This school does not appear to have made any effort to continue after his death. The times were in every way unfavorable to the Gaonate, and it was impossible for it to regain its pristine vigor. When Haï died, in 1038, mourned by all the Jews, and eulogized by the greatest poet of the time, Ibn-Gebirol, and by his admirer Chananel, in Africa, the time for the dissolution of the school of Pumbeditha had also come. It is true that the college immediately chose a successor, who acted at once as Gaon and as Exilarch, it seems only in order to have the two offices buried together in the same grave with his person.
Chiskiya, the great grandson of the quarrelsome Exilarch David ben Zaccaï, was appointed head of the school. But the glory which it was thought he would shed upon the school could not make itself visible. Chiskiya had many implacable enemies who were jealous of his elevation. They slandered him at court, for what reason or under what pretext is unknown. The political power of the Eastern Caliphate was at that time in the hands of Jelal Addaulah. He had wrested from the phantom caliph the title of "King of kings," and exacted tribute from both Jews and Christians. The great Sultan may have made use of the just or unjust complaint against Chiskiya for his own profit. The last Gaon was imprisoned, tortured probably, that he might discover his treasures, robbed of all his property, and then executed (1040). Thus the Gaonate came to an end through the oppression of the weak Caliphate. Babylonia had played its part in Jewish history, and for a long time it sank into complete oblivion. Chiskiya's two sons were also in danger of arrest, but they escaped, and after traveling about for a long time, settled in Spain, where they were respected as the last members of the House of David, and under the name Ibn-Daudi, devoted themselves to the cultivation of the muses.
Jewish Spain thus became the heir of Judæa, Babylonia, and northern Africa, and greatly increased its inheritance for succeeding generations. There the exiled sons of the Jewish-Chazar princes, and of the Exilarchs, found a refuge. At the head of the community of Andalusia was Samuel Ibn-Nagrela (or Nagdela), a man distinguished for wisdom, virtue and position, the first of the succession of Jewish teachers coming after the Geonim. He united in his person all the virtues of the three men who had made Jewish Spain famous. He was like Chasdaï, a generous chief and a patron of learning, like Moses ben Chanoch, a thorough Talmudist, and like Dunash ben Labrat, a poet and grammarian.
The life of Samuel (Ishmael) Halevi Ibn-Nagrela was remarkable. He was born in Cordova (in 993), whither his father had emigrated from Merida, and studied the Talmud in the school of Chanoch. Jehuda Chayuj, the father of Hebrew philology, instructed him in the subtleties of the Hebrew language, and the Andalusian capital, which was then the center of culture, offered him sufficient opportunity to make himself master of Arabic. When he was 20 years old, in consequence of civil war, he and many others were obliged to quit Cordova. The Barbary chieftain, Suleiman, having defeated the Arabs and the Sclavonian body-guard of the Caliphs in battle, destroyed the beautiful buildings of the capital with African fury, permitted the women to be violated, and reduced the richest families to beggary (April, 1013).
The noble Jewish families emigrated to Granada, Toledo, and even to Saragossa, to escape this persecution. Samuel Ibn-Nagrela settled in the port of Malaga.
He had a small business, and at the same time pursued Talmudic and linguistic studies. Besides Hebrew, Arabic and Chaldee, he understood four languages, including Latin, Castilian and the Berber tongue. Unlike most other Jews, who wrote Arabic in Hebrew characters, Ibn-Nagrela was a master of Arabic calligraphy, an art highly esteemed among the Arabs. To his knowledge of languages and calligraphy he owed the high position which he held, and which had not been attained by any Jew since the destruction of the Jewish state.
Civil wars and the ambition of the Emirs had broken up the empire of the Ommiyyade Caliphs into small principalities. Andalusia, after the fall of the last Ommiyyades, was subdivided like Germany and Italy of the past. The Arab historians call the regents of this period the "Kings of Anarchy." One race of Berbers, the Sinhajas, founded a kingdom of their own in the south of Spain, under a leader named Maksen (1020). Granada, largely populated by Jews, became the capital of this kingdom, and Malaga was also a part of it. In Malaga, Abulkasim Ibn-Alarif, the vizir of Habus, the second king of Granada, had a palace next to Samuel's little shop. This brought good fortune to the poor scholar, and raised him above want, and ultimately exalted him to a height worthy of his greatness.
A slave of the vizir who frequently furnished information to her master, regularly had her letters written by the poor Jew. These letters displayed so much linguistic and calligraphic skill that the vizir Ibn-Alarif became anxious to know the writer. He had Ibn-Nagrela called into his presence, and took him into his service as his private secretary (1025). The vizir soon discovered that Samuel possessed great political insight, and consulted him on all important affairs of state, and as his advice was always sound, the vizir at length undertook nothing without Samuel's approval.
