Difference between revisions of "Solomon Ibn Gabirol" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
({{Contracted}})
Line 1: Line 1:
 
{{Contracted}}
 
{{Contracted}}
'''Solomon Ibn Gabirol''', also '''Solomon ben Judah''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: שלמה אבן גבירול, ''Š'lomoh 'ibn Gabiyrol'') is a Moorish [[Jew]]ish [[poet]] and [[philosopher]]. He was born in [[Málaga]] about [[1021]]; died about [[1058]] in [[Valencia]].  
+
'''Solomon Ibn Gabirol''', also '''Solomon ben Judah''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: שלמה אבן גבירול, ''Š'lomoh 'ibn Gabiyrol'')(c. 1021 – c. 1058), a Moorish [[Jew]]ish [[poet]] and [[philosopher]], became an important influence on medieval Christian scholasticism through his philosophical work, Fons Vitae, a Neoplatonic dialogue on metaphysics.  His philosophy was not widely studied among the Jews, probably because he did not include scriptural texts or references in his works. He was a renowned poet, and his poem, “The Kingly Crown,” is included in the Sephardic liturgy of the Day of Atonement.
 +
 +
He is sometimes referred to as "Avicebron" in the [[Western world|West]], a corruption of "Ibn Gabirol" == Life ==
 +
Shelomoh Ben Yehudah Ibn Gabirol was born in Málaga, Spain about 1021.  His father, Judah, had left Cordova  ten years earlier when war broke out in the Spanish peninsula,  and had moved the family to Saragossa, then to Málaga.  Gabirol’s father died while he was very young.  He studied the Talmud, Hebrew and Arabic, and astronomy, geometry and philosophy, and began writing poetry in his teens.  At the age of sixteen he wrote a poem later included in the services of many congregations, “Azharoth,” which began "I am the master, and Song is my slave."  The same year he wrote four dirges on the passing of the scholar Rav Hai Gaon in Babylon. At seventeen years of age he became the friend and protégé of Jekuthiel Ibn Hassan. Upon the [[assassin]]ation of the latter as the result of a political conspiracy, Gabirol composed an elegy of more than two hundred verses.  By nineteen, Gabirol was afflicted by a chronic illness which caused him to suffer from boils and left him in constant pain.  When barely twenty Gabirol wrote "Anak," a versified Hebrew grammar, alphabetical and acrostic, consisting of 400 verses divided into ten parts. Ninety-five lines of this grammar have been preserved by Solomon Parḥon; in these Gabirol reproaches his townsmen with their neglect of the [[Hebrew language]].  Sometime after his mother’s death in 1045, Gabirol left Saragossa, possibly banished because of his criticism of prominent members of the Jewish community.
  
He is sometimes referred to as "Avicebron" in the [[Western world|West]], a corruption of "Ibn Gabirol" ("Ibngebirol," "Avengebirol," "Avengebrol," "Avencebrol," "Avicebrol," "Avicebron").  
+
He spent several years as a wanderer in Spain, suffering many hardships which are reflected in his poetry.  It is thought that he traveled to Granada and found another friend and patron, Samuel ibn Nagdela.  Later an estrangement arose between them, and Nagdela became for a time the butt of Gabirol's irony.  Moshe Ibn Ezra (1055 – 1139), a Hebrew poet and literary critic and author of The Book of Discussion and Remembrance, , reported that Gabirol was known for his philosophical temperament and for  his "angry spirit which held sway over reason, and his demon within which he could not control." All testimonies agree that Gabirol was comparatively young at the time of his death, probably in 1058 or 1059, in Valencia.
  
==Biography==
+
A fabricated legend concerning the manner of Gabirol's death is related by Ibn Yaḥya in "Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah." In this legend, a Muslim poet, jealous of Gabirol's poetic gifts, killed him, and buried him beneath the roots of a fig tree. The tree bore fruit abundantly; and the fruit was of extraordinary sweetness. This strange circumstance excited attention; a search was instituted, the remains of the murdered Gabirol were brought to light, and the murderer expiated his crime with his life.  Another legend relates that he was trampled to death by a horseman.
Little is known of Gabirol's life. His parents died while he was a child. At seventeen years of age he became the friend and protégé of Jekuthiel Hassan. Upon the [[assassin]]ation of the latter as the result of a political conspiracy, Gabirol composed an elegy of more than 200 verses. The death of Hai Gaon also called forth a similar poem. When barely twenty Gabirol wrote "Anaḳ," a versified Hebrew grammar, alphabetical and acrostic, consisting of 400 verses divided into ten parts. Of this grammar, ninety-five lines have been preserved by Solomon Parḥon. In these Gabirol reproaches his townsmen with their neglect of the [[Hebrew language]].
 
  
Gabirol's residence in [[Saragossa]] was embittered by strife. He thought of leaving Spain, but remained and wandered about. He gained another friend and patron in the person of Samuel ibn Nagdela, whose praises he sang. Later an estrangement arose between them, and Nagdela became for a time the butt of Gabirol's bitterest irony. All testimonies agree that Gabirol was comparatively young at the time of his death, which followed years of wandering. The year of his death was probably 1058 or 1059.
+
== Thought and Works ==
 +
===Works ===
 +
Gabirol mentioned in one of his poems that he was the author of twenty books, now lost, on philosophical, linguistic, scientific, and religious topics. His most famous book is "Mekor Chayim," (Origin of Life), a Neoplatonic dialogue between master and disciple, written in Arabic around 1049.  Translated into Latin as "Fons Vitae," it was widely read by the Scholastics and is credited with introducing Neoplatonism to medieval Christian Europe. The Arabic original was lost but the Latin version is fully preserved, and a Hebrew translation of it was published in 1926. Ibn Gabirol also produced two works, in Arabic, on morals, "Tikkun Middoth Hanefesh," (Improvement of the Qualities of the Soul), and "Mivchar Hapeninim,"(Choice of Pearls). Choice of Pearls is a collection of proverbs attributed to Gabriol but possibly not authored by him.
  
A fabricated legend concerning the manner of Gabirol's death is related by Ibn Yaḥya in "Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah." In this legend, a Muslim poet, jealous of Gabirol's poetic gifts, killed him, and buried him beneath the roots of a fig tree. The tree bore fruit abundantly; and the fruit was of extraordinary sweetness. This strange circumstance excited attention; a search was instituted, the remains of the murdered Gabirol were brought to light, and the murderer expiated his crime with his life.
+
Citations in the works of later writers refer to a Biblical commentary by Gabirol, of which there are no surviving traces.  One citation by Ibn Ezra, an interpretation of the story of paradise, introduces philosophical ideas into the Biblical text. Two other citations show Gabirol to have been a supporter of the rational Biblical interpretation of Saadia.
  
