ABSTRACT
The composition of Hebrew secular poetry based on Arabic models was thus well underway before the emergence of the new muwashshah/zajal form in the 11th century, but the new strophic poetry rapidly became extremely popular among Jewish poets. The earliest Hebrew muwashshahat appear to have been composed in the mid-11th century. Thus, a secular Arabic muwashshah by al-Abyad was the basis of a secular Hebrew muwashshah by Ibn Zaddik, from which Yehudah Ha-Levi created another secular Hebrew song, from which Abraham ibn Ezra later created a devotional song for para-liturgical use in the synagogue. Hebrew texts of muwashshahat found in the Cairo Geniza nearly always included either the first few words of the opening section of the poem [matla‘] or the term pizmon at the end of each strophe. The earliest stages of development of the muwashshah/zajal remain obscure. It seems clear that the muwashshah, as a musical phenomenon, was a stark break from the courtly sawt tradition.
