Yehuda Alharizi, also Judah ben Solomon Harizi or al-Harizi, was a rabbi, translator, poet, and traveler active in al-Andalus (mid-12th century Toledo, Spain? – 1225 in Aleppo, Ayyubid Syria). He was supported by wealthy patrons, to whom he wrote poems and dedicated compositions.

Life

Yehuda al-Harizi was born in Toledo in the mid-12th century to a family originally from Jerez and was educated in Castile. A Hebrew biographer and a contemporary, Ibn al-Sha’ar al-Mawsili (1197–1256), provided the only known physical description of al-Harizi: "a tall silver-haired man with a smooth face". As was the practice for educated men of the period, he traveled extensively throughout the region, visiting Jewish communities and various centres of learning across the Mediterranean and the East. He was disappointed by the poor quality of Hebrew learning across the region. He translated many Arabic works into Hebrew, including Maimonides' The Guide for the Perplexed and al-Hariri's Maqamat. In addition to the many translations, he also produced original works in Hebrew and in Arabic. He wrote a book of his travels, al-rawada al-‘arniqa. He also composed an original maqama in Hebrew, with the title of Sefer Tahkemoni. His Maqama imitated the structure of Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadani and al-Hariri, but his work also reflects his Jewish identity in a society that was in transition, shifting from al-Andalus to Christian Iberia. He is generally regarded as one of the great classical Jewish authors. He died in Aleppo, Syria in 1225.

Work

Alharizi was a rationalist, conveying the works of Maimonides and his approach to rationalistic Judaism. He translated Maimonides' The Guide for the Perplexed and some of his Commentary on the Mishnah, as well as the Mahbarot Iti'el of the Arab poet al-Hariri, from the Arabic to Hebrew. Alharizi's poetic translation of the Guide for the Perplexed is considered by many to be more readable than that of Samuel ibn Tibbon. However, it has not been very widely used in Jewish scholarship, perhaps because it is less precise. It had some influence in the Christian world due to its translation into Latin. Alharizi's own works include the Tahkemoni, composed between 1218 and 1220, in the Arabic form known as maqama. This is written in Hebrew in unmetrical rhymes, in what is commonly termed rhymed prose. It is a series of humorous episodes, witty verses, and quaint applications of Scriptural texts. The episodes are bound together by the presence of the hero and of the narrator, who is also the author. Another collection of his poetry was devoted to preaching ethical self-discipline and fear of heaven. Alharizi undertook long journeys in the lands of the Middle East. His works are suffused with his impressions from these journeys. He not only brought to perfection the art of applying Hebrew to secular satire, but he was also a brilliant literary critic and his maqama on the Andalusian Hebrew poets is a fruitful source of information.

Editions and translations

Literature on Alharizi's influence in the Christian world