==Restorer of Neoplatonism==
+
Jewish scholars largely ignored Gabirol’s philosophical works, possibly because they contained no reference to the laws and scriptures.  In the Jewish community he was known as a gifted poet who wrote both secular and religious verse.  More than four hundred of his poems have been published, including at least one hundred piyuttim and selihot written for fast days and holy days.  A number of Ibn Gabirol's religious hymns, including "Azharoth," "Kether Malchuth" (Royal Crown), "Shir Hakovod" (Song of Glory), and "Shir Hayichud" (Song of Unity) were included in the Jewish  prayer book, and are now part of the prayer service in Jewish communities around the world.
Gabirol was one of the first teachers of [[Neoplatonism]] in [[Europe]]. His role has been compared to that of [[Philo]]. Philo had served as the intermediary between Hellenic philosophy and the Oriental world; a thousand years later Gabirol Occidentalized Greco-Arabic philosophy and restored it to Europe. The philosophical teachings of Philo and Ibn Gabirol were largely ignored by their fellow Jews; the parallel may be extended by adding that Philo and Gabirol alike exercised a considerable influence in extra-Jewish circles: Philo upon early Christianity, and Ibn Gabirol upon the [[scholasticism]] of medieval Christianity. Gabirol's service in bringing the philosophy of Greece under the shelter of the Christian Church, was but a return for the service of the earlier Christian scholars, who had translated the chief works of Greek philosophy into Syriac and Arabic.
+
=== Neoplatonism ===
 +
==== "Fons Vitæ" ====  
 +
"Fons Vitæ" (Arabic,Yanbu’ al-Hayat;[[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: מקור חיים, ''Maqor Hayyim'') was written in Arabic, in the form of a dialogue between master and disciple. The name of the book was derived from Psalms 36:10, "For with Thee is the fountain [source] of life (meqor hayyim); In Thy light do we see light," and the fact that it considers matter and form as the basis of existence and the source of life in every created thing. It was translated into Latin in 1150, under the patronage of Archbishop Raymond of Toledo, by Ibn Daud (Johannes Hispanus) who translated the Arabic orally into Spanish, and Dominicus Gundissalinus, the Archdeacon of Segovia, who translated the spoken Spanish into written Latin.  The "Fons Vitæ" also bore the title "De Materia et Forma"(Of Matter and Form); the manuscript in the Mazarine Library is entitled "De Materia Universali."
  
"Fons Vitæ" (i.e., ; Ps. xxxvi 10) is a philosophical dialogue between master and disciple. The book derives its name from the fact that it considers matter and form as the basis of existence and the source of life in every created thing. It was translated from the Arabic into Latin in the year 1150.
 
  
==Identity with Avicebron==
+
The "Fons Vitæ" consists of five tractates, treating respectively of (1) matter and form in general and their relation in physical substances ("substantiæ corporeæ sive compositæ"); (2) the substance which underlies the corporeality of the world ("de substantia quæ sustinet corporeitatem mundi"); (3) proofs of the existence of "substantiæ simplices," or intermediaries between God and the physical world; (4) proofs that these "substantiæ simplices," or "intelligibiles," are likewise constituted of matter and form; and (5) universal matter and universal form.
  
In 1846 Solomon Munk discovered among the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] manuscripts in the [[Bibliothèque Nationale]], Paris, a work by Shem-Ṭob Palquera, which, upon comparison with a [[Latin]] manuscript of the "Fons Vitæ" of Avicebron (likewise found by Munk in the Bibliothèque Nationale), proved to be a collection of excerpts from an [[Arabic]] original of which the "Fons Vitæ" was evidently a translation.
+
The chief doctrines of the "Fons Vitæ" may be summarized as follows:
 +
 
 +
*(1) All created beings are constituted of form and matter.
 +
 
 +
*(2) This holds true both for the physical world ("substantiis corporeis sive compositis"); and for the spiritual world ("substantiis spiritualibus sive simplicibus"), which is the connecting link between the first substance ("essentia prima"), or Godhead, and the physical world ("substantia, quæ sustinet novem prædicamenta," the substance divided into nine categories).
  
Munk concluded that Avicebron or Avencebrol, who had for centuries been believed to be a Christian scholastic philosopher, was identical with the Jew Ibn Gabirol ("Orient, Lit." 1846, No. 46).
+
*(3) Matter and form are always and everywhere in the relation of "sustinens" and "sustentatum," "propriatum" and "proprietas," substratum and property or attribute.
  
==The "Fons Vitæ"==
+
The main thesis of the "Fons Vitæ" is that all that exists is constituted of matter and form; one and the same matter runs through the whole universe from the highest realms of the spiritual down to the lowest realms of the physical, excepting that matter becomes less and less spiritual the farther it is removed from its first source. Gabirol insists over and over again that the "materia universalis" is the substratum of all that exists.  
In the ''Fons Vitæ'', or "Fountain of Life" ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: מקור חיים, ''Maqor Hayyim''), Gabirol aims to outline but one part of his philosophical system, the doctrine of matter and form: hence the "Fons Vitæ" also bore the title "De Materia et Forma." The manuscript in the Mazarine Library is entitled "De Materia Universali."
 
  
The "Fons Vitæ" consists of five tractates, treating respectively of (1) matter and form in general and their relation in physical substances ("substantiæ corporeæ sive compositæ"); (2) the substance which underlies the corporeality of the world ("de substantia quæ sustinet corporeitatem mundi"); (3) proofs of the existence of "substantiæ simplices," of intermediaries between God and the physical world; (4) proofs that these "substantiæ simplices," or "intelligibiles," are likewise constituted of matter and form; (5) universal matter and universal form.
+
Ibn Gabirol holds that everything that exists may be reduced to three categories: the first substance, God; matter and form, the world; and the will as intermediary. Gabirol derives matter and form from absolute being. In the Godhead he appears to differentiate being ("essentia"), from attribute ("proprietas"), using "proprietas" to designate the will, wisdom, and creative word ("voluntas, sapientia, verbum agens"); in reality, he thinks of the Godhead as being and as will or wisdom, identifying the will with the divine nature. This position is implicit in the doctrine of Gabirol, who teaches that while God's existence is knowable, His being and constitution are not; no attribute except that of existence being predicable of God.  Matter, or substance, proceeds from the being of God, and form proceeds from God as will, but substance and will are not considered separate entities.  Will is neither substance nor an attribute.  From God, by way of will, proceeds the form and matter which constitutes all created beings. In this way Gabirol preserves the monotheism of Jewish tradition.
 +
"it is impossible for matter to have any reality without form, for it does not take on existence unless it is dressed in form. The existence of a thing comes into being only within its form" (V:8).
 +
. The creation of all things by the Creator, that is, the emanation of form from the first source, which is to say, the will, and its overflowing across matter resembles the upwelling of water flowing from a fountain and descending . . . except that this flow is unceasing and entirely outside of motion and time . . . And the imprinting of form in matter, when it reaches it from the will, is like the return of the form of one who is gazing into a mirror (V:41);
  
The chief doctrines of the "Fons Vitæ" may be summarized as follows:
+
"The microcosm is the model of the macrocosm," he says in the third book of The Fountain of Life (III:2), taking up the Greek and common medieval notion, "As above, so below." "If you would picture the composition of the All . . . look at the form of the human body" (III:58).
 +
 
 +
One can compare creation to a word, which man utters with his mouth. In man's expression of the word, its form and meaning are registered upon the hearing of the listener and in his mind. Along the same lines it is said that the exalted and holy creator expresses his word, and its meaning is registered in the substantiality of matter, and matter preserves that meaning, in other words, that created form is imprinted in matter and registered upon it (V:43);
 +
 
 +
 
 +
Scholars have found evidence in “Fons Vitae” that Gabirol was influenced by “The Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Sincerity” and by the Jewish writer Saadia. The Arabic writer Sa’id is cited in “Fons Vitae.”  It is possible that he may also have been indirectly influenced by pseudo-Empedocles in his explanation of the relationship between the various levels of creation.  Gabirol appears to have drawn many points from the teachings of Plotinus, through secondary sources, but he differs in that his system is based on the concept of a single, universal matter while Plotinus  speaks of a twofold matter.
  
