Examining the poetry of Hebrew poets in the Golden Age of Spain in general, and the work of Solomon Ibn Gabirol in particular, and that of al-’Adawiyya in 8th century Iraq, the similarities between them are remarkable. Despite the great difference between the two poets and the periods during which they operated, they had in common the composition of sacred poetry, glorifying God for his creation, and poems they wrote, perhaps among the first on love of God, which continued to be recited centuries later both among the Jews and the Muslims.
The poets discussed in this study conducted a special way of life that is identified with the Sufi movement. Ibn Gabirol, entitled rabbi, was an outstanding philosopher, influenced by Plato and by such Muslim philosophers as Alfarabi (873 - 951), who was called “the second philosopher”, because he was considered (in Arabic philosophy) the successor of Aristotle. Alfarabi’s philosophical thought was influenced by the writings of Plato and Aristotle. He wrote commentaries and elaborations on Plato’s “Book of Laws” and “The Republic”, and developed philosophical, theological, and political thought that integrated the systems of Plato and Aristotle with the tenets of Islam. He greatly influenced Muslim philosophers who succeeded him, and also Jewish philosophers, such as Maimonides. Ibn Gabirol wrote books in Arabic, which indicates his proficiency in Muslim literature and philosophy that influenced him. He developed a love of God as he described in his book Fons Vitae (“The Fountain of Life”). He maintained distance from his surroundings, choosing the way of abstinence and seclusion, since he regarded people as wicked and parting from the way of God. Rābi’a al-’Adawiyya, who preceded Ibn Gabirol by many years, conducted a liberal way of life arrived at faith and recognized without question the greatness and omnipotence of God. She repented and spent her days fasting and her nights in prayer. She expressed her love of God in Sufi poetry in praise of God, uniting herself with God spiritually. Like her, the Abbasid poet Abū al’Atāhiyya, who believed in God, despised the life of debauchery and preached abandoning it and coming close to God. He described in his poetry life and death, but refrained from writing about life after death. He regarded the world as a predator that one must keep at a distance, abandoning the cheap life and pursuing the worship of God.
This concept of the distinction between life and death, between the physical world and infinite time comprised the strong basis of the development of the Sufi ideal, which informed the way of life of the poets. The idea of meditation and investigating the world and its creatures aroused deep philosophical thinking through which they could examine the works of God.
Later on famous Sufis include: Hussein ben Mansur al-Halaj (858 - 922), Abu Hamad Al-Ghazali (1058 - 1111), Jalal Adin al-Romi (1207 - 1273), and Mohi al-Din Ibn al-Arabi (1156 - 1240), who added a philosophical dimension to the mysticism. However, some claim that the Sufi movement anteceded the 8th century and goes back to the beginning of Islam, founded by pietistic and ascetic Muslims (زهاد), who strove to live simple lives.3
The love of God, which a human being should take upon himself through sanctification (Tasawwufتصوف ) and his heart by purification (tankiya تنقية) by abandoning all the objectionable behavior and adopting all the good qualities.4 In his guidebook, “The Duties of the Heart”, Bahye Ibn Paquda (1050 - 1120) says: “Abstinence is the gateway towards love of God, because the abstinent, who disdains this world, is free to worship God and to love Him. Love of God is the highetst level of the believer in the ladder of duties of the heart.”5
Paul Fenton,7 who has been studying the influence of Sufism and its rituals on the Jews in the Muslim world in the Middle Ages and contacts between Jews and Muslims in the area of mysticism, displayed a profound understanding of Muslim Sufi writers using two manuscripts that he examined, preserved in Judeo-Arabic (Arabic in Hebrew script, as practiced by Jews in the Muslim world for generations).
According to Fenton, he has learned not to be astonished by the openness of the Jews towards Muslim mystical ideas in the classical period. Ever since the mystical poetry of al-Halaj and until “theory of the dawn”8 (al-ishrāqالاشراق) of al-Saharirdi (1154 - 1191) Jewish mystics were attentive to Sufi voices, and they copied major Sufi ceremonies in Hebrew letters for their own use. Moreover, regarding some texts these are the only copies that have been preserved.
