Nahum Ma'arabi ( he, נחום מערבי, literally "Nahum of

the west West is a cardinal direction or compass point. West or The West may also refer to: Geography and locations Global context * The Western world * Western culture and Western civilization in general * The Western Bloc, countries allied with NATO ...

"; also called Ma'aravi or Maghrabi) was a Moroccan

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

poet and translator of the thirteenth century. His poems are found only in Moroccan collections. Two of his

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

poems were published by

Leopold Dukes Leopold Dukes ( hu, Dukes Lipót; 17 January 1810, Pozsony – 3 August 1891, Vienna) was a Hungarian critic of Jewish literature. Biography Dukes spent about 20 years in England, and from his researches in the Bodleian Library and the British ...

in ''Zur Kentniss der Hebräischen Poesie''. Ma'arabi translated

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...

' " Iggeret Teman" from

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

into Hebrew and added a preface in verse. This was published in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

in 1631. He also translated a commentary on the " Sefer Yeẓirah" by

Isaac Israeli ben Solomon Isaac Israeli ben Solomon (Hebrew: יצחק בן שלמה הישראלי, ''Yitzhak ben Shlomo ha-Yisraeli''; Arabic: أبو يعقوب إسحاق بن سليمان الإسرائيلي, ''Abu Ya'qub Ishaq ibn Suleiman al-Isra'ili'') ( 832 &ndas ...

or Nissim ben Jacob, prefacing it with a poem. Another of his translations was

Joseph ibn Tzaddik Rabbi Joseph ben Jacob ibn Tzaddik (died 1149) was a Spanish rabbi, poet, and philosopher. A Talmudist of high repute, he was appointed in 1138 dayyan at Córdoba, Spain, Cordova, which office he held conjointly with Maimon, father of Maimonides, ...

's "Microcosmos." The translation is anonymous, but

Moritz Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (30 March 1816, Prostějov, Moravia, Austrian Empire – 24 January 1907, Berlin) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider ( 1782; ...

attributes it to Ma'arabi. Finally, he translated

Saadia Gaon Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon ( ar, سعيد بن يوسف الفيومي ''Saʻīd bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmi''; he, סַעֲדְיָה בֶּן יוֹסֵף אַלְפַיּוּמִי גָּאוֹן ''Saʿăḏyāh ben Yōsēf al-Fayyūmī Gāʾōn''; ...

's commentary on the thirteen

hermeneutic Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles or methods used when immediate c ...

rules of

Rabbi Ishmael Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha Nachmani (Hebrew: רבי ישמעאל בן אלישע), often known as Rabbi Yishmael and sometimes given the title "Ba'al HaBaraita" (Hebrew: בעל הברייתא), was a rabbi of the 1st and 2nd centuries (third gener ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma'arabi, Nahum Hebrew-language poets 13th-century Jews 13th-century Moroccan people Medieval Moroccan Jews 13th-century Moroccan poets Almohad poets