*(1) All created beings are constituted of form and matter.
+
==== Influence on Scholasticism ====
 +
For centuries Gabirol was thought to have been a Christian, or possibly an Arab, philosopher.  Gabirol’s theory of the universality of matter became a major element of the tradition of Christian Scholasticism endorsed by the Franciscan order.  Dominicus Gundisallimus, not only translated the "Fons vitæ" into Latin, but incorporated the ideas of Gabirol into his own teaching. William of Auvergne (1180-1249) referred to the work of Gabirol under the title "Fons Sapientiæ," spoke of Gabirol as a Christian, and praised him as "unicus omnium philosophantium nobilissimus" ("most exalted of all the philosophers). [[Alexander of Hales]] (d. 1245) and his disciple [[Bonaventure|Bonaventura]] (1221-1274) accepted the teaching of Gabirol that spiritual substances consist of matter and form. William of Lamarre also defended Gabirolean doctrine.  
  
*(2) This holds true of the physical world, of the "substantiis corporeis sive compositis," and is not less true of the spiritual world, of the "substantiis spiritualibus sive simplicibus," which latter are the connecting-link between the first substance, "essentia prima," that is, the Godhead, and the "substantia, quæ sustinet novem prædicamenta," that is, the substance divided into nine categories—in other words, the physical world.
+
Through the influence of Duns Scotus (1266-1308), the basal thought of the "Fons Vitæ," the materiality of spiritual substances, was perpetuated in Christian philosophy, influencing later philosophers such as [[Giordano Bruno]], who refers to "the Moor, Avicebron."
  
*(3) Matter and form are always and everywhere in the relation of "sustinens" and "sustentatum," "propriatum" and "proprietas," substratum and property or attribute.
+
Opposition to the ideas of Gabirol came from the Aristotelian [[Dominicans]] led by [[Albertus Magnus]] (1206-1280) and Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274), who disdained the possible influence of Arabic-Jewish philosophy on Christian doctrine.  Aquinas disagreed on three main points; he did not believe that spiritual substances consisted of matter, denied that a single physical entity could embody a plurality of forms, and did not accept the the power of activity of physical beings, which Gabirol affirmed.  Aquinas held that Gabirol made the mistake of transferring to real existence the theoretical combination of genus and species, and that he thus came to the erroneous conclusion that in reality all things are constituted of matter and form as genus and species respectively.
  
The main thesis of the "Fons Vitæ" is that all that exists is constituted of matter and form; one and the same matter runs through the whole universe from the highest limits of the spiritual down to the lowest limits of the physical, excepting that matter the farther it is removed from its first source becomes less and less spiritual. Gabirol insists over and over again that the "materia universalis" is the substratum of all that exists.
+
==== Identity with Avicebron ====
  
Ibn Gabirol holds that everything that exists may be reduced to three categories: the first substance, God; matter and form, the world; the will as intermediary. Gabirol derives matter and form from absolute being. In the Godhead he seems to differentiate "essentia," being, from "proprietas," attribute, designating by "proprietas" the will, wisdom, creative word ("voluntas, sapientia, verbum agens"). In reality he thinks of the Godhead as being, and as will or wisdom, regarding the will as identical with the divine nature. This position is implicit in the doctrine of Gabirol, who teaches that God's existence is knowable, but not His being or constitution, no attribute being predicable of God save that of existence.
+
In 1846 the French scholar Solomon Munk discovered among the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] manuscripts in the [[Bibliothèque Nationale]], Paris, a work by Shem-Ṭob Palquera, which bore a resemblance to parts of Fons Vitae, a Latin text by the philosopher known variously as Avicebrol, Avincebrol, Avicebron, and Albenzubron (believed to have been a Muslim or a Christian) which Munk knew from quotations in Albertus Magnus's De causis et processu universitatis..  Upon comparison with a [[Latin]] manuscript of the "Fons Vitæ" of Avicebron (likewise found by Munk in the Bibliothèque Nationale), the work proved to be a collection of excerpts from an [[Arabic]] original, of which the "Fons Vitæ" was evidently a translation.  On November 12, 1846, Munk announced that Avicebron was the Jewish poet Solomon Ibn Gabirol ("Orient, Lit." 1846, No. 46), and that his name had undergone the Latinizing transformation "Ibngebirol," "Avengebirol," "Avengebrol," "Avencebrol," "Avicebrol," "Avicebron."
  
==Reconciling Neoplatonism with Jewish theology==
+
=== Influence on Jewish Philosophy ===
It is held by some scholars that Ibn Gabirol set out to reconcile [[Neoplatonism]] with Jewish theology. Geiger finds complete harmony between Gabirol's conception of the Deity and the historical Jewish conception of God; and Guttmann and Eisler hold that in Gabirol's doctrine of the will there is a departure from the pantheistic emanation doctrine of Neoplatonism and an attempted approach to the Biblical doctrine of creation.
 
  
A suggestion of Judaic [[monotheism]] is found in Gabirol's doctrine of the oneness of the "materia universalis."  The Neoplatonic doctrine that the Godhead is unknowable naturally appealed to Jewish rationalists, who, while positing the existence of God, studiously refrained from ascribing definite qualities or positive attributes to God.  
+
Some scholars speculate that Gabirol set out to reconcile [[Neoplatonism]] with Jewish theology.  His conception of the Deity coincides with the Jewish conception of God, and his explanation of will as being part of the essence of God and a vehicle for the existence of matter is a departure from the pantheistic emanation doctrine of Neoplatonism.  A suggestion of Judaic [[monotheism]] is found in Gabirol's doctrine of the oneness of the "materia universalis."  The Neoplatonic doctrine that the Godhead is unknowable naturally appealed to Jewish rationalists, who, while positing the existence of God, refrained from ascribing definite qualities or positive attributes to God.  
  
