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Cuzary: Diálogo Filosófico Por Yehudá Ha-Leví, Siglo 12. Traducido Del

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Cuzary: Diálogo Filosófico Por Yehudá Ha-Leví, Siglo 12. Traducido Del i<JLFXCl6\ |||.('>s<»l os |s|'AS:()1.HS V KX IRANJEROS C II Z A R Y YKMIDA HA l.tVl CUZARY DIÁLOGO l'll.oSÓl'ICo YEHUDÁ HA-LEVi (siglu Xlt) traduciclii del ;irab? al hcbrcn YEHUDA ABENTIBBON y del hebreo al castcllanu l{. JACOB ABENDAXA PUBLÍCALO DON Al'(il.!-(" iJONII.i.A V SAN MARTÍN GHtcdriitÍL-u de la l'niversidad llenir.il é individuo de número de la Real Academia de la llistnria, CON i;\ APKNPICF. DF DON MARCELINO MENÉNDEZ Y PELAYO Ulrectur de la IJibliuteca Nacional 1 de la Keal Ac.idemia de la lli<toria. MADKll) Librería general de Victoriano Suárez, Preciados, 4H. MCMX p ' ' NOV 51968 ^ry OfTOl ADVERTENCIA pensa- Entre las grandes figuras del miento hebreo-hispano, que ilustra con Bahya, los nombres de Abengabirol, de de Abensaddik, de ios Abenesra y de Mai- da mónides la historia medieval, y que sus últimos fulgores con León Hebreo en lugar la época del l^enacimiento, ocupa distinguidísimo el filósofo y poeta toleda- no Abulhassan Yehudú ben Samuel ha- Levi (i). Nació, según todas las probabilidades, tal- por el año de 1085; hizo sus estudios múdicos en la famosa escuela de Lucena, (Isaac bajo la dirección del célebre Alfassi ben Jacob). Animado Yehudá de notable ardor por el trabajo, estudió, no solamen- te el Talmud, sino también la Gramática, la las Ciencias Matemáticas y Naturales y ."=ian Martín: Historia de (1) Cf. A. Bonilla y Madrid, la Filosofía española, vol. II (-judíos); V. Suárcz, 1010. Filosofía, llegando á escribir con singular elegancia, no sólo en hebreo y en árabe, sino además en el naciente castellano. Fué grande amigo del fecundísimo, aunque mediano poeta granadino, Moisés Abenes- ra (1070?-! 138). Vivió en Toledo, dedicado- ai ejercicio de la Medicina; pero no parece que la profesión ni el pueblo fueron de su agrado. La peregrinación á Tierra Santa constituía uno de sus más ardientes de- seos, y no descansó hasta realizarla. A los cincuenta años de edad, ó poco más, salió de Córdoba, abandonando á su hija, á su nieto Yehudá y á sus discípulos y amigos; marchó á Granada y embarcóse poco des- pués para Alejandría, Pasó grandes peli- gros durante el viaje, y fué muy bien re- cibido por sus correligionarios de Fgipto» singularmente por el médico y rabbino de Alejandría Ahron Abension Abenalamani y por el príncipe Abumansur Samuel Aben- hananía, en el Cairo. Todos pretendieron disuadirle de su expedición, encareciéndo- le los peligros que ofrecía; pero él persis- tió en su propósito y continuó el viaje. El día del Ayuno del mes de Tebet (Diciem- bre) de 1 141 ó 1 142 llegó al puerto de Da- mieta, donde fué recibido con grande ho- nor por sus amigos, y entre ellos por Abu- said Halfon ha-Leví, Parece que realizó por fin su designio y que llegó á Jerusalén, •donde probablemente fué maltratado por Jos cristianos, de cuya conducta se lamen- ta en una de sus poesías; pero carecemos •de datos precisos sobre esta última etapa •de su vida. Es seguro que pasó por Tiro y por Damasco, donde fechó dos de sus mejores composiciones. Ignóranse la épo- ca y el lugar de su