Arabic lore as an inspiration for medieval Provençal Jews: The curious case of Mishle ha-‘arav

In this article, I explore the medieval Sephardic Jewish attachment to Andalusi Arabic models through a case study of the Hebrew work Mishle ha-‘arav (The Sayings of the Arabs), produced in Provence at the beginning of the thirteenth century. I take this work as an example of the Andalusi legacy that survived beyond the borders of al-Andalus and beyond the Andalusi Arabic language. The author of Mishle ha-‘arav, who claimed to be translating from Arabic, gave us direct and indirect hints that point to the Arabic tradition as a source of legitimacy, value, and esteem. Before analysing why and how this happened, I sketch a contextualising overview of the linguistic situation in al-Andalus, with special attention paid to the process of Arabisation experienced by Jews. I then offer some notes on the phenomenon of Arabic-into-Hebrew translations that took place in northern Iberia and Provence, of which Mishle ha-‘arav is an excellent example. I end with an exploration of this work as a case study.