Ibn Gabirol strived to keep "his philosophical speculation free from every theological admixture." In this respect Gabirol is unique. The "Fons Vitæ" shows an independence of Jewish religious dogma; not a verse of the Bible nor a line from the Rabbis is cited. For this reason Gabirol exercised comparatively little influence upon his Jewish successors, and was accepted by the scholastics as a non-Jew, as an Arab or a Christian. The suspicion of heresy which once clung to him prevented Ibn Gabirol from exercising a great influence upon Jewish thought. His theory of emanation was held by many to be irreconcilable with the Jewish doctrine of creation; and the tide of [[Aristotelianism]] turned back the slight current of Gabirol's Neoplatonism.
+
Except for the name of his work, ''Maqor Hayyim,' Gabirol did not cite any Biblical or rabbinical texts. For this reason Gabirol exercised comparatively little influence upon his Jewish successors, and was accepted by the scholastics as a non-Jew, as an Arab or a Christian. The suspicion of heresy which once clung to him prevented Ibn Gabirol from exercising a great influence upon Jewish thought. His theory of emanation was held by many to be irreconcilable with the Jewish doctrine of creation; and the tide of [[Aristotelianism]] turned back the slight current of Gabirol's Neoplatonism.
  
==Effect upon his successors==
+
[[Moses ibn Ezra]] is the first to mention Gabirol as a philosopher. He speaks of Gabirol's character and attainments in terms of highest praise, and in his "'Aruggat ha-Bosem" quotes several passages from the "Fons Vitæ." Abraham ibn Ezra, who gives several specimens of Gabirol's philosophico-allegorical Bible interpretation, borrows from the "Fons Vitæ" both in his prose and in his poetry without giving due credit.
[[Moses ibn Ezra]] is the first to mention Gabirol as a philosopher. He speaks of Gabirol's character and attainments in terms of highest praise, and in his "'Aruggat ha-Bosem" quotes several passages from the "Fons Vitæ." Abraham ibn Ezra, who gives several specimens of Gabirol's philosophico-allegorical Bible interpretation, borrows from the "Fons Vitæ" both in his prose and in his poetry without giving due credit.
 
  
[[Abraham ibn Daud]] of [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], in the twelfth century, was the first to take exception to Gabirol's teachings. In the "Sefer ha-Kabbalah" he refers to Gabirol as a poet in complimentary phrase. But in order to counteract the influence of Ibn Gabirol the philosopher, he wrote an Arabic book, translated into Hebrew under the title "Emunah Ramah," in which he reproaches Gabirol with having philosophized without any regard to the requirements of the Jewish religious position, and bitterly accuses him of mistaking a number of poor reasons for one good one.
+
[[Abraham ibn Daud]] of Toledo (1110-1180) complimented Gabirol’s poetry in the "Sefer ha-Kabbalah" but wrote a book in Arabic (translated into Hebrew under the title "Emunah Ramah,")  reproaching Gabirol with having disregarded the requirements of the Jewish religious position, and bitterly accusing him of mistaking a number of poor reasons for one good one. Occasional traces of Ibn Gabriol's thought are found in some of the [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]] literature of the thirteenth century. Later references to Ibn Gabirol, such as those of Eli Ḥabillo, Isaac Abarbanel, Judah Abarbanel, Moses Almosnino, and Joseph Solomon Delmedigo, are based upon an acquaintance with the scholastic philosophy, especially the works of [[Thomas Aquinas|Aquinas]].  
  
Occasional traces of Ibn Gabriol's thought are found in some of the [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]] literature of the thirteenth century. Later references to Ibn Gabirol, such as those of Eli Ḥabillo, Isaac Abarbanel, Judah Abarbanel, Moses Almosnino, and Joseph Solomon Delmedigo, are based upon an acquaintance with the scholastic philosophy, especially the works of [[Thomas Aquinas|Aquinas]].  
+
Though Gabirol as a philosopher was not studied by the Jewish community, Gabirol as a poet kept alive his philosophical ideas through his best-known poem, "Keter Malkut'' ("Royal Crown"), which became part of the prayer service for the Day of Atonement.  It is a philosophical treatise in verse, describing the glory of God in both the material and spiritual worlds, and mapping the universe from the four elements of the earth up through the spheres and planets to the Throne of Glory. The eighty-third line of the poem points to one of the teachings of the “Fons Vitæ,, that all the attributes predicated of God exist apart in thought alone and not in reality.
 +
Thou art the supreme light, and the eyes of the pure of soul shall see Thee, and clouds
 +
of sin shall hide Thee from the eyes of sinners.
 +
Thou art the light hidden in this world and revealed in the world of beauty, 'In the mount
 +
of the Lord it shall be seen.'
 +
Thou art the eternal light, and the inward eye yearns for Thee and is astonished - she
 +
shall see but the utmost part of them, and shall not se them all.
 +
(excerpted from The Kingly Crown, Section One, The Praises of God)
  
Though Gabirol as a philosopher was not studied by the Jewish community, Gabirol as a poet kept alive the remembrance of the ideas of the philosopher; for his best-known poem, "[[:s:Royal Crown|''Keter Malkut'' ("Royal Crown")]]," is a philosophical treatise in poetical form, the "double" of the "Fons Vitæ." Thus the eighty-third line of the poem points to one of the teachings of the "Fons Vitæ"; viz., that all the attributes predicated of God exist apart in thought alone and not in reality.
+
=== The Improvement of the Moral Qualities ===
 +
"The Improvement of the Moral Qualities" is an ethical treatise composed by Gabirol at Saragossa in 1045, at the request of some friends who wished to possess a book treating of the qualities of man and the methods of effecting their improvement. The work is highly original in two respects. He attempted to systematize the principles of [[ethics]] independently of religious dogma, emphasizing the correlation and interdependence of the physical and the psychical in ethical conduct. He also arranged the virtues and vices in relation to the physical senses; each sense becoming the instrument, not the agent, of two virtues and two corresponding vices.
  
==Influence on Scholasticism==
+
Gabirol's ethical theses were based on the four humors. The qualities of the soul were made manifest through the senses; and these senses in turn were constituted of the four humors. Just as the humors could be modified one by the other, the senses could be controlled and the qualities of the soul be trained towards good or evil. In attributing the virtues to the senses, Gabriol made it clear that he was referring only to the five physical senses, not the "concealed" senses, such as perception and understanding, which are part of the nature of the soul. In order to cultivate his soul, man must know its peculiarities, study himself as he is, closely examine his character and inclination, habituate himself to the abandonment of whatever draws him into close contact with the physical and temporal, and aim at the spiritual and the abiding. This effort in itself is blessedness. A man's ability to make such an effort is proof of divine benevolence.
Abundant compensation awaited Ibn Gabriol in the treatment accorded him by the Christian world. Regarded as the work of a Christian philosopher, it became a bone of contention between the Platonist Franciscans led by [[Duns Scotus]], who supported Gabirol, and the Aristotelian [[Dominicans]] led by [[Albertus Magnus]] and Thomas Aquinas, the latter holding in disdain the possible influence of Arabic-Jewish philosophy on Christian doctrine.
 
