Samuel was not only vizier, he was also Rabbi. His knowledge of the Rabbinical literature was profound, and his "Introduction to the Talmud" (_Mebo ha-Talmud_) is still a standard work. He expended much labor and money on collecting the works of the Gaonim. The versatility of Samuel was extraordinary. From the palace he would go to the school; after inditing a despatch he would compose a hymn; he would leave a reception of foreign diplomatists to discuss intricate points of Rabbinical law or examine the latest scientific discoveries. As a poet, his muse was that of the town, not of the field. But though he wrote no nature poems, he resembled the ancient Hebrew Psalmists in one striking feature. He sang new songs of thanksgiving over his own triumphs, uttered laments on his own woes, but there is an impersonal note in these songs as there is in the similar lyrics of the Psalter. His individual triumphs and woes were merged in the triumphs and woes of his people. In all, Samuel added some thirty new hymns to the liturgy of the Synagogue. But his muse was as versatile as his mind. Samuel also wrote some stirring wine songs. The marvellous range of his powers helped him to complete what Chasdai had begun. The centre of Judaism became more firmly fixed than ever in Spain. When Samuel the Nagid died in 1055, the golden age of Spanish literature was in sight. Above the horizon were rising in a glorious constellation, Solomon Ibn Gebirol, the Ibn Ezras, and Jehuda Halevi. BIBLIOGRAPHY CHASDAI. Graetz,--III, p. 215 [220]. DUNASH AND MENACHEM. Graetz.--III, p. 223 [228]. JANACH. _Encycl. Brit._, Vol. XIII, p. 737. CHAYUJ. M. Jastrow, Jr.--_The Weak and Geminative Verbs in Hebrew by Hayyûg_ (Leyden, 1897). HEBREW PHILOLOGY. Steinschneider.--_Jewish Literature_, p. 131. CHAZARS. _Letter of Chasdai to Chazars_ (Engl. transl. by Zedner, _Miscellany of the Society of Hebrew Literature_, Vol. I). Graetz.--III, p. 138 [140]. SAMUEL IBN NAGDELA. Graetz,--III, p, 254 [260]. CHAPTER X THE SPANISH-JEWISH POETS (I) Solomon Ibn Gebirol.--"The Royal Crown."--Moses Ibn Ezra.--Abraham Ibn Ezra.--The Biblical Commentaries of Ibn Ezra and the Kimchis.