muerte. Según cier- ta leyenda, recordada por Yahya en su Shalshdet ha-Kabbala, y por Zacuto, en su libro Yohasm, fué asesinado por un musul- mán cuando, á las puertas de la Ciudad Santa, cantaba su último himno sagrado. Un desconocido grabó sobre su tumba el siguiente dístico: La Piedad, la Bondad, la Generosidad, dicen: Morittios con Yehndd (1). Sobresalió Yehudá ha-Leví en la poesía, y es en este concepto en el que sus corre- iigionarios le alaban principalmente. «Fué (1) Cuéntase que una hija de Yehudá contrajo matrimonio con Abraham Abcnesra, y sobre este enlace corre también una interesante leyenda, que un moderno escritor alemán, Philipson, ha toma- do por argumento de cierta novela. Pero no consta iehacientemente que Yehudá tuviese parentesco ninguno con Abenesra. Aben Hezra— escribe Imanuel Aboab en su Nomología, —yerno y primo hermano, por parte de sus madres, de Rabí Jehudah Ha Leví, varón sapientísimo y muy exce- lente poeta en nuestro idioma sagrado; y cierto que son sus obras tan extremadas, que no se puede desear mayor melodía, ni dulzura, ni propiedad en el decir de lo que él usa: todos sus versos son en ala- banza del Señor bendito: tenemos muchos en nuestras oraciones de Ros Há Sana y de Kipur, que mueven el alma á grandísi- ma devoción, y en particular la Kedusá de la Hamidá de la mañana, en que va glo- sando aquellos tres versos de David en el salmo 103, que dicen: Bendecid al Señor sus ángeles, etc. Bendecid al Señor sus ejérci- tos, etc. Bendecid al Señor sus obras, etcé- tera. Va este divino poeta coligando el mundo supremo angélico con el celeste y con el elemental inferior, y obligando á todos á loar y glorificar á su omnipoten- te criador, con artificio maravilloso. En suma: son todos sus versos de alta doc- trina, de suavísimos conceptos y de rarí- sima excelencia (i).» (1) Apiid José Amador de los Ríos: Estudios históricos^ políticos y literarios sobre los judíos de España; Madrid, 1848; págs. 254-255. Modernamente, el insigne poeta y crí- tico alemán Enrique Ileine ha consagrado á Yehudá una de sus más hermosas Melo- días hebraicas: «Espectros de mis sueños (dice;: ¿cuál de vos- otros es Yehudá bcn ha-Leví de Toledo? Yo le he reconocido en su frente pálida, que tan fieramente lleva su pensamiento; en la dulce ñjcza de sus ojos, que me miran con tan viva atención. Sobre todo, hele reconocido en el misterioso son- rcir de sus dulces y bellos labios, armoniosamente unidos como dos versos: sólo los poetas los tienen parecidos.» Sin duda ninguna, la principal gloria de Yehudá ha-Lcvi consiste en ser uno de los más excelsos poetas de la Sinagoga. Buen número de sus Siónidas son todavía recitadas por las comunidades hebreas de los ritos germano y polaco. ;<Gabirol—es- cribe Salvatore de Benedetti (i) — es más ¿>rande en los conceptos; Moisés Abenes- ra más apasionado; pero Yehudá es más igual, más uno, y al mismo tiempo más llano y penetrante... Ninguno, que com- prenda la poética virtud de los Salmos (1; Canxoitiei'C sacro di Gindu Levita, G\ Pá- gina XXXIII. y de los Profetas, podrá menospreciar á Yehudá ha-Leví, que siguió á estos mo- delos, no á guisa de imitador ó falsifica- dor vulgar, sino nutriendo su inteligen- cia y su corazón con su sustancia y su meollo. Y sus hermanos en la Fe lo sin- á tieron