Ben Shal, born in Seville around the year 1212, from a Jewish family. Soon he converted to Islam, emphasizing very young among Muslims, with whom he studied Arabic grammar and koranic sciences for his literary skills and his ability to improvise occasional verses. He lived given to literature until 1248 when, to conquer Sevilla Christians left their city and went to Ceuta, where he found work as secretary of the governor of the place. He drowned in a sea voyage to Tunisia in 1251, before the age of forty. Ben Shal was basically a love poet who enriched the erotic oriental tradition with innovation metrics and language. Most of his poems were dedicated to a Jewish boy named Musa, whom he immortalized in his verses, since they not only achieved the highest honor to be included in The Thousand and One Nights, but to be reissued frequently endistintas times and the songs preserved as oral...read more
