Jonah ibn Janah

Jonah ibn Janah or Abū al-Walīd Marwān ibn Janāḥ , , was a Jewish rabbi, physician and Hebrew grammarian active in al-Andalus (Muslim-ruled Spain). Born in Córdoba, ibn Janah was mentored there by Isaac ibn Gikatilla and Isaac ibn Mar Saul ben Levi before he moved around 1012 due to the siege and sack of the city by Berbers. He then settled in Zaragoza, where he wrote Kitab al-Mustalhaq, which expanded on the research of Judah ben David Hayyuj and led to a series of controversial exchanges with Samuel ibn Naghrillah that remained unresolved during their lifetimes.

His magnum opus, Kitab al-Tanqīḥ, contained both the first complete grammar for Hebrew and a dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, and is considered "the most influential Hebrew grammar for centuries" which became a family name. He is also called by the Arabic ism Marwān (Ibn Ezra cites him as "Marinos") and by the kunya Abū al-Walīd, which was often given to men named Jonah. Ibn Janah also mentioned Judah ben David Hayyuj as one of his major influences. He was unlikely to have met him because Hayyuj was active in Córdoba and died before ibn Janah returned there.

Around 1012, he returned to Córdoba, where he studied and practiced medicine. Today, the only extant manuscript of this work is preserved in the Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul, Turkey (MS Aya Sofia 3603, fols. 1v–90v).

Ibn Janah became known as a successful physician; he was often called by the laqab "the Physician" and was mentioned by the 13th-century Syrian physician ibn Abi Usaybi'a in his collection of biographies, Lives of the Physicians.

Aside from his work in medicine, he also worked on the field of Hebrew grammar and philology, joining other scholars in Zaragoza such as Solomon ibn Gabirol.

Kitāb al-Mustalḥaq Ibn Janah was deeply influenced by the works of Judah ben David Hayyuj. ), ibn Janah strongly supported Hayyuj's work, but proposed some improvements.

Dispute with Hayyuj's supporters In the Kitāb al-mustalḥaq, ibn Janah praised Hayyuj's works and acknowledged them as the source for most of his knowledge of Hebrew grammar. He intended for this work to be uncontroversial, and to be an extension to the works of Hayyuj, whom he deeply admired.

However, the work offended Hayyuj's supporters. They considered Hayyuj the greatest authority of all times, worthy of taqlid or unquestioning conformity. They were offended when ibn Janah, a relatively junior scholar at the time, criticized their master and found his works incomplete. One of the disciples of Hayyuj was Samuel ibn Naghrillah, the vizier of the Taifa of Granada. Ibn Janah subsequently wrote the brief Risãlat al-Tanbīh "Letter of Admonition", which defended his views, as well as the Risalat al-Taqrīb wa l-Tashīl "Letter of Approximation and Facilitation", which sought to clarify Hayyuj's work for beginners.

While visiting his friend Abu Sulaiman ibn Taraka, he met a stranger from Granada who enumerated various attacks on ibn Janah's views. Ibn Janah wrote the Kitab al-Taswi'a to counter the arguments. Ibn Naghrilla then wrote Rasāʾil al-rifāq "Letters from Friends", attacking ibn Janah, who then responded by writing the Kitāb al-Tashwīr "Book of Confusion". Further pamphlets were exchanged between the two, which were later of great benefit to Hebrew grammarians. The pamphlets were in Arabic and never translated into Hebrew. Many were lost, but some were reprinted and translated into French. The debates were unresolved during their lifetimes.

Kitāb al-Talkhīṣ The Kitāb al-Talkhīṣ or "Book of the Commentary" is the only known medical treatise by Ibn Janah. It is divided into twenty-seven chapters corresponding to the letters of the Arabic alphabet except ẓāʾ. Most chapters are subdivided into three parts, the first on medicinal drugs (mainly plant-based), the second on weights and measures and the third on difficult terms. There are a total of 1099 entries in the Talkhīṣ.

Kitab al-Tanqīḥ A page from a copy of ibn Janah's magnum opus Kitab al-Tanqih, translated to Hebrew by Judah ibn Tibbon. Towards the end of his life, ibn Janah wrote what is considered his magnum opus, Sephardic studies professor Zion Zohar calls it "the most influential Hebrew grammar for centuries", and an example of where "medieval Judeo-Arabic literary culture reached its apogee". Writer David Tene "s" on the Kitāb al-Lumaʿ, calling it "the first complete description of Biblical Hebrew, and no similar work - comparable in scope, depth and precision - was written until modern times...[it was] the high point of linguistic thought in all [medieval grammatical] history". The EJIW described the Kitāb al-Uṣūl as "the basis of all other medieval Hebrew dictionaries". The Jewish Encyclopedia, however, notes "serious gaps" in the Kitāb al-Tanqīh, because it does not discuss vowels and accents, and because it omits to explain Hayyuj's works on which it is based on. The Encyclopædia Britannica calls him "perhaps the most important medieval Hebrew grammarian and lexicographer" and says that his works "clarif[ied] the meaning of many words" and contained the "origin of various corrections by modern textual critics".