Translation and Polemics in the Anti-Jewish Literature of the Muslims of Christian Iberia: The “Conversion of Kaʿb al-Aḥbār” or the “Lines of the Torah”

Abstract

Abstract Muslim anti-Christian and anti-Jewish polemics from Christian Iberia often include references and quotations from the Qurʾān, the Torah, and the Gospels. Even when they are composed in Romance, the script used in their writing is often Arabic. This article discusses the conversion narrative of “the lines of the Torah,” in which translation is halfway between the faithful rendering of the original and its interpretation by its Muslim scribe. I show in this paper that the ability to convey, or so to speak, to “unveil,” new meanings makes translation a powerful means to convert the opponent and to strengthen the faith in Islam. The analysis aims to shed light on the intellectual and social milieus of “the lines of the Torah,” and deals with translation in other anti-Jewish Muslim writings from the Christian territories: the “Jewish Confession,” or Ashamnu; the chronology in Seder Olam; and the lengthy Muslim anti-Jewish polemic of Taʾyīd al-milla (The Fortification of the Faith or Community).