´¡²ÑĪ±·Ä€, pen name (³Ù²¹á¸µa±ô±ô´Çá¹£) of BENYÄ€MĪN B. MĪŠÄ€Ê¾ÄªL KÄ€ŠÄ€NĪ, an outstanding Jewish poet of Iran. According to one of his poems, “TafsÄ«r-e azhÄrÅt-nÄma” (Ben Zvi Institute, Jerusalem, ms. no. 1085), he was born in 1083/1672-73 and was still alive in 1145/1732-33. Our only information about his life is contained in his Sargoá¸ašt-e AmÄ«nÄ bÄ hamsareš (Library of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, mic. no. 19874), where he addresses each of his seven children and complains about his wife after twenty years of marriage. He also composed a “tarÇ°Ä«Ê¿-band” satirizing women (Ben Zvi Institute, ms. no. 1044). He lived in KÄšÄn during the Afghan invasion and composed a poem in praise of Ašraf AfḡÄnÄ« (Ben Zvi Institute, ms. no. 1044). His poems and those of his fellow-citizen and contemporary, BÄbÄʾī b. FarhÄd, suggest that the Jews of KÄšÄn lived in tranquillity during Ašraf’s short reign. With the arrival of NÄder-qolÄ« (NÄder Shah AfšÄr) in pursuit of Ašraf, this tranquillity came to an end and in 1142/ 1729-30 the Jews of KÄšÄn, including AmÄ«nÄ, were converted to Islam for a period of seven months (A. Netzer, Cronika šel BÄbÄÄ« ben FarhÄd, Jerusalem, 1977).
A recent study of Judaeo-Persian manuscripts in the libraries of the Hebrew University and the Ben Zvi Institute in Jerusalem, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, and the British Museum in London has shown that AmÄ«nÄ wrote approximately forty poetic works, which are now scattered among various collections of poetry. His mostly short poems have a variety of meters. His longest works concern Esther and Mordechai (based on the Book of Esther), the sacrifice of Isaac according to the midrash of YahÅ«dÄ b. Šamūʾel b. Ê¿AbbÄs (a poet and preacher of 12th century Tunisia and Syria), and TafsÄ«r-e azhÄrÅt or commentary on the “Commandments and Prohibitions” of Shlomo b. Gabirol (the famous poet of 11th century Spain). Each of these works contains 300 to 400 verses. He also composed a poem of 58 verses criticizing the judges of KÄšÄn, a short poem in mixed Persian and Hebrew, and a 92-verse poem in Hebrew (A. Netzer, “TahnonÄ«m le-RabbÄ« BinyÄmÄ«n ben MÄ«šÄʾel mi-KÄšÄn,” ±Ê±ðÊ¿²¹³¾Ä«³¾ 2, 1979, pp. 48-54). Concerning some of his work and his Ê¿Aqedat Yiẓḥaq (“The sacrifice of Isaac”), see A. Netzer, Montaḵab-e ašÊ¿Är-e fÄrsÄ« az ÄṯÄr-e YahÅ«dÄ«Än-e ĪrÄn, Tehran, 1352 Š./1973, pp. 50-51, 351-64.
Bibliography:
See also W. Bacher, “Judaeo-Persian,” The Jewish Encyclopaedia VII, pp. 13-15, 17.
(A. Netzer)
Originally Published: December 15, 1989
Last Updated: August 3, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 9, p. 954
A. Netzer, “´¡²ÑĪ±·Ä€,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/9, p. 954, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/amina-pen-name-takallos-of-benyamin-b (accessed on 30 December 2012).
