Solomon ibn Gabirol or Solomon ben Judah (, ; , ) was an 11th-century Jewish poet and philosopher in the neoplatonic tradition in Al-Andalus. He published over a hundred poems, as well as works of Hebrew Biblical exegesis, philosophy, ethics, Its chief doctrines are:

Ethics

The Improvement of the Moral Qualities

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right"

|-

| Sight

| Hearing

|-

| <poem>Pride

Meekness

Pudency

Impudence</poem>

| <poem>Love

Hate

Mercy

Hard-heartedness (cruelty)</poem>

|-

| Smell

| Taste

|-

| <poem>Wrath

Good-will (suavity)

Jealousy

Wide-awakeness</poem>

| <poem>Joy (cheerfulness)

Grief (apprehensiveness)

Tranquillity

Penitence (remorse)</poem>

|-

| colspan=2 style="padding-left:35%;" | Touch

|-

| colspan=2 style="padding-left:35%;" | <poem>Liberality

Miserliness

Valor

Cowardice</poem>

|}

The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, originally written in Arabic under the title Islah al-Khlaq (), and later translated by Ibn Tibbon as (, ) is an ethical treatise that has been called by Munk "a popular manual of morals." calls Gabirol, not ben Labrat, "the writer of metric songs," and in Sefer Zaḥot uses Gabirol's poems to illustrate various poetic meters. Shachar Abakeshcha.

Gabirol's poetry has been set to music by the modern composer Aaron Jay Kernis, in an album titled "Symphony of Meditations."

In 2007 Gabirol's poetry has been set to music by the Israeli rock guitarist Berry Sakharof and the Israeli modern composer Rea Mochiach, in a piece titled "Red Lips" ("Adumey Ha-Sefatot" "אֲדֻמֵּי הַשְּׂפָתוֹת")

Editions and translations

  • , vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 3, vol. 4, vol. 5, vol. 6.
  • Shelomoh Ibn Gabirol, shirei ha-ḥol, ed. by H. Brody and J. Schirmann (Jerusalem 1975)
  • Shirei ha-ḥol le-rabbi Shelomoh Ibn Gabirol, ed. by Dov Jarden (Jerusalem, 1975)
  • Selomó Ibn Gabirol, Selección de perlas = Mibḥar ha-penînîm: (máximas morales, sentencias e historietas), trans. by David Gonzalo Maeso (Barcelona: Ameller, 1977)
  • Selomo Ibn Gabirol, Poesía secular, trans. by Elena Romero ([Madrid]: Ediciones Alfaguara, 1978)
  • Šelomoh Ibn Gabirol, Poemas seculares, ed. by M. J. Cano (Granada: Universidad de Granada; [Salamanca]: Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, 1987)
  • Ibn Gabirol, Poesía religiosa, ed. by María José Cano (Granada: Universidad de Granada, 1992)
  • Selected poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol, trans. by Peter Cole (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001)

