Salomon ibn Gabirol was een Andalusische dichter en filosoof uit de 11e eeuw met een neoplatonische inslag. Hij publiceerde meer dan honderd gedichten, evenals werken over bijbelse exegese, filosofie, ethiek en satire. In de geschiedenis van de filosofie staat hij bekend om zijn leer dat alle dingen, inclusief ziel en intellect, zijn samengesteld uit materie en vorm ('universeel hylemorfisme'), en om zijn nadruk op Goddelijke Wil. Zijn filosofische werk werd eeuwenlang beschouwd als een hoogtepunt van islamitisch of christelijk denken.
Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021-1058) was a Jewish philosopher and moralist. Hailed by scholars as one of the most important classics of Hebrew literature, his poem, Keter Malkhut (The Kingly Crown), employs the metaphor of a king in his palace to describe the relationship between humanity and God. schovat popis
Solomon Ibn Gabirol emerges as a complex figure in eleventh-century Andalusian-Jewish culture, contrasting sharply with his more worldly predecessor. A reclusive poet and philosopher, his work features a blend of mystical themes and sharp critiques of court life. His innovative poetry showcases a mastery of contemporary avant-garde styles, merging Arabic aesthetics with biblical language, resulting in a profound metaphysical and devotional depth that has influenced Hebrew poetry for centuries.
"Vulture in a cage," Solomon Ibn Gabirol's own self-description, is an apt image for a poet who was obsessed with the impediments posed by the body and the material world to the realization of his spiritual ambition of elevating his soul to the empyrean. Ibn Gabirol's poetry is enormously influential, laying the groundwork for generations of Hebrew poets who follow him--rocky and harsh, full of original imagery and barbed wit, and yet no one surpassed him for the limpid beauty of his devotional verse. His poetry is at once a record of the inner life of a tormented poet and a monument to the Judeo-Arabic culture that produced him. This book contains the most extensive collection of Ibn Gabirol's poetry ever published in English.