Harizi, Judah Ben Solomon

Born 1165; died 1225. Jewish poet.

Harizi wrote in ancient Hebrew and Arabic. He was the last in the line of famous Jewish literary masters of the Middle Ages (Judah Ha-levi, Solomon ibn Gabirol, Moses ibn Ezra). Harizi traveled widely around the world. He translated into ancient Hebrew the famous maqamas of the Arabic poet al-Hariri and works of ancient Greek authors (for example, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Politics). Harizi was particularly renowned for his translation of the Guide of the Perplexed by the 12th-century philosopher Maimonides. The most outstanding work by Harizi himself is the poem Tahkemoni. The work consists of 50 maqamas, rhymed short stories, and narratives, whose hero sings the praises of nature and love and condemns the mores and social phenomena of his time; the poem also includes some of the best examples of poetry on biblical themes. Harizi wrote much liturgical verse.