When Ibn-Alarif fell ill, King Habus was in despair as to what to do about his complicated relations with neighboring states. The dying vizir referred him to his Jewish secretary, confessed that his successful undertakings had been mainly due to Samuel's wise suggestions, and advised Habus to employ him as a counselor. The Berber king of Granada, who had fewer prejudices against the Jews than the Arab Mussulmans, raised Samuel Ibn-Nagrela to the dignity of minister (Katib), and put him in charge of the diplomatic and military affairs (1027). Thus the shopkeeper of Malaga lived in the king's palace, and had a voice in all matters concerning the Pyrenean peninsula. For a Mahometan who chose a vizir ruled, but did not govern. This was the affair of the chief minister, who was answerable to the king with his life. Habus had no reason to regret his choice. His kingdom flourished under the rule of the wise and active Jewish vizir. Samuel knew how to occupy the king, and how to please him. He composed a poem of praise to Habus in seven different languages. Diplomatic, wise, and always master of himself, Ibn-Nagrela knew how to employ circumstances, and had the art of disarming his opponents. He drew a masterly picture of a worthy governor, which seems to have been his own guide: "He whose counsel is as pure as sunlight, who is free from base desires, whose eyes do not close in sleep, whose thoughts are firm as towers, whom dignity encompasses like shining armor, who knows how to subdue the will of others, and keeps aloof from what brings disgrace, is worthy to rule." His wisdom and piety preserved him from the pride peculiar to those that have risen from low estate, making them hateful. The gentleness with which he opposed his enemies is shown by an anecdote. Near the palace of Habus there lived a Mussulman seller of spices, who no sooner beheld the Jewish minister in the company of the king, than he overwhelmed him with curses and reproaches. Habus, indignant at such conduct, commanded Samuel to punish this fanatic by cutting out his tongue. The Jewish vizir, however, knew how to silence him who cursed. He gave him money, and converted the curses into blessings. When Habus again noticed the seller of spices, he was astonished at the change, and questioned Samuel about it. He replied, "I have torn out his angry tongue, and given him instead a kind one." The seller of spices, however, was not his only enemy; there were several others, and very dangerous ones. The fanatical Mahometans beheld in the elevation of an unbeliever to so high a rank a mockery of their religion. It aroused their displeasure to see the numerous Jews of the kingdom of Granada hold their heads aloft as though on an equality with the Moslems. Two officers of state, Ibn-Abbas and Ibn-Abi Musa, plotted to depose him. But their plots failed, and they were condemned to death. Fortune ever smiled on this Jewish vizir, although he was at one time in danger of losing his position and his life. When King Habus died in 1037 there arose two parties in Granada, who rallied round two princes. Most of the Barbary grandees, and some of the influential Jews, Joseph Ibn-Migash, Isaac ben Leon, and Nehemia Ashkafa, sided with the younger son, Balkin (or Bologgin); a smaller party (amongst them Samuel) desired that the elder son, named Badis, should be the successor. The influential party were ready to hail Balkin as king, when he abdicated in favor of his brother. Badis became king (October, 1037), and Samuel not only retained his former position, but became the actual king of Granada, as the pleasure-loving Badis gave but little attention to affairs of government. Later on Balkin repented of his generosity to his brother, and put obstacles in the way of his government. Badis therefore hinted to the physician of Balkin to refrain from giving him medicine during an illness, and this led to his death. After his death the government of Badis and the position of Ibn-Nagrela remained undisturbed. Balkin's partisans were forced to leave Granada, and amongst them the three Jews mentioned above. They emigrated to Seville, and were there received in a friendly manner by the king of that country, Mahomet Aljafer, who was an opponent of the king of Granada. One of the fugitives, Joseph Ibn-Migash, was raised by the king of Seville to a high position, and became the ancestor of a prominent personage. It is interesting to see in the writings of a contemporary historian the form used by the Jewish minister in the royal decrees addressed to the Mahometan people. Samuel, or as he was called, Ismael Ibn-Nagrela, did not shrink from using the formulæ of Moslem rulers. He opened with the words, Chamdu-l-Illahi (praised be God), and added, when mentioning the name of Mahomet, the sentence, "May God pray over him and bless him." He exhorted those to whom the circulars were addressed to live according to the principles of Islam; and in general his ordinances were couched in the Mahometan style.
Without doubt both Habus and Badis permitted the Jewish vizir to exercise authority over the Jewish congregations of Granada, similar to that which Chasdaï and Ibn-Jau had possessed in Cordova. Samuel was named chief and prince (Nagid) of the Jews, and this title is used by Jewish authors. The minister of state was also the rabbi; he presided over the school, where he delivered lectures on the Talmud to his disciples. He gave judicial decisions on religious questions, and in fact completely filled the functions of a rabbi of the time. The same pen which wrote the decrees of the government was used for treatises and discourses on the Talmud. Samuel Nagid compiled a methodology of the Talmud (Mebo ha-Talmud), in which he clearly explained the technical expressions of the Talmud. As an introduction, he added a list of the bearers of tradition from the men of the Great Assembly through the successive authorities of the Tanaite, Amoraite, Saburaite, and Gaonic schools down to Moses and Chanoch, his teachers. He afterwards composed a commentary to the whole Talmud for religious practices, which was afterwards highly prized, and was recognized as the standard authority (Hilchetha Gabriatha). Samuel Ibn-Nagrela was also a neo-Hebraic poet, and employed both rhyme and meter skilfully. He composed prayers in the form of psalms, full of religious depth and submission, and called the collection the Young Psalter (Ben Tehillim). He wrote thoughtful aphorisms and parables, the fruit of his deep observation of men and manners, and called this composition the younger book of Proverbs (Ben Mishle). Last he compiled a book of philosophy modeled on that of the Preacher (Ben Kohelet). The latter, written when he had attained an advanced age, was the most successful of his works, and is full of deep thought and eloquence. He also composed epigrams and songs of praise, but his poetic compositions, both secular and spiritual, are heavy and dull, full of thought, but devoid of beauty of form. It became proverbial to say, "Cold as the snow of Hermon, or as the songs of the Levite Samuel."