Moses ibn Ezra

Moses ben Jacob ibn Ezra (* 1055 in Granada, Spain, † by 1138, according to Arabic Kunja Abu Harun ) was a Spanish- Jewish writer and philosopher, and " one of the most important poets of the Iberian- Sephardic culture.".

Life

Moses ibn Ezra was a pupil of Isaac ibn Ghayyat in Lucena, then known as "the city of poetry ". In his youth he acquired a comprehensive Jewish and Arab education. He seems to have had a position of honor in Granada because he Sahib, the Arabic title al - shurṭah ( " Prefect of Police " ) was granted - albeit possibly in honor only. Ibn Ezra encouraged Judah ha -Levi in his early literary efforts and invited him to Granada, where the two entered into a long-lasting friendship. A significant change occurred in Ibn Ezra's life in 1090, when Granada was conquered by the Almoravids and destroyed the local Jewish community. The members of the Ibn Ezra family fled in different places, but Moses remained for a while in Granada, for unknown reasons. Finally, also succeeded him to flee to the Christian part of Spain. The return to his hometown was denied him. His later years were full of personal and professional disappointments. He wandered in Christian Spain from place to place and sought the help of wealthy patrons, for which he had to write eulogies, and finally died away from Granada.

Poetry

Ibn Ezra wrote both secular and religious poems. According to the textbook of Jewish history and literature from 1896 Moses ibn Ezra takes "one of the first places among the Judeo- Spanish poets a " so-called " Spanish School" of Jewish medieval poetry is attributed to and also dealt with the theoretical poetics. His Arabic written treatise on rhetoric and poetry is one of the earliest works on Hebrew poetry and as such in the Hebrew literature of the Middle Ages unique. He wrote it at an advanced age (after 1135 ) in response to eight questions of a friend on Hebrew poetry. The work was supported by BZ Halper entitled " Shirat Yisrael " translated into Hebrew (Leipzig, 1924). A large part of the work deals with the author so-called " poetic embellishments ", ie rhetorical forms and metaphorical language. The work is written in a casual Arabic " Adab " shape.

In his poems, Ibn Ezra held pedantic strictly to the laws of prosody. The scholar Judah al - Charisi (1165-1225) says that his verses " more than other poets appeal to themselves, because of their extraordinary rhetorical form ". The secular poems ibn Ezra in the tradition of Shmuel Nagid, with whom he established an exuberant lust for life. He also wrote meditations on life and death, also in the tradition of Shmuel Nagid, while not distinguished by originality of thought, but through honest expression of emotions and powerful style. Among his Pijjutim (religious poems) have " Selichot " ( prayers for forgiveness ) partly also found inclusion in the liturgy.

Philosophy

Ibn Ezra was a successful poet and literary critic, his philosophical achievements, however, occur back behind it. His philosophical views he collected in an Arabic written work, of which an anonymous Hebrew translation part of the 19th century under the title Arugat ha - bosem ( " fragrance garden " ) was published. This refers to the position of man in the universe, the impossibility of knowing God, and the intellect. Philosophically, Ibn Ezra was based on Neo-Platonism and was under the influence of Mekor Chaim ("Source of Life" ) by Ibn Gabirol. For the purposes of Neoplatonism Ibn Ezra describes the man as a microcosm. The secrets of creation indicate a wise Creator, a self-sufficient unique being that precedes creation. From the absolute unity of God follows that the divine essence can not be comprehended by the human mind, but can only be expressed through metaphors. As the human eyes are not able to see the sun, so can the human mind to God in its perfection not recognize. Any knowledge of God, which man can reach must begin with the realization of one's soul; However, this is possible only after the liberation of sensual desires.

In terms of the Neoplatonic doctrine of emanation ibn Ezra postulates the active intellect, which comes up as God's first creation from the divine will. Ibn Ezra understands the intellect as a simple and pure substance containing the forms of all existing things in themselves.