Ḥafṣ Ibn Albar Al-Qūtī
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Hafs ibn Albar al-Qūṭī (), commonly known as al-Qūṭī or al-Qurṭubî, was a 9th–10th Century
Visigothic The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
count, theologian, translator and poet, often memorialised as the 'Last of the Goths'. He was a descendant of Visigothic royalty and held a position of power over the Christians of his region. He was possibly a priest or censor,Marinas, Iván Pérez. Hafs ibn Albar al-Qûtî: el traductor mozárabe del Salterio. but many scholars take him to be a layman.Dunlop, D. M. “Ḥafṣ b. Albar: The Last of the Goths?” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, no. 3/4, 1954, pp. 137–151. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25222720. He describes himself as ignorant of the sacred sciences, and constantly allowed his works to be checked and commented on by those he called "best in their religion and a bright light in the sacred sciences", claiming that "all of them know what I do not know". He wrote in Arabic, which had then become a common language of
Mozarabic Mozarabic may refer to: *Andalusi Romance, also called the Mozarabic language *Mozarabs The Mozarabs (from ), or more precisely Andalusi Christians, were the Christians of al-Andalus, or the territories of Iberia under Muslim rule from 711 to ...
Christians living in
al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...
. Arabic was slow to be adopted by the Iberian Catholic Clergy because the Arabic language was enforced by the
Islamic government ''Islamic Government'' (), or ''Islamic Government: Jurist's Guardianship'' () Abrahamian, ''Khomeinism'', 1993: p.11 is a book by the Iranian cleric, Islamic jurist and revolutionary, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. First published in 1970, it ...
and the Church wanted to appear completely separate from
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
. Hafs ibn Albar's work in translating the
Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...
and other theological works has been characterised as integral to the preservation of the Iberian Church under Islam as it allowed Christians who had been raised in an Arabic culture to fully participate in the Christian faith.


Background

Towards the end of the Visigothic period of Iberian history, the Visigoths were ruled by a monarchy elected by the Church. This system had been stable for some time, but eventually the children of former kings became claimants to the throne and civil wars broke out. In 711, the
Visigothic Kingdom The Visigothic Kingdom, Visigothic Spain or Kingdom of the Goths () was a Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic people ...
, in the middle of one such civil war, fell to Islamic forces. During the invasion there were two Visigothic claimants: the main claimant
Roderic Roderic (also spelled Ruderic, Roderik, Roderich, or Roderick; Spanish language, Spanish and , ; died 711) was the Visigoths, Visigothic king in Hispania between 710 and 711. He is well known as "the last king of the Goths". He is actually an ex ...
ruled from the ancient capital of
Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...
and he controlled South-West, whereas
Achila II Achila II (also spelled Agila, Aquila, or Akhila; died ' 714) was the Visigothic king of Hispania and Septimania from 710 or 711 until his death. The kingdom he ruled was restricted to the northeast of the old Hispanic kingdom on account of the ...
ruled
Tarraconensis Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalusia, was t ...
and
Narbonensis Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in Occitania and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the first Ro ...
in the North-East.Collins, Roger. Visigothic Spain, 409–711. Blackwell Publishing, 2004. Achila was succeeded by his younger brother Ardo in Narbonensis alone as Tarraconensis had been taken by Islamic forces. The fate of the conquered Christians varied from case to case. Standard
Dhimmi ' ( ', , collectively ''/'' "the people of the covenant") or () is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to the state's obligation under ''s ...
contracts usually gave Christians and Jews fewer rights than their Muslim counterparts. Nobles, such as Count Theodimir, often managed to negotiate treaties which allowed them to keep some of their status, land and wealth, along with the rights of their subjects. The children of King
Wittiza Wittiza (''Witiza'', ''Witica'', ''Witicha'', ''Vitiza'', or ''Witiges''; 687 – probably 710) was the king of the Visigoths from 694 until his death, co-ruling with his father, Egica, until 702 or 703. Joint rule Early in his reign, Egica m ...
, the penultimate Visigothic king before the Islamic invasion, negotiated treaties and retained great significance.
Al-Maqqari Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Maqqarī al-Tilmisānī (or al-Maḳḳarī) (), (1577-1632) was an Algerian scholar, biographer and historian who is best known for his , a compendium of the history of Al-Andalus which provided a basis for the schola ...
and the '' Chronicle of Alfonso III'' refer to them as Romulus, Artabasdus and Olmundus. Other chronicles and genealogies mention Evan and Sisebut in addition to the other sons of Wittiza. Romulus settled in Toledo and held extensive lands in the east of Spain. Some Scholars believe that the names Romulus and Artabasdus are corruptions of Achila and Ardo respectively. This would explain Romulus' holdings in the east of Spain. In the centuries following the Islamic conquest of Spain, Romulus' descendants had significant power over the Mozarabs of al-Andalus due to the fact that the representatives of Christian communities, called counts, were required to be Christians themselves. Hafs ibn Albar was a descendant of RomulusJames, David. Early Islamic Spain: The History of Ibn Al-Qutiyah. Routledge, 2009. and the Count of the Christians of Toledo (although
Ibn al-Qūṭiyya Ibn al-Qūṭiyya (, died 6 November 977), born Muḥammad Ibn ʿUmar Ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʾIbrāhīm ibn ʿIsā ibn Muzāḥim (), also known as Abu Bakr or al-Qurtubi ("the Córdoban"), was an Andalusian historian and considered the great ...
refers to him as the Judge or ''
Qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...
'').Penelas, Mayte. A possible author of the arabic translation of Orosius’ Historiae. Brepols Publishers, 2001. Other Christian communities had counts, such as Flavius Athaulf of
Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...
, son of the aforementioned Prince Sisebut.Anonymous. ''Description genealogica y historical de la ilustre casa de Sousa.'' (1770) Abû Sa’îd al-Qûmis, a descendant of Artabasdus, was Count of the Christians of al-Andalus, possibly because he lived in Cordoba, the capital of al-Andalus. Abû Sa’îd held extensive estates in central al-Andalus.


