The Convergence of Judaism and Islam. Religious, Scientific, and Cultural Dimensions

Jewish Parody and Allegory in Medieval Hebrew Poetry in Spain r 237

33. In Mahberet One, the soul (neshama) is perceived as a young, beloved, and love-
    sick fawn ( ̔ofra) in conversation with the heart, representative of the sinful body.


34. The reference is to Avshalom in II Samuel 14:25.


35. See Joshua 19:5; I Chronicles 4:31.


36. In Hebrew love poetry, the term ra ̔ya connotes a beloved woman, usually one of
    high rank.


37. On the role of the “eye” in Islamic love poetry, see Giffen, Theory of Profane Love
    among the Arabs, 59; Ibn Hazm, The Dove’s Neck Ring, “On Hinting with the Eyes,” 68–70:
    “and the frequency of surreptitious winks with the eye, and the inclination toward lean-
    ing against each other” (ll. 140–45). In Hebrew love poetry, see, e.g., Samuel ibn Nagrela
    in Schirmann, HPSP, 1:167–68, #18, based on Song of Songs 4:9: libbevuni ̔einei sevi, “a
    gazelle’s eyes have aroused me.”


38. See Rashi at Job 42:14 and also Song of Songs 6:10. On slave girls as prizes of war
    and in relationships with Jews, see Shelomo Dov Goitein, A Mediterranean Society: The
    Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza,
    6 vols. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967–93), 1:130–47.


39. See David Segal’s description in “Jacob ben Elazar’s Tales: The Essence of the Sev-
    enth Mahberet” (Hebrew), in Aharon Mirsky Jubilee Volume: Essays on Jewish Culture, ed.
    Zvi Malachi (Lod: Habermann Institute, 1986), 353–64, especially 358, where Segal sug-
    gests that Yoshefe’s falling on Yemima’s spearlike breasts leads to his comical composition
    of five verses of poetry!


40. This common theme in Arabic poetry was soon incorporated into medi-
    eval Hebrew poetry. See Schirmann, “L’Amour spirituel,” 318–19, who discusses this
    phenomenon.


41. Song of Songs, 2:8.


42. 4:9. According to Schirmann, “L’amour spirituel,” 316, a true lover would never
    renounce or abandon his first love should he take another one, and thus Yoshefe could
    enjoy the pleasures of both women.


43. Alluding to Judges 5:12: ̔uri, ̔uri, dabberi shir! The prophetess Deborah is urged
    to compose a victory song.


44. For Arabic-language versions of harmonious, polygamous matrimonial relation-
    ships, see J. C. Bürgel, “Love, Lust, and Longing: Eroticism in Early Islam,” in Society
    and the Sexes in Medieval Islam, ed. Afaf Lutfi al-Sayyid-Marsot (Malibu, Calif.: Undena,
    1979), 113–14.


45. Shehora ’ani ve-na’va, “I am dark but beautiful!” This in contrast to the later me-
    dieval love poetry in which the beloved’s skin is usually pale and white.


46. See also Segal, “Jacob ben Elazar’s ‘Tales,’“ 359.


47. Nelaqqet mi-peninim ve-’im mehubbarot ̔anaq neqashsher mi-savvronim. See
    Song of Songs 1:10.


48. On the subject of erotic love between men see Schirmann, “The Ephebe in Medi-
    eval Hebrew Poetry,” Sefarad 15 (1955): 55–68.


49. See Judges 7:3: “Whoever is terribly afraid must turn back early (yashov ve-yi spor)
    from Mount Gilead.” In this writer’s opinion Jacob ben Elazar puns on the dual meaning
    of the root s-f-r: 1. to sing, shout out; 2. safra, morning, or to rise early, on the analogy