See also

  • Miguel Asín Palacios
  • Ibn Gabirol Street

References

Further reading

  • Endnotes:
  • H. Adler, Ibn Gabirol and His Influence upon Scholastic Philosophy, London, 1865;
  • Ascher, A Choice of Pearls, London, 1859;
  • Bacher, Bibelexegese der Jüdischen, Religionsphilosophen des Mittelalters, pp.&nbsp;45–55, Budapest, 1892;
  • Bäumker, Avencebrolis Fons Vitæ, Muuünster, 1895;
  • Beer, Philosaphie und Philosophische Schriftsteller der Juden, Leipsic, 1852;
  • Bloch, Die Jüdische Religionsphilosophic, in Winter and Wünsche, Die Jüdische Litteratur, ii. 699–793, 723–729;
  • Dukes, Ehrensäulen, und Denksteine, pp.&nbsp;9–25, Vienna, 1837;
  • idem. Salomo ben Gabirol aus Malaga und die Ethischen Werke Desselben, Hanover, 1860;
  • Eisler, Vorlesungen über die Jüdischen Philosophen des Mittelalters, i. 57–81, Vienna, 1876;
  • Geiger, Salomo Gabirol und Seine Dichtungen, Leipsic, 1867;
  • Graetz, History of the Jews. iii. 9;
  • Guttman, Die Philosophie des Salomon ibn Gabirol, Göttingen, 1889;
  • Guttmann, Das Verhältniss des Thomas von Aquino zum Judenthum und zur Jödischen Litteratur, especially ii. 16–30, Götingen, 1891;
  • Horovitz, Die Psychologie Ibn Gabirols, Breslau, 1900;
  • Joël, Ibn Gebirol's Bedeutung für die Gesch. der Philosophie, Beiträge zur Gesch. der philosophie, i., Breslau, 1876;
  • Kümpf, Nichtandalusische Poesie Andalusischer Dichter, pp.&nbsp;167–191, Prague, 1858;
  • Karpeles, Gesch. der Jüdischen Litteratur, i. 465–483, Berlin, 1886;
  • Kaufmann, Studien über Salomon ibn Gabirol, Budapest, 1899;
  • Kaufmann, Gesch. der Attributtenlehre in der Jüd. Religionsphilosophie des Mittelaliers, pp.&nbsp;95–115, Gotha, 1877;
  • Löwenthal, Pseudo-Aristoteles über die Seele, Berlin, 1891;
  • Müller, De Godsleer der Middeleeuwsche Joden, pp.&nbsp;90–107, Groningen, 1898;
  • Munk, Mélanges de Philosophie Juive et, Arabe, Paris, 1859;
  • Myer, Qabbalah, The Philosophical Writings of . . . Avicebron, Philadelphia, 1888;
  • Rosin, in J. Q. R. iii. 159–181;
  • Sachs, Die Religiöse; Poesie der Juden in Spanien, pp.&nbsp;213–248, Berlin, 1845;
  • Seyerlen, Die Gegenseitigen Beziehungen Zwischen Abendländischer und Morgenländischer Wissenschaft mit Besonderer Rücksicht auf Solomon ibn Gebirol und Seine Philosophische Bedeutung, Jena, 1899;
  • Stouössel, Salomo ben Gabirol als Philosoph und Förderer der Kabbala, Leipsic, 1881;
  • Steinschneider, Hebr. Uebers. pp.&nbsp;379–388, Berlin, 1893;
  • Wise, The Improvement of the Moral Qualities, New York, 1901;
  • Wittmann, Die Stellung des Heiligen Thomas von Aquin zu Avencebrol, Münster, 1900.
  • For Poetry:
  • Geiger, Salomo Gabirol und Seine Dichtungen, Leipsic, 1867;
  • Senior Sachs, Cantiqucs de Salomon ibn Gabirole, Paris, 1868;
  • idem, in Ha-Teḥiyyah, p.&nbsp;185, Berlin, 1850;
  • Dukes, Schire Shelomo, Hanover, 1858;
  • idem, Ehrensaülen, Vienna, 1837;
  • Edelmann and Dukes, Treasures of Oxford, London, 1851;
  • M. Sachs, Die Religiöse Poesie der Juden in Spanien, Berlin, 1845;
  • Zunz, Literaturgesch. pp.&nbsp;187–194, 411, 588;
  • Kämpf, Nichtandalusische Poesie Andalusischer Dichter, pp.&nbsp;167 et seq.;
  • Brody, Kuntras ha-Pijutim nach dem Machsor Vitry, Berlin, 1894, Index.
  • (includes an extensive bibliography)
  • An Andalusian Alphabet introduction to his poems
  • Improvement of the Moral Qualities English translation at seforimonline.org
  • Solomon Ibn Gabirol biography on chabad.org
  • Traditional Sphardic Singing of Gabirol's Shabbat Poem Shimru Shabtotai
  • pdf of Azharot of Solomon Ibn Gabirol in Hebrew
  • Ibn Gabirol Digital digital humanities project on Ibn Gabirol's philosophical ideas