IBN ZAKBEL (Ibn Sahl), SOLOMON

IBN ZAKBEL (Ibn Sahl), SOLOMON (first half 12^th century) Spanish Hebrew poet who lived very likely in Almería. According to the Taḥkemoni (ch. 3) of Judah *Al-Ḥarizi, Solomon Ibn Zakbel was a relative of R. Joseph *Ibn Sahl (d. 1124) and wrote a maqāma which begins with the words: "The utterance of Asher b. Judah." A work with such an opening was published by J.H. Schorr (He-Ḥalutz, 3 (1856), 154–8) and Ḥ. Schirmann (1936; corrected edition, 1954). This work was presumably written by this poet. The protagonist, Asher, tells in the first person of the adventures which befell him when he returned to his hometown and entered the harem of a distinguished family in search of his beloved. He is frightened by a warrior who is a woman in disguise, and after a while he declares his love to a veiled person who turns out to be a bearded man, his friend the Adullamite, who gives him his daughter in marriage. T. Rosen interprets the story as representing the protagonist's growth, including his socialization, domestication, and sexual instruction, until he attains maturity and accepts the social order. It can be considered the first example of a Hebrew maqāma written in the style of the Arab poets Hamadānī and Hariri. Ḥ. Schirmann found in a fragment of the Genizah another fragmentary maqāma that according to its title was also an "utterance of Asher b. Judah," probably from the same author. In a letter found in the Genizah there is an allusion to a poem written by him in honor of Halfon ben Netanel.

Besides the name Ibn Zakbel, the name Ibn Sahl appears in some documents: in a Leningrad manuscript, "The Utterance of Asher b. Judah" is ascribed to Abu-Ayyūb (= Solomon) ibn Sahl; in a Cambridge fragment of the Genizah (T.S., A.S. 111.169), it is attributed to Solomon ben Sahl. Ibn Sahl is probably his true family name, while Ibn Zaqbel, a possible mixture of an Arabic root with a Romance ending, could be a surname.

bibliography:

Schirmann, in: ymḤsi, 2 (1936), 152–62, 193; 6 (1945), 325; Schirmann, Sefarad, 1 (1959), 54–65; 2 (1956), 686. add. bibliography: A. Sáenz-Badillos, in: Nueva Revista de Filología Hispánica, 30 (1981), 218; J. Dishon, in: Bikoret u-Farshanut, 6 (1974), 57–65; D. Segal, in: jaos, 102:1 (1982), 17–26; R. Scheindlin, in: Prooftexts, 6 (1986), 189–203; idem, in: D. Stern and M.J. Mirsky (eds.), Rabbinic Fantasies (1990), 253–73; Schirmann-Fleischer, The History of Hebrew Poetry in Muslim Spain (Heb., 1995), 482–84; idem, The History of Hebrew Poetry in Christian Spain and Southern France (Heb., 1997), 100–9; M. Gil and E. Fleischer, Yehudah ha-Levi and His Circle (Heb., 2001), 125; T. Rosen, Unveiling Eve (2003), 152–55.

[J. H. Sch. /

Angel Sáenz-Badillos (2^nd ed.)]