  
A sign of influence by Ibn Gabirol is found in the works of Dominicus Gundisallimus, who not merely translated the "Fons vitæ" into Latin, but incorporated the ideas of Gabirol into his own teaching. William of Auvergne refers to the work of Gabirol under the title "Fons Sapientiæ." He speaks of Gabirol as a Christian, and praises him as "unicus omnium philosophantium nobilissimus." [[Alexander of Hales]] and his disciple [[Bonaventure|Bonaventura]] accept the teaching of Gabirol that spiritual substances consist of matter and form. William of Lamarre is likewise a defender of Gabirolean doctrine.
+
Grief:  This quality usually succeeds in establishing itself in the soul when wishes fail of realization, and then the soul is brought to such a point as almost to be killed when it loses the objects of its love . . . Thus it was said, "Apprehensiveness is living death." . . . The constitution of apprehensiveness is cold and dry, like the black gall (humor). No man can absolutely escape it. In some it attains immense proportions, so that they thereby become afflicted with psychical ailments. Thus it is said (Proverbs xii:25), "Gloom in the heart of man maketh it stoop, but a good word maketh it glad."
  
The most zealous of the champions of Gabirol's theory of the universality of matter is Duns Scotus, through whose influence the basal thought of the "Fons Vitæ," the materiality of spiritual substances, was perpetuated in Christian philosophy, influencing later philosophers even down to [[Giordano Bruno]], who refers to "the Moor, Avicebron."
+
=== Poetry ===
 +
Gabirol was the first of the Hebrew poets to develop the use of the strict Arabic meter which had been introduced by Dunash ben Labrat, the disciple of Saadia.  Ibn Ezra calls him “the writer of metric songs” and uses quotes from Gabirol’s poems to illustrate various meters in his grammar, “Sefer Zahot.”  The poems of Gabirol are rimed; all the lines of a poem, even the four hundred lines of “Anak,” end with the same syllable.  He wrote both secular and liturgical poems; all of his work expresses lofty and  religious  feeling.  He may have supported himself by writing for the synagogues.  Many of his liturgical poems became part of the Jewish prayer books and are still in use today.  “Keter Malkhut,” his best-known poem, has been translated into English at least seven times during the last two hundred years, and versions exist in German, French, Italian, Dutch, Yiddish, Latin, Persian, and Arabic.  He wrote two lengthy didactic poems, “Azharot,” and enumeration of the 613 precepts of the Torah, and “Anak,” a Hebrew grammar.  The secular poems were almost lost during the turmoil which followed the reconquest of Spain and the expulsion of the Jews, but were rediscovered  among scraps of old manuscripts found in Cairo and in Iraq.
 +
But I'll tell you something I've heard
 +
and let you dwell on its strangeness:
 +
    sages have said that the secret
 +
        of being owes all
 +
to the all who has all in his hand:
 +
He longs to give form to the formless,
 +
    as a lover longs for his friend . . .
  
The main points at issue between Gabirol and Aquinas were three: (1) the universality of matter, Aquinas holding that spiritual substances are immaterial; (2) the plurality of forms in a physical entity, which Aquinas denied; and (3) the power of activity of physical beings, which Gabirol affirmed. Aquinas held that Gabirol made the mistake of transferring to real existence the theoretical combination of genus and species, and that he thus came to the erroneous conclusion that in reality all things are constituted of matter and form as genus and species respectively.
+
. . . quarrel with all my teachings and talk,
 +
    as though I were speaking Greek.
 +
"Speak," they carp, "as the people speak,
 +
    and we'll know what you have to say"—
 +
and now I'll break them like dirt or like straw,
 +
    my tongue's pitchfork thrust into their hay.
  
==Ethical Treatise==
+
: "Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto him that is bitter in soul" (Job 3:20). Ibn Gabirol:
"The Improvement of the Moral Qualities" is an ethical treatise which has been called by Munk "a popular manual of morals." It was composed by Gabirol at Saragossa in 1045, at the request of some friends who wished to possess a book treating of the qualities of man and the methods of effecting their improvement. In two respects the "Ethics" (by which abbreviation the work may be cited) is highly original.  
+
It was night and the sky was clear,
 +
    and the moon was pure at its center
 +
        as it led me along discernment's sphere,
 +
teaching me by its light and direction—
 +
though as my heart went out to that light,
 +
        I feared extended misfortune.
 +
== Works ==
 +
Ibn Gabirol, Solomon; Slavitt, David.  A Crown for the King .USA,Oxford University Press, 1998.
 +
Ibn Gabirol, Solomon; Cole, Peter (Translator). Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol. Princeton University Press, 2000.
 +
Ibn Gabirol. Selected religious poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol (The Jewish Classics).The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1944.
 +
Ibn Gabirol .  The Improvement of the Moral Qualities; An ethical treatise of the eleventh century by Solomon ibn Gabirol . (Columbia University oriental studies) Columbia University Press, Macmillan Co., Agents, 1901.
  
Gabirol set out to systematize the principles of [[ethics]] independently of religious dogma. His treatise is original in its emphasis on the physio-psychological aspect of ethics, Gabirol's fundamental thesis being the correlation and interdependence of the physical and the psychical in respect of ethical conduct.
+
== References ==
 +
*Copleston, Frederick, S.J. A History of Philosophy, Volume II: Medieval Philosophy From Augustine to Duns Scotus. Image Books, Doubleday, 1993.
 +
*Etheridge, John Wesley. Jerusalem and Tiberias; Sora and Cordova: A Survey of the Religious and Scholastic Learning of the Jews; Designed as an Introduction to the Study of Hebrew Literature. Adamant Media Corporation, 2005.
  
Gabirol's theses may be summed up as follows: The qualities of the soul are made manifest through the senses; and these senses in turn are constituted of the four humors. Even as the humors may be modified one by the other, so can the senses be controlled and the qualities of the soul be trained unto good or evil. Though Gabirol attributes the virtues to the senses, he would have It distinctly understood that he treats only of the five physical senses, not of the "concealed" senses, such as perception and understanding, which partake of the nature of the soul. In order to cultivate his soul, man must necessarily know its peculiarities, study himself as he is, closely examine his character and inclination, habituatehimself to the abandonment of whatever is mean, i.e., whatsoever draws him into close contact with the physical and temporal, and aim at the spiritual and the abiding. This effort in itself is blessedness. A man's ability to make such an effort is proof of divine benevolence.
+
*Graetz, Heinrich. History of the Jews: Volume 3. From the Revolt Against the Zendik (511 C.E.) to the Capture of St. Jean d\'Acre by the Mahometans (1291 C.E). Adamant Media Corporation, 2006. 
 +
*Loewe, Rachel. Ibn Gabirol. Grove Pr; Reprint edition, 1991.
  
