlrne^ are .so rharnfM The rieli men have yoni". and their Klory hath set The fathers found fountains— for me ne'er a fountain will start

1

But though his journey biduglit liim disappointment and possibly suirering, il slimulated him to the production of liisniasterpiece, "Talikcmoni." He gives the following account of its origin: S|ieaUing of his previous work of tianslaliiig Hariri, lie .says, "Thus I gave what was demanded by the Andalu-

—

sian rich

The " Tab- home kemoni."

commanded — and

unto each IsraeliK

—

I

brought

the

work

Ishmaelile." Leaving his home, lie traveled eastward by .sea; and then there dawned upon him the folly of having given his efforts .solely to the translation of an Arabic author: ' As

—



if

the

of that

woni

rai'c

of the I.onl of lifc> - in Ismci were no longer of Hhoin we are IjjIU -'oilier vineyards I " it'unt. i. 6). alus, that 1 neglected

'Al ha-Risbonim Al-^^'rizi

might lie— rlslnt'. (rrowlnc— coniine. goinir. of the worst and iM-st, earn and wi'st. As I slnnle on the road—one day I on— a stone-ail alone— at the hlirhwav side— astraniter sit(in)f-nwtlnK him. As iM-llttlnir-I addivssed him aiming at IntereMtinur lilm— as travelers do-when a few— or two ilianee to meet— in a iiiunlry stri-et. And I said. What cheer— neiifhlior dear'i' — Whenee ha.st thou strayisl— and what thy trade'/ — 111' said. From daring feat— lo darins fiiit— as It iliances-my nivlng pleasure ever (rlanci-s.- A fox 1 cluuse— or run a rare- with the mountain sheep; no hill Uhj sli-ep—or the

i-spied

vale too deep— for me to pace. Said I. Tell me, since thou so miicli hast wnndei-ed-Konie wondrous tliimf ihiit thou hast poiiden'd. He answeivd," et<^. ("Tul^kemonl," makama x., 'The Chanticleer's Ueproaeb ").

The episodes of

the " Tahkcnioni " rover a wide experiences, varying from a banquet given to him in an important "citv of Babylonia (where, as the guest. Heman |Allmrizi] tells of all the noble poets he has known in Spain) to a battle between Aralis "in the tents of Kedar," a debate between an ant and a flea, or a reproof by a village chanticleer escajied from the liiitcher's knife. If any piirpo.se can be said to underlie Alharizi's work, more seiious than the one he himself alleges, namely, the entertainment anil refreshineut of wearied minds, it may possibly be discerned, as Kilmpf suggests, in Ids' constantly implied reminders to wealthy men that they are bound to patronize and protect those that makescholarshi|) their wealth and art their worth. His own exjierience gave i)oint and pith to these admonitions. Hut if liis own sufferings served likewise as the inspiration of his song, one feels gnititied to learn from himself that the bow of constjint lioiic shone steadily for him. As he himself says tielil

of remarkable

rife; lilie tier of old
 * irotectero" of the narratives, Ileber the Kenile. .llhough this was designed lo be a wholly original work, he followed the model of Ills lirsl favorite, Hariri, by adopting from him the peculiar form of lh<> iinihimii: that curious species of riming iirosc, with its desultory leaps and coincident assonances, its verbal (|uips and countless conceits, IJut what gave it exceptional zest for Jewi.sli readers was Alharizi's deft interweaving of whole ]{ibli<al sentences, the incongruity of wjiich as lo the <ircumslances discribed. bill heir witty til ness in tluir new application, could not fail to evoke a constant series of smiles in the scholarly reader who knew his Hebrew Hible well. The niakama is (|uitean old and familiar form of Arabic [xietrv as early as lO.'il, the Arabic poel, Ahniail Abu al l''adhl b. Husein, of llamadan in Persia, composed several hundred makamas exactly in the style later adopted by Hariri. C'oiiei'rniiig the nnikaiim. Ki'lmpf .sjiys. I



"The Semi

The

I

OS

li.'id

hail slory tellers,

no

I

lieiilir



bill lliev

who

rclaled deeds and Makama. happenings in truly dramatic style." Ill this species of spoki'ii drama, two personages were supposed to taki' part in constant dialogue: the hero who lold of his doings, and the narrator w ho served as chorus to hini. drawing him

out.asil were, by inlerrogaling him. I'jicii episode described by Ihi^ hero is tin' subject of a single nia kiim.'i poem), and has no cIom' council ion with lliiil wlijeh follows, but its rambling, riming prose is ex ended and diversilled by the interpolation of smaller poems, in absolutely strict rhythm and rime, and ginerally of exalted slniin. Tin' mannerof opening a makama may be understood from the following: " Knuii Siddlin's vnli' to t'halileti's pule— went and wlien I

I

—

arrlvitl-the

thought

n'vlviMl

I

to try

all

to

Mv-tliat

tliiTi-

.nc'pn "

^nK^J ^voib dj

'3

heaven's cloinls should weep as mv is«ir eves have done. Then wi-re for in;iii on earth no path ttuit still wen-dry liul know. Hint e'en for me. im erst for lainech's son. With all this delu)?e stood a rainbow In the sky " If



!

Alharizi's journey seems to have led him first to Alexandria, then to Palestine. In I'ilX he wasin,Ierllsalem, as he stalesin the twenty-eighth inakania of the "Talikcmoni." He mentions at the sjime time that il was in 119!)— on the recapture of the holy city by the Mohainmedans from the Chrisiians His thai llie .lews Were again allowed to

—

Criticisms,

live llieie.

him

From

I'alesline his

path

ami there Damascus held him for a time. He lias no high opinion of the Damascenes: they arc " lovers of the wine cup." Of one of the poets of the city he .sjtys thai "when he a ililly w rites or eke an odi il soiinils as if some led

to Syria,

—

pot or keltic did explode." Apiin, "lliey are nothing but shallow riinestcrs whose How of" eloipicnce or diclion soon runs dry. sirs! " Asa general thing, however, Alharizi's opinions concerning his rivals, .lewish or non-.lewisli, were always more vehement than just (s<'e Awa.ni). AVhether he visited Orw-ce or not is not dear: he has no respect for Grecian poets, who. he says, "mingle roses and thorns" (of stylei ])romlscuously. From llie superscription of Ihe last makama, il appears lliai in I'.'IM. the year Nbiiinoiiiiles died, he was liack again In Toledo; but there is no intimalion of his fate Ihereafler. remarkable illustmtion of his verbal dexterity may be mentioned il is in t he elevenlh makama of the book which isentllled " .MahlH'rel Shinih luit ShaU>sh I<eshonot " (The Song of the Three Ijingiiages). It contains an inlerpolatcd piH'in. twenty thni' lines every line of w liicli is written one-third in Helong, brew, oue-thlnl hi Arabic, and one-third in Aramaic.

A