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

One Thousand Years of Cultural Harmony between Judaism and Islam r 263

the Spanish school, as well as Najarah’s strong and more noticeable impact
(Ben Ya ̔akov 1965, 190). Forty-nine poems by al-Hakham are found in
the Mishaf and thus reflect his special status and importance among the
Babylonians.

Arabo-Islamic Influence

Most of al-Hakham’s poems in the Mishaf, are written in simple language
using almost a fixed vocabulary, describing clear ideas presented mainly
in one of the less complex forms of shir me ̔eyn-ezori. In this way, al-
Hakham, like Najarah, aimed to create songs that were accessible to all
members of the community. Many of his songs are typical of the Iraqi
indigenous folk songs, such as the zuhayrī and the ̔atābā. These genres
were prevalent in al-Hakham’s time and are very popular among the Bab-
ylonian Jews down to the present day (Avishur 1994, 79).
Al-Hakham’s interest in Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah, is evident in most
of his poems. Thus he continued the long tradition of expressing mysti-
cal ideas and thoughts in poetry, as had his predecessors Ibn Gabirol and
Najarah. In his private life, al-Hakham maintained a reclusive life after a
family calamity (Ben Ya ̔akov 1965, 197).
The special rhetoric and eloquence of the khatīb (Muslim preacher,
pl. khutaba) were very influential on the Jewish preacher, darshan, in
all Jewish communities in Arab lands (Ben Ya ̔akov 1994, 253). In most
cases, the prominent khutaba were major religious scholars, poets, and
spiritual leaders with pietistic, ascetic, and mystical tendencies. Their ser-
mons were intense amalgamations of quotations from the Quran and the
Hadīth, proverbs, and poetry drawn from a wide variety of sources. Many
of the khutaba had written works based on their preaching (Meisami
1998, 594).
The scholarly religious qualifications and authoritative status of the
khatīb, as well as his extensive reliance on scriptures, are equally typical
of al-Hakham, who was also known as a talented khatīb. His sermons
belonged to a tradition passed on to him by his father, one which had
run in the family for generations. These sermons were regarded by the
Babylonians as important events in their religio-cultural life (Ben Ya ̔akov
1994, 259). Al-Hakham’s speech, in the spoken Arabic of the Babylonian
Jews, was simple and clear. His themes were mainly religious, imbued
with biblical quotations, moral sayings, proverbs, and popular stories,