Joseph Zabara | |
---|---|
Joseph ben Meïr Ibn Zabara | |
Born | c. 1140 |
Died | c. 1200 Barcelona[2] |
Joseph ben Meïr Ibn Zabara (c. 1140 – c. 1200) was a Spanish-Jewish physicist, poet and satirist.[3] Although much of his work has been lost, he is noted as the author of Sefer Sha'ashu'im, or in English, the Book of Delights.
Joseph ibn Zabara (1140-1200) was born in Barcelona in 1140 and lived most of his life there. He was educated firstly by his father, Yosef, a physician and later at the Hebrew School of Medicine in Narbonne under Joseph Kimhi, the founder of the prominent Kimhi family.[4] He was also trained in religious thought, philosophy, astronomy and Arabic.[5]
His only known extant work is the Sefer Sha'ashu'im, or in English, the Book of Delight of the maqāmah genre.[4] The two first known manuscripts were published by Isaac Arish in Constantinople in 1577, and one in 15th Century Paris,[6] but the book is thought to have been finished around 1200.[4] It contains a series of stories and fables, modeled after the Kalilah wa-Dimnah.[3] It also bears similarities to Arabian Nights.[6]
Zabara was probably the first to write Hebrew in rhymed prose, with interspersed snatches of verse, a form used by Arabian poets.[4] The book is thought to be semi-autobiographical, and similarities can be seen in the book and Zabara's life.[4] His work in some sections is philogynist, while in other parts he writes misogynist satires.[4] The work is a unique case, it being the earliest known European series of fables and witticisms which were partly of Indian and partly of Greek extraction.[4]
His fables are as listed below: