252 r Merav Rosenfeld-Hadad
noticeable in Dunash’s poem for the first time. These are the absence of
haruz mavriah, that is, a similar rhyme at the end of each of the strophes
of the poem, and instead, the appearance of a rhyme at the end of each
line of the strophe, and the changes of rhyme from one strophe to another.
The poem has six stanzas; each has four symmetrical lines of eight syl-
lables and a similar rhyming scheme: aaaa, bbbb, cccc, etc. Dunash uses
the Arabic quantitative meter of a type called hazaj, hamarnin in Hebrew.^6
This particular meter entered instantaneously into secular and religious
Hebrew poetry, and the most famous example is Dror Yiqra (Ratzaby
1996, 47).
Dunash uses biblical vocabulary, though in his own style. For example,
the first two words of the poem Dror Yiqra are a variation on three bibli-
cal sources. Leviticus 25:10 has veqeratem dror bares (and you shall have
the horn sounded throughout your land), Jeremiah 34:15 has liqro dror
(proclaim a release), and Jeremiah 43:8 has liqro lahem dror (proclaim for
them a release).^7 The poem also demonstrates the change or twist Dunash
made in the grammatical function of these words and thus in their mean-
ing. Perhaps he did this in order to fit the biblical quotations to the new
Arabic meter. For example, in line 2, in the phrase ne ̔im shimkhem (your
voice is pleasant), the word ne ̔im should be na ̔im, as it appears in Psalm
35:3—zamru lishmo ki na ̔im (sing hymns to His name, for it is pleasant).
Another example is in line 4—shvu nuhu (sit, rest). In the original text,
Numbers 22:19, it appears as shvu venuhu (sit and rest).
The heading of the poem does not indicate any melody to which it is
sung. The Babylonians have several melodies for this popular song. All of
them are based on maqāmāt (s. maqām, Arabic musical scale), although
their original Arabic songs have yet to be identified (see Shiloah 1983, 62
and note 15).
Muslim Spain and Shlomoh Ibn Gabirol
Jewish settlements in Spain developed significantly in the eighth century,
a short time after the Muslim conquest, and were in close relation with
the Babylonian leadership.
The period during the eleventh and twelfth centuries is regarded as the
best that Jews ever experienced under Islamic governance, as they enjoyed
a high degree of religious and civil autonomy. The free religious, political,
and cultural atmosphere gave rise to a significant Jewish courtier class,