264 r Merav Rosenfeld-Hadad
mostly derived from the Arabic written secular literary tradition, such
as Alf Layla wa-Layal (One Thousand and One Arabian Nights), but also
stories known in the oral tradition (Avishur 1994, 112).
Most of al-Hakham’s poems are written in biblical Hebrew, combined
with other Jewish religious sources, as well as the spoken Arabic of the
Babylonian Jews. Some of the poems are written entirely in Arabic. These
features are shaped into a style that amalgamates free and rhymed verse
with a simple form of shir me ̔eyn-ezori (Avishur 1994, 111). It seems that
al-Hakham’s poetic style was inspired by his talent as a charismatic dar-
shan, and his writing is simply an imitation of his speech.
Al-Hakham’s Barukh El Hay (Blessed Be Our Living God; first stanza
and refrain, author’s translation): Poetic Characteristics, Content, and
Melody
1a Blessed be our living God
1b [Who] for His glory created us
2a [Who] brought us to bear [His] commandments
2b [Who] gave us the true Torah
3a [Who] manifested to us His sacred promise
3b With His commandments He sanctified us
4a Happy are the people who worship the living God
4b King and Lord of Hosts
5a Great and performs wonders
5b Blessed be our living God of confessionsIn Barukh El Hay M(213; 318), a song intended for Bar Mitzvah celebra-
tions, al-Hakham uses the mu ̔ārada technique and imitates Najarah’s Yi-
hyu Kemos. Thus the presence of the Arabo-Islamic influence is evident
both in the sheer use of this technique and, as a result, in the almost to-
tal replication of Najarah’s poem. The poems are identical in their poetic
form, meter, rhyming scheme, and, to some extent, in their vocabulary.^21
This poem, as Najarah’s, is shir me ̔eyn-ezori. It has eight stanzas. The
first consists of five lines of which the last two function as a refrain. The
remaining stanzas have three lines each. In all stanzas, each line is divided
over two hemistiches.