Yūsuf Yahūdī

Yūsuf Yahūdī (Yūsuf ibn Isḥaq ibn Mūsā) was a prominent Judeo-Persian poet of Bukhara. He was greatly respected; the Persian honorific mowlānā, “our master,” was used in reference to him. Yahūdī wrote short love poems and quatrains, as well as some longer narrative poems about biblical figures, such as Elijah and Moses (the latter contains a polemic against Muḥammad). Yahūdī likewise composed a lengthy poem in Tajik concerning the legend of Hannah and her seven sons, as well as a commentary on the Scroll of Antiochus. Some of his works are bilingual or even trilingual. In addition, Yahūdī translated Hebrew religious poetry by Solomon ibn Gabirol and Israel Najara into Judeo-Persian. His works constitute an important part of the Bukharan Judeo-Persian literary legacy and influenced generations of Judeo-Persian poets.