Yemenite Jewish poetry
There is to be noted in Zechariah al-Ḍāhirī's ("circa" 1531 – d. 1608) poetic style a marked transition from the early Spanish-type of poetry typical of Yemen prior to his time (depicted in the prosaic writings of Daniel berav Fayyūmī and Avraham b. Ḥalfon, both, of Yemenite Jewish provenance) and the later classical Yemenite poetic writings (as depicted in the liturgical poems composed by Yosef ben Israel and Shalom Shabazi). Unlike the latter who compiled works, both, in Hebrew and in Judeo-Arabic, al-Ḍāhirī's corpus of prosaic writings are written almost exclusively in Hebrew. Much of al-Ḍāhirī's poetry was inspired by the great Spanish poets, while other works are said to have been inspired by Immanuel of Rome. Some of al-Ḍāhirī's poems are panegyrics influenced by the Arabic "madiḥ", in praise of great Jewish scholars, such as Rabbeinu Yerucham (1290-1350), a Provençal rabbi who moved to Spain in 1306, following the expulsion of the Jews from France. Other panegyrics were written about Rabbi Obadiah di Bertinoro (c. 1445-1515) and Maimonides.
Zechariah Dhahiri
The early Spanish poets of the Golden Age, Moses ibn Ezra (b. "circa" 1060), Alḥarizi (1170–1235), Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra (c. 1089–1167), Solomon ibn Gabirol (c. 1020–1058), Judah Halevi (died 1150), among others, had all left an indelible mark on Zechariah al-Ḍāhirī. Some of the greatest exponents of Jewish law had also come from Spain, namely, Maimonides and Alfasi. Other proponents of Jewish law from the Spanish Jewish exiles who were expelled from Spain began to make a name for themselves in the Land of Israel where they had come. Neither al-Ḍāhirī, nor the people of Yemen, were oblivious to this. Al-Ḍāhirī patterns his "Sefer Ha`anaḳ" (A treatise on Hebrew homonyms) after a work by a similar name written by Moses ibn Ezra. Al-Ḍāhirī's frequent mention of Sephardic prayer rites and customs in his "Ṣeidah la’derekh" leads one to conclude that al-Ḍāhirī was strongly influenced by the Spanish-rite "Siddur" (Sephardic Prayer Book), as he brings down portions of its layout in the biblical sections known as Parashat "Ṣav" and "Breishit". So, too, the author shows the influence of "kabbalistic" practices on his writings, such as where he devotes several chapters to theosophical Kabbalah in his "Sefer Ha-Mūsar", and where he brings down in his "Ṣeidah la’derekh" an esoteric teaching relating to the blowing of the ram's horn on New Year's Day and which practice is cited in the name of the illustrious Rabbi, Moses Cordovero. In another place, al-Ḍāhirī makes mention of the Sephardic practice where some will refrain from shaving their heads during the Counting of the Omer, while others prohibit the shaving of the head from the beginning of the counting until the thirty-third day of the Counting of the Omer. Here, incidentally, it is alluded that the Yemenite Jewish custom in this regard was different. Even so, al-Ḍāhirī levels harsh words of criticism against Spanish Jewry's lack of poetic style in their daily communications and "belles lettres", which, by that time, had mostly been lost by them.