Name

Hafs is usually remembered by his
patronym A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, ...
'ibn Albar', usually taken to refer to him being the son of Álvaro of Córdoba,Honorii, Cosmographia Iulii, and Chronica Muzarabica. "“How can I trust you, since you are a Christian and I am a Moor?” The multiple identities of the Chronicle of Pseudo-Isidore. although some claim that Hafs is more likely to be Álvaro's grandson or descendant. He is also remembered either as al-Qūṭī (the Goth) or al-Qurṭubî (the Cordoban). Some take al-Qurṭubî to be a toponym. Others believe that al-Qurṭubî is either a corruption of al-Qūṭī or a deliberate attempt to link him more closely with Álvaro. He is believed to have had been born with a full Latin or Gothic name, but this has been lost.Pérez Marinas, Iván. "The Mozarabic of Cordoba of the ninth century: Society, culture and thought." (2012). In one manuscript he is referred to as ''ibn al-Quti'' (Son of the Goth). He appears in
Judaeo-Spanish Judaeo-Spanish or Judeo-Spanish (autonym , Hebrew script: ), also known as Ladino or Judezmo or Spaniolit, is a Romance language derived from Castilian Old Spanish. Originally spoken in Spain, and then after the Edict of Expulsion spreading ...
texts as Héféç al-Qouti. In Maghrebi texts he instead appears as Alfuti. This is because the letters: ق and ف (usually romanised as ''q'' and ''f'' respectively) are especially similar in the Maghrebi Arabic alphabet.Neubauer, Adolf "Hafs al-Qouti" Revue des Études Juives 30 (1895): 65-69. Such scribal errors at times confused details about his background. David Colville, the first person to translate the works of Hafs ibn Albar into English, believed that Hafs was Jewish.
Adolf Neubauer Adolf Neubauer (11 March 1831 – 6 April 1907) was a Hungarian-born at the Bodleian Library and reader (academic rank), reader in Rabbinic Hebrew at Oxford University. Biography He was born in Bittse (Nagybiccse), Upper Hungary (now Bytča ...
refuted this based on the other works of Hafs, such as his pro-Christian polemics, which were unavailable to Colville. He also rejected the hypothesis that Hafs was a Jewish
converso A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert" (), was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of their descendants. To safeguard the Old Christian popula ...
on the basis that Jewish writers who felt uncomfortable with using the works of apostates used the works of Hafs extensively. Neubauer believed Hafs to be an Arab or Syriac Christian due to his use of eastern forms of Arabic. His nickname, 'the Goth', and his gothic patronym suggest a gothic background and not an Arab/Syriac one. Today, he is taken to be of Visigothic background.