Next follows the most original feature of Gabirol's ethical system, the arrangement of the virtues and vices in relation to the senses: every sense becoming the instrument, not the agent, of two virtues and two corresponding vices.
+
* Myer, Isaac. Qabbalah The philosophical writings of Solomon ben Yehudah Ibn Gebirol, or Avicebron . S. Weiser; [2d ed.] edition, 1970.
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==

Revision as of 17:02, 8 September 2006

Solomon Ibn Gabirol, also Solomon ben Judah (Hebrew: שלמה אבן גבירול, Š'lomoh 'ibn Gabiyrol)(c. 1021 – c. 1058), a Moorish Jewish poet and philosopher, became an important influence on medieval Christian scholasticism through his philosophical work, Fons Vitae, a Neoplatonic dialogue on metaphysics. His philosophy was not widely studied among the Jews, probably because he did not include scriptural texts or references in his works. He was a renowned poet, and his poem, “The Kingly Crown,” is included in the Sephardic liturgy of the Day of Atonement.

He is sometimes referred to as "Avicebron" in the West, a corruption of "Ibn Gabirol" == Life == Shelomoh Ben Yehudah Ibn Gabirol was born in Málaga, Spain about 1021. His father, Judah, had left Cordova ten years earlier when war broke out in the Spanish peninsula, and had moved the family to Saragossa, then to Málaga. Gabirol’s father died while he was very young. He studied the Talmud, Hebrew and Arabic, and astronomy, geometry and philosophy, and began writing poetry in his teens. At the age of sixteen he wrote a poem later included in the services of many congregations, “Azharoth,” which began "I am the master, and Song is my slave." The same year he wrote four dirges on the passing of the scholar Rav Hai Gaon in Babylon. At seventeen years of age he became the friend and protégé of Jekuthiel Ibn Hassan. Upon the assassination of the latter as the result of a political conspiracy, Gabirol composed an elegy of more than two hundred verses. By nineteen, Gabirol was afflicted by a chronic illness which caused him to suffer from boils and left him in constant pain. When barely twenty Gabirol wrote "Anak," a versified Hebrew grammar, alphabetical and acrostic, consisting of 400 verses divided into ten parts. Ninety-five lines of this grammar have been preserved by Solomon Parḥon; in these Gabirol reproaches his townsmen with their neglect of the Hebrew language. Sometime after his mother’s death in 1045, Gabirol left Saragossa, possibly banished because of his criticism of prominent members of the Jewish community.

He spent several years as a wanderer in Spain, suffering many hardships which are reflected in his poetry. It is thought that he traveled to Granada and found another friend and patron, Samuel ibn Nagdela. Later an estrangement arose between them, and Nagdela became for a time the butt of Gabirol's irony. Moshe Ibn Ezra (1055 – 1139), a Hebrew poet and literary critic and author of The Book of Discussion and Remembrance, , reported that Gabirol was known for his philosophical temperament and for his "angry spirit which held sway over reason, and his demon within which he could not control." All testimonies agree that Gabirol was comparatively young at the time of his death, probably in 1058 or 1059, in Valencia.

A fabricated legend concerning the manner of Gabirol's death is related by Ibn Yaḥya in "Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah." In this legend, a Muslim poet, jealous of Gabirol's poetic gifts, killed him, and buried him beneath the roots of a fig tree. The tree bore fruit abundantly; and the fruit was of extraordinary sweetness. This strange circumstance excited attention; a search was instituted, the remains of the murdered Gabirol were brought to light, and the murderer expiated his crime with his life. Another legend relates that he was trampled to death by a horseman.

Thought and Works

Works

Gabirol mentioned in one of his poems that he was the author of twenty books, now lost, on philosophical, linguistic, scientific, and religious topics. His most famous book is "Mekor Chayim," (Origin of Life), a Neoplatonic dialogue between master and disciple, written in Arabic around 1049. Translated into Latin as "Fons Vitae," it was widely read by the Scholastics and is credited with introducing Neoplatonism to medieval Christian Europe. The Arabic original was lost but the Latin version is fully preserved, and a Hebrew translation of it was published in 1926. Ibn Gabirol also produced two works, in Arabic, on morals, "Tikkun Middoth Hanefesh," (Improvement of the Qualities of the Soul), and "Mivchar Hapeninim,"(Choice of Pearls). Choice of Pearls is a collection of proverbs attributed to Gabriol but possibly not authored by him.

Citations in the works of later writers refer to a Biblical commentary by Gabirol, of which there are no surviving traces. One citation by Ibn Ezra, an interpretation of the story of paradise, introduces philosophical ideas into the Biblical text. Two other citations show Gabirol to have been a supporter of the rational Biblical interpretation of Saadia.

Jewish scholars largely ignored Gabirol’s philosophical works, possibly because they contained no reference to the laws and scriptures. In the Jewish community he was known as a gifted poet who wrote both secular and religious verse. More than four hundred of his poems have been published, including at least one hundred piyuttim and selihot written for fast days and holy days. A number of Ibn Gabirol's religious hymns, including "Azharoth," "Kether Malchuth" (Royal Crown), "Shir Hakovod" (Song of Glory), and "Shir Hayichud" (Song of Unity) were included in the Jewish prayer book, and are now part of the prayer service in Jewish communities around the world.

Neoplatonism

"Fons Vitæ"

"Fons Vitæ" (Arabic,Yanbu’ al-Hayat;Hebrew: מקור חיים, Maqor Hayyim) was written in Arabic, in the form of a dialogue between master and disciple. The name of the book was derived from Psalms 36:10, "For with Thee is the fountain [source] of life (meqor hayyim); In Thy light do we see light," and the fact that it considers matter and form as the basis of existence and the source of life in every created thing. It was translated into Latin in 1150, under the patronage of Archbishop Raymond of Toledo, by Ibn Daud (Johannes Hispanus) who translated the Arabic orally into Spanish, and Dominicus Gundissalinus, the Archdeacon of Segovia, who translated the spoken Spanish into written Latin. The "Fons Vitæ" also bore the title "De Materia et Forma"(Of Matter and Form); the manuscript in the Mazarine Library is entitled "De Materia Universali."


The "Fons Vitæ" consists of five tractates, treating respectively of (1) matter and form in general and their relation in physical substances ("substantiæ corporeæ sive compositæ"); (2) the substance which underlies the corporeality of the world ("de substantia quæ sustinet corporeitatem mundi"); (3) proofs of the existence of "substantiæ simplices," or intermediaries between God and the physical world; (4) proofs that these "substantiæ simplices," or "intelligibiles," are likewise constituted of matter and form; and (5) universal matter and universal form.

The chief doctrines of the "Fons Vitæ" may be summarized as follows:

  • (1) All created beings are constituted of form and matter.
  • (2) This holds true both for the physical world ("substantiis corporeis sive compositis"); and for the spiritual world ("substantiis spiritualibus sive simplicibus"), which is the connecting link between the first substance ("essentia prima"), or Godhead, and the physical world ("substantia, quæ sustinet novem prædicamenta," the substance divided into nine categories).
  • (3) Matter and form are always and everywhere in the relation of "sustinens" and "sustentatum," "propriatum" and "proprietas," substratum and property or attribute.

The main thesis of the "Fons Vitæ" is that all that exists is constituted of matter and form; one and the same matter runs through the whole universe from the highest realms of the spiritual down to the lowest realms of the physical, excepting that matter becomes less and less spiritual the farther it is removed from its first source. Gabirol insists over and over again that the "materia universalis" is the substratum of all that exists.

