“Watchers of the Arabian Paths Shall Ask”: Meshullam de Piera, the Arabic Adab Tradition, and Hebrew Prose in Poetic Guise

Abstract

Meshullam De Piera wrote poetry in a time when it no longer is popular, but he refused to give up on poetry. He was a poet, but he fully understood the significance of the adab and did not want to give up on the adab as well. He knew that his potential audience was one of addressees who were not consumers of poetry. Therefore, he sold them a new genre: adab in the guise of poetry. The audience bought it.