Works

Hafs wrote all of his surviving works in Arabic. One of the reasons he did this was to remove, or at least weaken, the link between the Arabic language and Islam. While some see Hafs as moving away from Álvaro's beliefs, which is often taken to be opposed to Arabism, others think of him as equally missionary-minded and interested in preserving Christian beliefs and culture. Others think Álvaro believed that Arabisation "would open the door to the assimilation of a series of Islamic ideas and practices opposed to Christian orthodoxy", aligning Hafs and Álvaro much more closely. It seems that Álvaro himself was Arabised and had a good grasp of Classical Arabic and Arabic poetry, so his apparent denunciation of that language and culture is unlikely to be a hypocritical rejection of Arabism per se, but rather a fear about being inducted into Islamic or Islamised culture. While Álvaro focused on defending Christianity and to an extent, Latin-speaking Visigothic culture, Hafs was subtly challenging Islam by associating Arabic with Christian works. Hafs lived at a time when there were many considered to be ''al-‘ajamiyyah'', that is a native speaker of a non-Arabic language, while nevertheless mastering the Arabic language. By belonging to a linguistic hybridism, Hafs was able to participate in both Gothic and Arabic cultures. His works, despite being written in Arabic, were essentially written by a Goth for a Gothic audience similar to Álvaro's works. Yet, he certainly went beyond Álvaro in that he used Islamised vocabulary throughout his works (such as referring to the Psalms as ''suras''), even when he expressed Christian ideas completely in opposition to Islam, such as the
Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...
or that the Psalms were prophecies of Jesus' life.van Koningsveld, P.. The Arabic Psalter of Hafs ibn Albar al-Quti: Prolegomena for a Critical Edition His free use of complex Arabic poetic forms and Islamic-sounding language limited the marginalisation that Christians felt during the 10th century and after. All major Mozarabic intellectuals who lived after Hafs used Arabic extensively.