Ibn Gabirol holds that everything that exists may be reduced to three categories: the first substance, God; matter and form, the world; and the will as intermediary. Gabirol derives matter and form from absolute being. In the Godhead he appears to differentiate being ("essentia"), from attribute ("proprietas"), using "proprietas" to designate the will, wisdom, and creative word ("voluntas, sapientia, verbum agens"); in reality, he thinks of the Godhead as being and as will or wisdom, identifying the will with the divine nature. This position is implicit in the doctrine of Gabirol, who teaches that while God's existence is knowable, His being and constitution are not; no attribute except that of existence being predicable of God. Matter, or substance, proceeds from the being of God, and form proceeds from God as will, but substance and will are not considered separate entities. Will is neither substance nor an attribute. From God, by way of will, proceeds the form and matter which constitutes all created beings. In this way Gabirol preserves the monotheism of Jewish tradition. "it is impossible for matter to have any reality without form, for it does not take on existence unless it is dressed in form. The existence of a thing comes into being only within its form" (V:8). . The creation of all things by the Creator, that is, the emanation of form from the first source, which is to say, the will, and its overflowing across matter resembles the upwelling of water flowing from a fountain and descending . . . except that this flow is unceasing and entirely outside of motion and time . . . And the imprinting of form in matter, when it reaches it from the will, is like the return of the form of one who is gazing into a mirror (V:41);

"The microcosm is the model of the macrocosm," he says in the third book of The Fountain of Life (III:2), taking up the Greek and common medieval notion, "As above, so below." "If you would picture the composition of the All . . . look at the form of the human body" (III:58).

One can compare creation to a word, which man utters with his mouth. In man's expression of the word, its form and meaning are registered upon the hearing of the listener and in his mind. Along the same lines it is said that the exalted and holy creator expresses his word, and its meaning is registered in the substantiality of matter, and matter preserves that meaning, in other words, that created form is imprinted in matter and registered upon it (V:43);


Scholars have found evidence in “Fons Vitae” that Gabirol was influenced by “The Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Sincerity” and by the Jewish writer Saadia. The Arabic writer Sa’id is cited in “Fons Vitae.” It is possible that he may also have been indirectly influenced by pseudo-Empedocles in his explanation of the relationship between the various levels of creation. Gabirol appears to have drawn many points from the teachings of Plotinus, through secondary sources, but he differs in that his system is based on the concept of a single, universal matter while Plotinus speaks of a twofold matter.

Influence on Scholasticism

For centuries Gabirol was thought to have been a Christian, or possibly an Arab, philosopher. Gabirol’s theory of the universality of matter became a major element of the tradition of Christian Scholasticism endorsed by the Franciscan order. Dominicus Gundisallimus, not only translated the "Fons vitæ" into Latin, but incorporated the ideas of Gabirol into his own teaching. William of Auvergne (1180-1249) referred to the work of Gabirol under the title "Fons Sapientiæ," spoke of Gabirol as a Christian, and praised him as "unicus omnium philosophantium nobilissimus" ("most exalted of all the philosophers). Alexander of Hales (d. 1245) and his disciple Bonaventura (1221-1274) accepted the teaching of Gabirol that spiritual substances consist of matter and form. William of Lamarre also defended Gabirolean doctrine.

Through the influence of Duns Scotus (1266-1308), the basal thought of the "Fons Vitæ," the materiality of spiritual substances, was perpetuated in Christian philosophy, influencing later philosophers such as Giordano Bruno, who refers to "the Moor, Avicebron."

Opposition to the ideas of Gabirol came from the Aristotelian Dominicans led by Albertus Magnus (1206-1280) and Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274), who disdained the possible influence of Arabic-Jewish philosophy on Christian doctrine. Aquinas disagreed on three main points; he did not believe that spiritual substances consisted of matter, denied that a single physical entity could embody a plurality of forms, and did not accept the the power of activity of physical beings, which Gabirol affirmed. Aquinas held that Gabirol made the mistake of transferring to real existence the theoretical combination of genus and species, and that he thus came to the erroneous conclusion that in reality all things are constituted of matter and form as genus and species respectively.

Identity with Avicebron

In 1846 the French scholar Solomon Munk discovered among the Hebrew manuscripts in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, a work by Shem-Ṭob Palquera, which bore a resemblance to parts of Fons Vitae, a Latin text by the philosopher known variously as Avicebrol, Avincebrol, Avicebron, and Albenzubron (believed to have been a Muslim or a Christian) which Munk knew from quotations in Albertus Magnus's De causis et processu universitatis.. Upon comparison with a Latin manuscript of the "Fons Vitæ" of Avicebron (likewise found by Munk in the Bibliothèque Nationale), the work proved to be a collection of excerpts from an Arabic original, of which the "Fons Vitæ" was evidently a translation. On November 12, 1846, Munk announced that Avicebron was the Jewish poet Solomon Ibn Gabirol ("Orient, Lit." 1846, No. 46), and that his name had undergone the Latinizing transformation "Ibngebirol," "Avengebirol," "Avengebrol," "Avencebrol," "Avicebrol," "Avicebron."

Influence on Jewish Philosophy

Some scholars speculate that Gabirol set out to reconcile Neoplatonism with Jewish theology. His conception of the Deity coincides with the Jewish conception of God, and his explanation of will as being part of the essence of God and a vehicle for the existence of matter is a departure from the pantheistic emanation doctrine of Neoplatonism. A suggestion of Judaic monotheism is found in Gabirol's doctrine of the oneness of the "materia universalis." The Neoplatonic doctrine that the Godhead is unknowable naturally appealed to Jewish rationalists, who, while positing the existence of God, refrained from ascribing definite qualities or positive attributes to God.

Except for the name of his work, Maqor Hayyim,' Gabirol did not cite any Biblical or rabbinical texts. For this reason Gabirol exercised comparatively little influence upon his Jewish successors, and was accepted by the scholastics as a non-Jew, as an Arab or a Christian. The suspicion of heresy which once clung to him prevented Ibn Gabirol from exercising a great influence upon Jewish thought. His theory of emanation was held by many to be irreconcilable with the Jewish doctrine of creation; and the tide of Aristotelianism turned back the slight current of Gabirol's Neoplatonism.

Moses ibn Ezra is the first to mention Gabirol as a philosopher. He speaks of Gabirol's character and attainments in terms of highest praise, and in his "'Aruggat ha-Bosem" quotes several passages from the "Fons Vitæ." Abraham ibn Ezra, who gives several specimens of Gabirol's philosophico-allegorical Bible interpretation, borrows from the "Fons Vitæ" both in his prose and in his poetry without giving due credit.

