Andalusian Hebrew Poetry

Andalusian Hebrew poetry refers to the literary flowering that developed in Muslim Spain between the tenth and twelfth centuries, during the golden age of Iberian Jewish communities. Under the influence of classical Arabic poetry, its authors adopted quantitative metrics and refined Arabic forms while transposing them into biblical Hebrew. Major figures such as Shmuel HaNaguid, Solomon ibn Gabirol, Moses ibn Ezra, and Yehuda HaLevi composed both liturgical poems (piyyutim) and secular works celebrating wine, love, friendship, and the longing for Zion. This output was embedded in a cultivated court milieu where Hebrew learning and Arab culture coexisted. Considered one of the summits of medieval Jewish poetic creation, it left a lasting mark on the liturgy and literary sensibility of Sephardic communities.

Sources & resources

• Encyclopaedia Judaica — 2e éd., Keter/Macmillan
• Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World — Brill