Arabic Psalter

Hafs translated the entire book of
Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...
into the Arabic language with a poetic ''urjūzah'' prologue of his own,Monferrer-Sala, Juan Pedro. "Translating in ninth century Cordoba. Notes on the urjūzah of Ḥafs ibn Albar al-Qūṭī to his Arabic poetic version of Sifr al-zubūr." Transletters. International Journal of Translation and Interpreting 1 (1) (2018): 79-92. completing the work in 889AD. Each Psalm has a heading explaining whether the Psalm relates to Christ's life, the Church or the spiritual health of believers. An example of this is his heading to
Psalm 1 Psalm 1 is the first psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in the English King James Version: "Blessed is the man", and forming "an appropriate prologue" to the whole collection according to Alexander Kirkpatrick.Kirkpatrick, A. F. (1906)Cambr ...
, which states "This Psalm predicts the Nativity of the Messiah, the son of Mary". The ''urjūzah'' prologue served to answer criticisms of his previous translations and to anticipate criticisms of his Psalter. In it, he justified the methods he used to translate the Psalms, as well his use of not only the Arabic language but poetic forms specific to Andalusi culture that may have been controversial at the time. Hafs only consulted "scholars, trustworthy men of our religion" during his translation, so his form of Arabic represents Christian Arabic independent of Islamic Arabic.Christys, Ann. "The Qur’ān as History for Muslims and Christians in al-Andalus." Journal of Transcultural Medieval Studies 5.1 (2018): 55-73. This does show some influence of Islamic legal terminology. He translated the Psalter with the help and permission of Bishop Valens or Valentius of
Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...
Rodriguez, Joaquín Mellado. La lengua de los mozárabes. Otra lectura de las fuentes he language of the Mozarabs. A new reading of the sources(2018) (862-875), a partisan of Abbot Samson Cordubensis and a correspondent of Alvarus,Dunlop, Douglas Morton. "Sobre Ḥafṣ ibn Albar al-Qūṭī al-Qurṭubī." ''al-Andalus'' 20 (1955): 211. whom Hafs highly esteemed and described as "noted for his sublime qualities, the best bishop now as well as in the past".Van Koningsveld, P. Sj. "Christian Arabic literature from medieval Spain: An attempt at periodization." ''Christian Arabic Apologetics During the Abbasid Period (750-1258)''. Brill, 1994. 203-224. As the author of the ''Apologeticus Contra Perfidos'', Abbot Samson is noted for being among the last major Mozarabic writers to write in Latin who nevertheless turned his attention to translating works from Latin to Arabic, "epitomising the new reality" of Arabic language prominence in the Mozarabic community. Hafs belonged to the next generation of Mozarabic scholars whose "grasp of Arabic was more secure". It was based on an earlier prose version that Hafs translated from the Old Latin Bible. His newer, more poetic version used the
Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...
more. He resolved, however, not to translate from the Vulgate "word-for-word" as another author's earlier prose version did, something he said was "not worthy of admiration", because he said "he ruined the meanings through his ignorance of the laws of the language. He strictly kept to the order of the words with the result that he spoiled the interpretation. What he translated was not understood..." Although it agrees with the Old Latin more than the Vulgate, this earlier prose version may have drawn directly from the
Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...
and
Peshitta The Peshitta ( ''or'' ') is the standard Syriac edition of the Bible for Syriac Christian churches and traditions that follow the liturgies of the Syriac Rites. The Peshitta is originally and traditionally written in the Classical Syriac d ...
. This Arabic translation is significant as for some it represents a turning point in the cultural assimilation of native Christians. Only thirty years prior, Álvaro seemed to denounce the use of Arabic amongst Christians. Hafs, on the other hand, fully embraced the Arabic language and his Psalms were translated in Arabic ''
rajaz Rajaz (, literally 'tremor, spasm, convulsion as may occur in the behind of a camel when it wants to rise') is a metre used in classical Arabic poetry. A poem composed in this metre is an ''urjūza''. The metre accounts for about 3% of surviving ...
'' verses. He was aware that ''rajaz'' verses were considered inferior amongst Arabs, but he defended its use on the grounds that it was easily understood and allowed for a literal translation. It was his belief that the Psalms were essentially
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
