Hafs ibn Albar
[4]: 356–360 This system had been stable for some time, but eventually the children of former kings became claimants to the throne and civil wars broke out.
Standard Dhimmi contracts usually gave Christians and Jews fewer rights than their Muslim counterparts.
[6]: 25, 445 Nobles, such as Count Theodimir, often managed to negotiate treaties which allowed them to keep some of their status, land and wealth, along with the rights of their subjects.
[11]: 14 Other Christian communities had counts, such as Flavius Athaulf of Coimbra, son of the aforementioned Prince Sisebut.
Adolf Neubauer refuted this based on the other works of Hafs, such as his pro-Christian polemics, which were unavailable to Colville.
[14] His free use of complex Arabic poetic forms and Islamic-sounding language limited the marginalisation that Christians felt during the 10th century and after.
[18] Hafs translated the entire book of Psalms into the Arabic language with a poetic urjūzah prologue of his own,[3]: 79 completing the work in 889AD.
[3]: 88 In it, he justified the methods he used to translate the Psalms, as well his use of not only the Arabic language but poetic forms specific to Andalusi culture that may have been controversial at the time.
[23]: 209 As the author of the Apologeticus Contra Perfidos, Abbot Samson is noted for being among the last major Mozarabic writers to write in Latin who nevertheless turned his attention to translating works from Latin to Arabic, "epitomising the new reality" of Arabic language prominence in the Mozarabic community.
[16] He resolved, however, not to translate from the Vulgate "word-for-word" as another author's earlier prose version did, something he said was "not worthy of admiration", because he said "he ruined the meanings through his ignorance of the laws of the language.
What he translated was not understood..."[3]: 85 Although it agrees with the Old Latin more than the Vulgate, this earlier prose version may have drawn directly from the Septuagint and Peshitta.
[23]: 208 This Arabic translation is significant as for some it represents a turning point in the cultural assimilation of native Christians.
He was aware that rajaz verses were considered inferior amongst Arabs, but he defended its use on the grounds that it was easily understood and allowed for a literal translation.
[3]: 83 If Hafs is considered to be furthering Álvaro's agenda rather than departing from it, he may be interpreted as "conditioning Arabic to Latin" which would help to prove the superiority of Gothic culture.
Arie Schippers characterises Hafs as "reasonably accurate, but sometimes he allows himself a greater space, extending the text with synonyms and additions, probably by the constraint of the metre" whereas Saadia Gaon's "translation usually pursues the literal meaning and sequence of the Hebrew words...
He clarified that he intended his translation of the Psalms to be used liturgically in churches and monasteries and for 'the forgiveness of sins',[18] though he acknowledged that his work would not be necessary for Christians who had totally retired from the World.
[19]: 59 Hafs' later works often quote the Gospels as translated by Isḥâq ibn Balashk al-Qurṭubî (Spanish: Isaac Velasco[27]: 69 the Cordoban), completed either 904 or 942 (depending on how one reads the dating inscription),[14]: 61 making the translation of the Psalms Hafs' earliest work.
Archbishop John of Seville (remembered in Arabic as: زيد المطران Zayd al-Matran) is believed to have produced the translation of the Psalms, Epistles and Gospels preserved in MS Madrid 4971.
[14]: 75 Hafs has also been thought to have translated (or rather compiled and interpolated)[19]: 58 Orosius' Seven Books of History Against the Pagans as the Kitāb Hurūshiyūsh, though this is now doubted.
The Kitāb Hurūshiyūsh eulogises Orosius with "raḥmat allāh ‘alay-hī", that is ‘may Allah be merciful upon him’[19]: 59 which departs from Hafs' preferred theonym Allahumma.
[19]: 60–61 It does, however, show that either Hafs changed his view of Islamised Arabic or the Kitāb Hurūshiyūsh was translated by another Mozarab.
[11]: 14 Hafs thought very highly of Jerome, describing him as "the first in his science" and recommending his Vulgate ”for teaching and interpretation”.
[31]: 158 Jewish writers of later years referred to Hafs as the author of the Book of al-Quti, a compilation of moral maxims.
Hafs was highly esteemed among the Christians, Jews and Muslims of Spain and his works describing the Trinity, the nature of Christ and the Eucharist were seen as definitive long after his death.
[32]: 244 His translation of the Psalms also remained popular after his death, not only for its intended Ecclesiastic and Monastic use, but among Muslims and Jews as well.