Abraham ibn Daud of Toledo (1110-1180) complimented Gabirol’s poetry in the "Sefer ha-Kabbalah" but wrote a book in Arabic (translated into Hebrew under the title "Emunah Ramah,") reproaching Gabirol with having disregarded the requirements of the Jewish religious position, and bitterly accusing him of mistaking a number of poor reasons for one good one. Occasional traces of Ibn Gabriol's thought are found in some of the Kabbalistic literature of the thirteenth century. Later references to Ibn Gabirol, such as those of Eli Ḥabillo, Isaac Abarbanel, Judah Abarbanel, Moses Almosnino, and Joseph Solomon Delmedigo, are based upon an acquaintance with the scholastic philosophy, especially the works of Aquinas.

Though Gabirol as a philosopher was not studied by the Jewish community, Gabirol as a poet kept alive his philosophical ideas through his best-known poem, "Keter Malkut ("Royal Crown"), which became part of the prayer service for the Day of Atonement. It is a philosophical treatise in verse, describing the glory of God in both the material and spiritual worlds, and mapping the universe from the four elements of the earth up through the spheres and planets to the Throne of Glory. The eighty-third line of the poem points to one of the teachings of the “Fons Vitæ,”, that all the attributes predicated of God exist apart in thought alone and not in reality. Thou art the supreme light, and the eyes of the pure of soul shall see Thee, and clouds of sin shall hide Thee from the eyes of sinners. Thou art the light hidden in this world and revealed in the world of beauty, 'In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.' Thou art the eternal light, and the inward eye yearns for Thee and is astonished - she shall see but the utmost part of them, and shall not se them all. (excerpted from The Kingly Crown, Section One, The Praises of God)

The Improvement of the Moral Qualities

"The Improvement of the Moral Qualities" is an ethical treatise composed by Gabirol at Saragossa in 1045, at the request of some friends who wished to possess a book treating of the qualities of man and the methods of effecting their improvement. The work is highly original in two respects. He attempted to systematize the principles of ethics independently of religious dogma, emphasizing the correlation and interdependence of the physical and the psychical in ethical conduct. He also arranged the virtues and vices in relation to the physical senses; each sense becoming the instrument, not the agent, of two virtues and two corresponding vices.

Gabirol's ethical theses were based on the four humors. The qualities of the soul were made manifest through the senses; and these senses in turn were constituted of the four humors. Just as the humors could be modified one by the other, the senses could be controlled and the qualities of the soul be trained towards good or evil. In attributing the virtues to the senses, Gabriol made it clear that he was referring only to the five physical senses, not the "concealed" senses, such as perception and understanding, which are part of the nature of the soul. In order to cultivate his soul, man must know its peculiarities, study himself as he is, closely examine his character and inclination, habituate himself to the abandonment of whatever draws him into close contact with the physical and temporal, and aim at the spiritual and the abiding. This effort in itself is blessedness. A man's ability to make such an effort is proof of divine benevolence.

Grief: This quality usually succeeds in establishing itself in the soul when wishes fail of realization, and then the soul is brought to such a point as almost to be killed when it loses the objects of its love . . . Thus it was said, "Apprehensiveness is living death." . . . The constitution of apprehensiveness is cold and dry, like the black gall (humor). No man can absolutely escape it. In some it attains immense proportions, so that they thereby become afflicted with psychical ailments. Thus it is said (Proverbs xii:25), "Gloom in the heart of man maketh it stoop, but a good word maketh it glad."

Poetry

Gabirol was the first of the Hebrew poets to develop the use of the strict Arabic meter which had been introduced by Dunash ben Labrat, the disciple of Saadia. Ibn Ezra calls him “the writer of metric songs” and uses quotes from Gabirol’s poems to illustrate various meters in his grammar, “Sefer Zahot.” The poems of Gabirol are rimed; all the lines of a poem, even the four hundred lines of “Anak,” end with the same syllable. He wrote both secular and liturgical poems; all of his work expresses lofty and religious feeling. He may have supported himself by writing for the synagogues. Many of his liturgical poems became part of the Jewish prayer books and are still in use today. “Keter Malkhut,” his best-known poem, has been translated into English at least seven times during the last two hundred years, and versions exist in German, French, Italian, Dutch, Yiddish, Latin, Persian, and Arabic. He wrote two lengthy didactic poems, “Azharot,” and enumeration of the 613 precepts of the Torah, and “Anak,” a Hebrew grammar. The secular poems were almost lost during the turmoil which followed the reconquest of Spain and the expulsion of the Jews, but were rediscovered among scraps of old manuscripts found in Cairo and in Iraq. But I'll tell you something I've heard and let you dwell on its strangeness:

   sages have said that the secret
       of being owes all

to the all who has all in his hand: He longs to give form to the formless,

   as a lover longs for his friend . . .

. . . quarrel with all my teachings and talk,

   as though I were speaking Greek.

"Speak," they carp, "as the people speak,

   and we'll know what you have to say"—

and now I'll break them like dirt or like straw,

   my tongue's pitchfork thrust into their hay.
"Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto him that is bitter in soul" (Job 3:20). Ibn Gabirol:

It was night and the sky was clear,

   and the moon was pure at its center
       as it led me along discernment's sphere,

teaching me by its light and direction— though as my heart went out to that light,

       I feared extended misfortune.

Works

Ibn Gabirol, Solomon; Slavitt, David. A Crown for the King .USA,Oxford University Press, 1998. Ibn Gabirol, Solomon; Cole, Peter (Translator). Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol. Princeton University Press, 2000. Ibn Gabirol. Selected religious poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol (The Jewish Classics).The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1944. Ibn Gabirol . The Improvement of the Moral Qualities; An ethical treatise of the eleventh century by Solomon ibn Gabirol . (Columbia University oriental studies) Columbia University Press, Macmillan Co., Agents, 1901.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Copleston, Frederick, S.J. A History of Philosophy, Volume II: Medieval Philosophy From Augustine to Duns Scotus. Image Books, Doubleday, 1993.
  • Etheridge, John Wesley. Jerusalem and Tiberias; Sora and Cordova: A Survey of the Religious and Scholastic Learning of the Jews; Designed as an Introduction to the Study of Hebrew Literature. Adamant Media Corporation, 2005.
  • Graetz, Heinrich. History of the Jews: Volume 3. From the Revolt Against the Zendik (511 C.E.) to the Capture of St. Jean d\'Acre by the Mahometans (1291 C.E.). Adamant Media Corporation, 2006.
  • Loewe, Rachel. Ibn Gabirol. Grove Pr; Reprint edition, 1991.
  • Myer, Isaac. Qabbalah The philosophical writings of Solomon ben Yehudah Ibn Gebirol, or Avicebron . S. Weiser; [2d ed.] edition, 1970.

External links

Wikisource-nt.png
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Solomon Ibn Gabirol

bs:Ibn Gabirol de:Solomon ibn Gabirol es:Ibn Gabirol fr:Salomon ibn Gabirol hr:Solomon ibn Gabirol he:שלמה אבן גבירול hu:Avicebron ja:ソロモン・イブン・ガビーロール pt:Solomon Ibn Gabirol ru:Гебироль, Соломон бен Иегуда ибн sk:Šlomo ibn Gabirol fi:Avicebron

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.