''rajaz''. He also defended the use of ''rajaz'' metre because he described it as "a meter pleasant for singing, called among the Latins iambic". It also enabled him to utilise Latin poems of a similar metre, and he admits to using a Latin reference for his work. If Hafs is considered to be furthering Álvaro's agenda rather than departing from it, he may be interpreted as "conditioning Arabic to Latin" which would help to prove the superiority of Gothic culture. It may, however, be an example of Semeticism as he may be trying to "reach through" the Latin text to attain the Hebrew original. He expresses enough confidence in the similarity between Arabic and Hebrew to refer to the Psalms as Hebrew ''rajaz'', but believed that the Psalms had been preserved "all in Latin, in their original, in a well-defined meter". This also served to easily enable his Psalter to be used in Mozarabic liturgy, using the established melodies used in Latin forms, achieving something that the previous prose Psalters could not. He used his knowledge of Hebrew and Arabic and how these languages related to each other to
calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...
words as he felt was needed, though some have argued that he did not know Hebrew.Schippers, Arie "Hafs al-Quti's Psalms in Arabic rajaz metre (9th Century): a Discussion of Translations from Three Psalms (ps. 50, 1 and 2)." Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 86 (1998). Rather than using the standard word for God,
Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...
, he used Lahumma or
Allahumma () is a term of address for Allah, the Islamic and Arabic term for one God. It is translated as "O Allāh" and is seen as the equivalent of "Yā Allāh". Some grammarians (such as Sibawayh) argue that it is an abbreviation of يا ألله أم ...
inspired by the Hebrew word
Elohim ''Elohim'' ( ) is a Hebrew word meaning "gods" or "godhood". Although the word is plural in form, in the Hebrew Bible it most often takes singular verbal or pronominal agreement and refers to a single deity, particularly but not always the Go ...
. This may have contributed to his Psalter's popularity in Jewish and Christian circles. It also contributed to his goal of providing Mozarabic Christians with their own identity expressed in the Arabic language. There are many examples within his Psalter of him choosing words with similar roots between Arabic and Hebrew to maintain 'faithfulness and conciseness without adding and padding; and Semitism, i.e., the frequency of Arabic words which are from the same root as the Hebrew original.' Nevertheless, there are the occasional "odd readings" of the Hebrew text that may be evidence of use or overuse of the Vulgate in interpreting the Psalms. When comparing his version to other Arabic Psalters, it is not as easy as saying one is more accurate or faithful. Arie Schippers characterises Hafs as "reasonably accurate, but sometimes he allows himself a greater space, extending the text with synonyms and additions, probably by the constraint of the metre" whereas
Saadia Gaon Saʿadia ben Yosef Gaon (892–942) was a prominent rabbi, Geonim, gaon, Jews, Jewish philosopher, and exegesis, exegete who was active in the Abbasid Caliphate. Saadia is the first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Judeo-Arabic ...
's "translation usually pursues the literal meaning and sequence of the Hebrew words... However, he sometimes adds to the texts references to the speaking personae". Hafs defended his translation on the basis of 1 Corinthians 14, which he interpreted to be the
Apostle Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...
advocating for the translation of scripture. He said that the Apostle expected people to pray in their own languages. Hafs believed that the Psalms were the bedrock of Christian prayer. He used the example of the translations of the Psalms into Greek, Syriac, Persian and Latin to justify his own translation.Geary, Patrick J. Language and power in the early Middle Ages. UPNE, 2013. Hafs said "They only believe and pray to their Lord in the language they know... in order that each language expresses faith in God". He also appealed to the authority of Bishop Valens and a number of monks and priests who encouraged him in his work. He clarified that he intended his translation of the Psalms to be used liturgically in churches and monasteries and for 'the forgiveness of sins', though he acknowledged that his work would not be necessary for Christians who had totally retired from the World. Hafs' later works often quote the Gospels as translated by Isḥâq ibn Balashk al-Qurṭubî (
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
: Isaac VelascoPotthast, Daniel. "Die andalusische Übersetzung des Römerbriefs." (2011). the Cordoban), completed either 904 or 942 (depending on how one reads the dating inscription), making the translation of the Psalms Hafs' earliest work. His is not the oldest translation of the Psalms into Arabic. Archbishop John of Seville (remembered in Arabic as: زيد المطران ''Zayd al-Matran'') is believed to have produced the translation of the Psalms, Epistles and Gospels preserved in MS Madrid 4971. He also provided a commentary and took part in the Council of Cordoba in 839. He became bishop in 831 and died 851. Hafs' version is said to be more fluent and complex, while John's version is strict and literal.


