Ethical Will

Ethical wills were popular among medieval Jews, beginning in the eleventh century. A related Arabic genre was waṣīya (bequest) literature. This text, preserved in the Cairo Geniza, is a transcription into Hebrew characters of a version by the ninth-century Muslim Zubayr ibn Bakkār of a famous Arabic waṣīya attributed to ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, cousin and son-in-law of Muḥammad and a figure of central importance to Shi‘i Muslims. It has been slightly modified, by the omission of a direct reference to Islam, for a Jewish audience, perhaps by a Jewish father copying it for his son. The first lines encourage the reader to maintain a moderate, virtuous stance in the face of the extremes encountered in life; one should be fair toward both friends and enemies—and continue to work hard, whatever one’s state of mind.