But on the other hand, it is astonishing that there is no mention in Jewish sources of the writings by Mohi al-Din Ibn al-Arabi, who is considered by some to be the greatest Sufi thinker of all time. This fact is all the more remarkable considering that he was active precisely at the same time as the Jewish pietisitic movement in Egypt led by Abraham Maimonides (1186 - 1237), who did not hide his admiration for Muslim Sufi mystics.9
Arabic poetry and literature influenced Hebrew poetry by incorporating the ethical-philosophical subject into the “scientific” discipline. After the appearance of Islam, Arabic poets started to write poetry based on religious values. They created “wisdom poetry” (hikmaالحكمة ) and religious homiletic poetry (w’atوعظ ) and poetry of abstinence (zuhdزهد ) that took their ideas not from Islam but also from Greek philosophy, and mainly from Neo-Platonic, which was also absorbed into zuhd poetry.
The expression, the concepts, and the primary philosophical ideas in “Duties of the Heart” are taken from the “Letters of the Brethren of Purity.”10 R. Bahya Ibn Paquda cites three of the five reasons for love of God that appear in Algazali. The fifth reason that Algazali gives is the longing of the soul for something like itself, that is, for a spiritual essence.11
Rabbi Bahya said: What is the meaning of love of God? Giving the soul itself and its longing for God: It will rise up in order to cleave to the supreme light. This because the soul itself is a simple, spiritual essence, and it longs for spiritual essences like itself, and distances itself because of its nature from material bodies that are opposed to it by their nature.12
Tova Beeri points out in her book Le-David Mizmor, that David Hanasi ben Hezekiah the Exilarch was the first Jew to compose a Sufi composition. Until recently the first Jewish work of Sufism was thought to be “The Duties of the Heart” (Aidāya ila farāi'ḍ al qulūb, الهداية الى فرائض القلوب) by Bahya the Judge from Saragossa, written circa 1070. Beeri says that some years ago she cast doubt whether this could have been the first work of Jewish Sufism because it is such a sophisticated book.
Recently published discoveries reinforce the opinion that Jewish Sufi works preceded “The Duties of the Heart”. Beeri speaks of notably Sufi motifs in her book, and the appointed times for recitation of the liturgical poetry suggest Sufi usages. Consequently, the question arises whether to consider them Sufi poetry or at least poetry inspired by Sufism. She presented her opinion cautiously, succinctly, and in an edifying way. The meaning of her words in principle is that from now on at least one Jewish Sufi composition from Iraq is recognized, written in the first half of the 11th century.13
Many legends regard the Rashidun Caliphs (الخلفاء الراشدون), such as Abu Baker and Ali, as the founders of the Sufi orders. At any rate the movement was not an organized group life the Sufi movement. In the 8th and 9th centuries we can identify two parts in this movement:
1) Moderate Sufis who make do with little.
2) Extreme Sufis who repress all their appetites and rely on God alone.
In the 11th century the Sufi movement is recognized as a religious institution, especially upon the weakening of the Abbasid Caliphate that aspired to religious authority. Algazali was the first to distinguish between Orthodox Islam and spiritual Sufism, and he sought to bridge the gap between Muslim law and mysticism.
Alkushairi (986 - 1072) explained that the name “Sufiصوفي ” is not a word in Arabic, but a kind of nickname, and Ibn Khaldūn agreed with him, explaining that it stems from the word for wool (alsufالصوف ) because the Sufis were famous for dressing in wool alone, as opposed to people who showed themselves off in expensive clothing.
The Sufis stood out for the values that guided them, among them the belief that man distinguishes himself from the other creatures thanks to his awareness, which is divided into two kinds:
1) Awareness of science and recognition of certainty, faith, skepticism, and illusion.
2) Awareness of existing situations of joy and sadness, retaining and releasing, acceptance and anger, patience and thanksgiving etc.14
Solomon Ibn Gabirol had a religious world view that made him unique among his contemporaries. Although he was God-fearing, he did not make do with the opinions he inherited from his predecessors, but examined their foundations anew. He was a great mystic, influenced by Arabic and neo-Platonic philosophy, which reached Spain in Arabic guise and aroused his curiosity. Consequently, he sought to clarify the deepest problems, such as matter and form, the origin of the world, the essence of its Creator. In his book Fons Vitae (Meqor Ḥayyim), which he composed in Arabic, he raised the question: What should occupy the thought of a man in this life? And his answer: Man must seek knowledge, and that which he should seek the most from knowledge is to know himself, because thereby he will know what is essential for him.15
In his book “The Improvement of the Moral Qualities” (אצלאח אלאכלאק), a lyrical philosophic composition written by Solomon Ibn Gabirol circa 1045, when he was about 23 years old, he deals with the moral qualities of a person who wants to achieve the highest moral and spiritual level, eternal happiness, to which he aspires in the intellectual world, i.e., the end of time.16
Ibn Gabirol’s internal examination and aspiration to reach the highest qualities, are a process of purification of the soul. Ibn Gabirol negates the approach whereby a person says “a calamity will not strike me”. Calamities are an inseparable part of existence, and their negation is like negation of the existence of the world, which would be like negating the existence of individuals in the world. According to Ibn Gabirol the appropriate philosophical system perceives calamities as if they had already occurred. He refers to courage, and defines it simply: It is the ability to stand on principles and not give in to things you hate; true courage is insistence on the truth and overcoming one’s appetites. The brave person who adheres to the truth will prefer to give up his life and die sanctifying his principles rather than live a life that allows his appetites to overpower his intellect. According to the view of believers, they accept the calamities that they encounter, and regard them as a kind of blessing from Heaven (a divine test), by which they advance one more step towards God and paradise. This view is characteristic of one who chooses abstinence-Zuhd, since he understands that the world betrays mankind and it is a station on the way to the end of days.
Beyond any doubt, it can be asserted that trends of abstinence and asceticism were reinforced in the cultural milieu in which Ibn Gabirol operated. He was familiar with the words of the early ascetics of Islam and the traditions regarding their way of life and customs, which were preserved in the book of Andalusian Adab, Al’aqad al-farid by Ibn ‘Abd Rabba. He surely knew that among the names the Zuhād (زهاد) were called one of them was also the title bakaa’un (بكاؤون, “those who weep”). Because weeping and remorse over sins and fear of the approaching Judgment Day were one of their trademarks.17
The comparative study of the poetry of of Abū al’Atāhiyya and Ibn Gabirol will focus on a comparison of two poems by Abū al’Atāhiyya “Oh to my soul which went far in love” (أَلَا مَنْ لِنَفْسِي فِي الْهَوَى قَدْ تَمَادَتِ) and “The catastrophe of a man is love of the world”) and two poems by Ibn Gabirol:ְ “Bow before God”18 and “Know, my soul.”19
The comparison will focus on the following questions:
The comparison will deal with the growth and development of the genre of abstinence, and discuss the characteristics of both poets, Ibn Gabirol and Abū al’Atāhiyya. The purpose of the comparison will be to clarify the influence of Arabic Zuhd poetry on Hebrew abstinence poetry.
This research concerns the relations with God woven into the poetry of Rābi’a al-’Adawiyya and Abū al’Atāhiyya in the eighth century and a parallel phenomenon by the Andalusian Hebrew poet Solomon Ibn Gabirol. All three poets expressed fervent love of God and conducted abstinent lives, and the Arab poets were considered the greatest of the Șufi stream. A sginficant part of the research will be devoted to the similarities and differences between the Arabic poets and Ibn Gabirol.
In this research we shall focus on three poets, two of whom influenced the third, specifically the influence of the Arab poet Abu Ishaq, known as Abū al’Atāhiyya (748 - 828) and Rābi’a al-’Adawiyya (717 - 796) on Solomon Ibn Gabirol, who lived 250 years later. Abū al’Atāhiyya was active in the court of the Abbasid Califs, a contemporary of Bashar Ibn Bard and Abu Nuas. His poetry is notable for its asceticism and repugnance towards the vanity of the material world. The comparative study of the two poets will focus on the corpus of abstinence poetry written by both of them, with reference to similarities between them and the differences that make each one unique.
