Dunash ben Labrat Biography | Poet

Dunash ha-Levi ben Labrat (920-990) (Hebrew : ; Arabic : ) was a medieval Jewish commentator, poet, and grammarian of the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. He was, according to Moses ibn Ezra, born in Fes. The name Dunash being of Berber origin. In his youth he travelled to Baghdad to study with Saadia Gaon.

Dunash Ben Labraṭ, grammarian and poet, belonged to the brilliant circle attracted to Cordova by Ḥasdai, and took a large share in promoting the Jewish “Golden Age” under the Moors in Andalusia. Dunash not only helped in the foundation of a school of scientific philology, but adapted Arabian metres to Hebrew verse, and thereby gave an impulse to the neo-Hebraic poetry, which reached its highest level in Spain.