Dunash ibn Tamim

Dunash ibn Tamim (Hebrew דונש אבן תמים; * in 890 in Kairouan; † about 956) was a Jewish scholar from North Africa.

It is also called Adonim, a Hebrew translation of the Berber name Dunash, which corresponds to the Spanish Dueños, and carries the nickname Abu Sahl Arab. He has become known primarily for his comments on Sefer Yetzirah. He also wrote works on linguistics and astronomy.

In Kairouan Dunash studied with Isaac Israeli, to whom he owed much of his thinking- development and probably also acquired medical knowledge from him. Most of the works were probably written by Dunash in Arabic. The following three are no longer obtain: a) a comparative study of Arabic and Hebrew language, b ) a book on the Indian calculus, probably under the title al - Hisab Gubar, and c ) a three-part treatise on astronomy. The latter work was written at the request of Chisdai ibn Shaprut. As manuscript received is a treatise on the astronomical instrument armillary sphere, which was dedicated to a dignitary of the Fatimid dynasty.

The commentary to the Sefer Yetzirah was written 955-56. In the Cairo Geniza only about a third of the Arabic original text has been tapped so far. However, there are four Hebrew versions from the Middle Ages, two of which are anonymous and probably based on Arabic summaries. The commentary contains thoughts on topics such as the disembodied God as the creator of a perfectly controlled universe, a hierarchy of souls in the various spheres and prophetic inspiration, which coincides in its highest incarnation, such as in the case of Moses, with plotinischer ecstasy. Dunaschs comment is mentioned several times in the course of the Middle Ages, including by Abraham Abulafia.