Other works

Hafs has also been thought to have translated (or rather compiled and interpolated)
Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), ...
' ''Seven Books of History Against the Pagans'' as the ''
Kitāb Hurūshiyūsh The ''Kitāb Hurūshiyūsh'' () is the name conventionally given to a medieval Arabic translation of Orosius's early fifth-century ''Historiae adversus paganos''. The translation is not unique as an Andalusian translation of a Christian text into ...
'', though this is now doubted. Hafs style and skill in Arabic seems to be at odds with the Kitāb Hurūshiyūsh. The style, but certainly not the content, of the Kitāb Hurūshiyūsh is also much more Islamic. The Kitāb Hurūshiyūsh eulogises Orosius with "raḥmat allāh ‘alay-hī", that is ‘may Allah be merciful upon him’ which departs from Hafs' preferred theonym Allahumma. Similarly Abraham is called "al-Ǧalīl Allāh", Allah's Friend. The Islamisation of the Kitāb Hurūshiyūsh should not be overstated as it significantly departures from the Islamic account of the
Seven Sleepers The Seven Sleepers (; ), also known in Christendom as Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, and in Islam as Aṣḥāb al-Kahf (اصحاب الکهف, ''aṣḥāb al-kahf'', lit. Companions of the Cave), is a Late antiquity, late antique Christianity, ...
, among other accounts. It does, however, show that either Hafs changed his view of Islamised Arabic or the Kitāb Hurūshiyūsh was translated by another Mozarab. Hafs has also been credited with Arabic translations of the works of
Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...
. Hafs thought very highly of Jerome, describing him as "the first in his science" and recommending his Vulgate ”for teaching and interpretation”. He wrote a number of original works as well. His ''Treatise on the Trinity'' is considered to be the first anti-Islamic polemic written in the West.Burman, Thomas. Religious Polemic and the Intellectual History of the Mozarabs, c. 1050-1200. Brill, 1994. He also wrote a treatise called ''al-Fiqh'' (الْفِقْه, meaning Knowledge) and two books: ''Kitab al-Huruf'' (the Book of Letters) and ''Kitâb al-Masâ’il al-Sab῾ wa-al-Khamsîn'' (the Book of the Fifty-Seven Questions).Guix, Juan Gabriel López. "The first biblical translations in the Iberian Peninsula." 1611: translation history magazine 7 (2013): 1-8. The Book of Letters uses terms and concepts from Arabic-speaking
Eastern Christians Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations further east, south or north. The term does not describe a ...
to such an extent that it has been suggested that it is actually an Eastern Christian work falsely attributed to al-Quti. He also used term ''uqnum'' from the Syriac ''qnoma'' in his Book of the Fifty-Seven Questions. Hafs differs from them in a clear adoption of the
filioque ( ; ), a Latin term meaning "and from the Son", was added to the original Nicene Creed, and has been the subject of great controversy between Eastern and Western Christianity. The term refers to the Son, Jesus Christ, with the Father, as th ...
in that work. Jewish writers of later years referred to Hafs as the author of ''the Book of al-Quti'', a compilation of moral maxims. Some have theorised that the Book of al-Quti and the Book of the Fifty-Seven Questions are identical.


Death and legacy

Ibn Qūṭiyya wrote that Hafs ibn Albar was still alive in 961. Given that Hafs says in the prologue to his Psalter that it "was written in the year 889 in the ear of Christ our Lord, who guides the soul on the right path", it seems that Hafs' career was at least 72 years long. Hafs was highly esteemed among the Christians, Jews and Muslims of Spain and his works describing the Trinity, the nature of Christ and the Eucharist were seen as definitive long after his death. His translation of the Psalms also remained popular after his death, not only for its intended Ecclesiastic and Monastic use, but among Muslims and Jews as well. It is this version that
Al-Qurtubi Abū ʿAbdullāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr al-Anṣārī al-Qurṭubī () (121429 April 1273) was an Andalusian Sunni Muslim polymath, Maliki jurisconsult, mufassir, muhaddith and an expert in the Arabic language. Prominent scholar ...
,
Moses ibn Ezra Moses ben Jacob ibn Ezra, known as Ha-Sallaḥ ("writer of penitential prayers") (, ) was an Andalusi Jewish rabbi, philosopher, linguist, and poet. He was born in Granada about 1055–1060, and died after 1138. Ibn Ezra is considered to hav ...
and
Ibn Gabirol Solomon ibn Gabirol or Solomon ben Judah (, ; , ) was an 11th-century Jewish poet and philosopher in the Neo-Platonic tradition in Al-Andalus. He published over a hundred poems, as well as works of biblical exegesis, philosophy, ethics and satire ...
used. Al-Qurtubi also quoted from Hafs' polemic and Book of the Fifty-Seven Questions. Al-Qurtubi said "Hafs was one of the most penetrating minds of the Christian ‘priests’, who was better versed in Arabic than any of them... studying slamicbranches of learning and surpassing all other Christians in this." The “Alcalde de los Mozárabes” that existed after Toledo was reconquered by the Christians in 1085 is believed to be the continuation of the title of Count of the Christians of Toledo. The Arabised Christian culture of Toledo would last for centuries after the death of Hafs, with some Arabic cultural elements surviving even into the Early Modern Era.Miller, Howard Delgin. According to Christian Sunna: Mozarabic Notarial Culture in Toledo, 1085-1300. Diss. Yale University, 2003.


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{{authority control Translators of the Bible into Arabic Latin–Arabic translators 9th-century people from al-Andalus 10th-century writers from al-Andalus Christians from al-Andalus Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish poets Spanish male poets Poets from al-Andalus 9th-century Arabic-language poets 9th-century translators Counts 9th-century births 10th-century deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown