Book of Scales

These are the names of the elders of the holy tongue:

R. Se‘adya of Pithom, the incomparable gaon, the first of speakers everywhere, the compiler of Sefer ha-egron and of The Book of Clarification of the Hebrew Language.

A scholar of Jerusalem whose name we do not know; he wrote eight books of grammatical rules, and all eight were polished like jewels.

R. Adonim Ibn Tamim, the Babylonian, wrote a book that was a combination of Hebrew and Arabic.

R. Judah Ibn Quraysh of Tahert, Algeria, wrote Sefer ha-yaḥas and called it Father and Mother, and it is therefore deserving of honor.

R. Menaḥem Ibn Sarūq the Spaniard likewise composed the famous Maḥberet, in which are found words of great comfort.

R. Adonim ha-Levi [Dunash] ben Labraṭ of Fez too responded with cogent words.

R. Judah bar David, also of Fez, surnamed Ḥayyūj, wisest of all the artisans of language, greatest of those who think deep thoughts, whose own thought begat four books: The Book of Silent Letters, The Book of Geminate Verbs, The Book of Punctuation, and The Book of Baldness. God granted great wisdom to these four children of his.

Our master R. Hayya Ga’on gathered The Book of the Gatherer, full of wisdom and the perfection of beauty.

R. Jonah, the physician, Ibn Janāḥ of Córdoba, wrote a full seven books, the seventh of which was The Book of Roots—all of them are precious.

R. Solomon the Spaniard, called Ibn Gabirol, of Málaga, wove a collection of poetry so beautifully weighed [metered] that one could not weigh out silver enough to purchase it, four hundred lines in all.

R. Samuel ha-Nagid of Córdoba inscribed The Book of Wealth, the greatest of all the books mentioned here, none of them better.

R. Moses ha-Kohen the Spaniard, called Ibn Gikatilla, of Córdoba, clarified [translated] several books’ worth of grammar, not to mention his addition of many topics our predecessors knew nothing of. He also wrote The Book of Masculine and Feminine [Words].

R. David, the judge, Ibn Hajjar, a Spaniard from Granada, accompanied them; he decided he had in him the makings of The Book of Kings.

R. Judah Ibn Bal‘am, a Spaniard from Toledo, collected a number of small books.

R. Isaac Ibn Yashush, a Spaniard from Toledo, who made The Book of Inflections.

R. Levi Ibn al-Tabban, a Spaniard from Saragossa, who edited The Book of the Key.

All these books were written in the language of the Hagarites [i.e., Arabic] aside from the notebooks, the poetry, and Sefer ha-egron.