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YOSEF TOBI

Muwashshah Muslim and Jewish Poetry in Yemen

by Yosef Tobi

SUMMARY: The affinity of the Jewish (Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic) muwashshah poetry with the Muslim poetry has been studied by scholars of Arabic and Hebrew medieval poetry. The first was S.M. Stern who coined the term “the Yemenite muwashshah”. This term refers to the double structure of the tawshih lines of the strophe, to which all the scholars have devoted their studies. The present paper seeks to re-examine this affinity and to depict the similarities and differences between the Jewish and the Muslim Yemenite muwashshahs in regard to language, literary prestige, social use and other aspects.