así; y por eso entre ellos llegaron ser sus cantos poco menos que Salmos bí- blicos, sagrados y á la vez populares.» Según el Catálogo compilado por el ilus- tre Luzzatto, el número de poesías de Ye- hudá asciende á 827, dos de las cuales es- tán escritas en lengua árabe, y las restan- tes en el más puro hebreo. Y no solamente escribió Yehudá versos d lo divino, sino también poesías profanas, cuyos principa- les temas son el amor y la amistad, y en- tre las que sobresalen lindísimos epita- lamios. Pero la inspiración sagrada fué la que principalmente alimentó la musa de Yehudá: «Abengabirol, deplorando su abandono, nos convence; Abenesra, llo- rando sus frustrados amores, nos impre- siona; pero Yehudá ha-Leví, llevando el luto de Sión, la dulce amada, nos penetra profundamente y remueve lo más íntimo de nuestras fibras. Ningún corazón per- manece insensible á la viril y sublime elo- cuencia del poeta nacional que canta á Is- rael, á su Dios, á su Santuario, á su deca- dencia en lo pasado y á su gloria en lo ve- nidero (i).)) (I) H. Graetz: Lesjuifs d'Espagne, trad. Stcn- ne; Paris, 1872, p. 219. Cons., acerca de Ychudá: D. Kaufmann : Je/indn ha-Levi, Versiich eiiter Charakteristik; Breslau, 1877. — L. Frank: /^A«- da Halevi (núin. 11 de la colección: Popular Wis- senschaftliche überjüd. GescJiichte iind Literatur, editada por J. Gosscl, en 1902). — A. von Octtin- gen: Die synagogale Elegik des Volkes Israel, bes. die Zion-Elegie Jiidah ha Levi's ais Atis- druck dtr Hoffnting Israels; Dorpat, 1853. — H. Brody: Stndien zit den Dichtungen Jehiida ha- Levi's; Berlín, 1895. — Ilarkavy: R. Ye/tuda ha-Levi (en Voskhod, 1881 ; y en Keneset Israel, I, 77). — J. Derenbourg (en fA Journal Asiatiqtic de 1865; II, 264 y sigs.). — Abraharas: Jewish Literatnre; pág. 126 y sigs.— Lady Magnus: ycujs// Portraits: pág, 1 y sigs. — J. Weill (en la Revne des eludes juives; XXXVIII, pág. LXV). — J. Jacobs: /e7tts/i Ideáis; pág. 103 y sigs. — Pinkusfeld: Juda ha- Levi Mint Grammaíikuses Exegeta; Budapest, 1887. — A, Frankl-GrUn: Die Ethik des Juda Ha- levi. — Bernfcld: Daat Elohim; pág. 182 y sigs. En cuanto á Ychudá como poeta, véanse: M. Sachs: Die religiosa Poesie der Jnden in Spanien; Berlin, 1845 (2.* ed. por S. Bcrnfeld; Ber- lin, 1901). — L. Zunz: Die synagogale Poesie des Mittelalters; Berlin, 1855-1859.—ídem: Literatur- geschichte der synagogaleu Poesie; Berlin, 1865.— Kampf: Nichtaudalusische Poesie andalusischer — XIl — Además de estas obras poéticas (i), Ye- hudá ha-Leví escribió otra, de carácter Dichier; Prag, 1858. — H. Brody and K. Albrccht: The new-hebrew school ofpoeís ofthe spanish-ara- bian epoch; selected hebrew texis with itttroduc- tion, notes and dictionary ; London, 1906. — F. Pcrlcs: Die Pocsie der Juden iin Mittelalter; Frankfurt, J. Kanffmann, 1907 (págs. 15-16). Luzzatto (que adquirió en Tiínez, en 1839, uno de los cuatro códices europeos conocidos del Diwaii ó colección de poesías de Yehudá) publicó en Praga, en 1840, con el titulo de Virgo filia lehndce, sive excet'pta eí^ inédito celeberrimi Ie¡i¡idce Levi- i(c Divaiio, pra'fntione et iiotis illiístrata, 22 epi- talamios, 44 himnos sobre la peregrinación del au- tor á Tierra Santa y dos epístolas en prosa rima- da.
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