This philosophical poetry is Nihilistic, poetry of despair and hopelessness; its extreme conclusions are the negation of life and total abstinence, at times even to the degree of negating moral-human value. This poetry recalls death without reference to life after death—to what awaits man in paradise or in hell.21
This tone is so dominant in the poems of Abū al’Atāhiyya, which are basically religious poems, that he was accused of philosophical heresy, because he did not mention in his poems revival of the dead or reward and punishment in paradise and hell, but only death alone.22
A brief poem, of two verses in his Diwan refers explicitly to paradise, and another short poem says:
نعمُرُ الدُنيا وَما الدُن يا لَنا دارُ إِقامَة
إِنَّما الغِبطَةُ وَالحَسرَةُ في يَومِ القِيامَة
We shall live long in this world, but the world is not our place of residence.
There is neither profit nor pain, but on the day of resurrection.23
Abū al’Atāhiyya, negates entirely the value of this world as opposed to the world to come when the resurrection of the dead will occur. And in another brief poem he casts doubt on the advantage of the living over the dead.24
ساكني الأجداث أنتـــم مثلنا بالأمس كنتــــــم
ليت شعري ما صنعتُـــم أربِحتم أم خسرتــــــم
You, who dwell in graves were like us only yesterday.
If only I knew what you did, did you gain or did you lose?25
As opposed to secular philosophical poetry, that included religious ideas, as we made clear in the previous research, poetry that was liberated from Jewish national bonds, from the subject of exile and redemption, that dominated the piyyut in the East, dealt with basic issues of faith. This poetry concerned itself with the man of faith, whoever he was, without reference to his specific religion, with the relations between him and his God. Indeed, it did contain clear preaching of abstinence and of refraining from the pleasures of this world, but against an entirely different background than advocating abstinence in secular philosophical poetry. Indeed. the motif of abstinence and the idea of preparing for the next world are mentioned frequently in the poems of Abū al’Atāhiyya (pp. 232-233); If onlyal’Atāhiyya (pp. 232-233); and perhaps there is no essential difference between secular philosophical poetry and religious philosophical poetry, but only a matter of emphasis: The one stresses Nihilism, and the other stresses religious abstinence. Sa’adya dya Gaon used nihilistic concepts in a literary way, but always took care to conclude with a religious approach, unlike Abū al’Atāhiyya, who emphasized his Nihilism. And the Jewish poets in Spain gave expression in their philosophical secular poetry to Nihilism, while their liturgical-sacred philosophical poetry was imbued with the mystical spirit.26
The motif of love of God is widespread in Arabic religious poetry, and the Jewish poets in Spain followed in their footsteps and adopted it in their poetry. This motif was particularly developed by Șufi poets, and not by the poets of the Orthodox Islamic trend.27 The poetess Al-’adawiyya—the Saint (717 - 796), born in Basra, is considered by many a central figure in early Sufi mysticism. She is reported to have stood in prayer all night. She would say:
الهي: غارت النجوم, ونامت العيون, وغلقت الملوك أبوابها وخلا كل حبيب بحبيبه, وهذا مقامي بين يديك
“My God! The stars have lit up and the eyes have slumbered and the kings have shut their doors, and every lover has united with his beloved – I stand before You!”28
Accordingly, the Sufi poet sings to God:
Know that the believers, the wise, and the prophets remove themselves from this world, abandon temporal desires, pursue the world to come, and seek its distant good because the truths of the world to come became clear to them and the superiority of its good over the good of this world. And they see the world to come in their heart’s eye and in their mind’s light, the way that the sons of this world perceive with their senses matters of the world.31I spoke with you without words, I saw you without your appearing as a body,one sees [God] abstractly, seeing without an eye. When ecstasy revealed your presence/I saw you without a place. I spoke with your presence without words/and I saw awareness without eyes.32
The ascetics would address God with open hearts and confess their actions. Alḥarizi says: “Another one said, one woman of the Arabs her custom was to pray saying: ‘Master of the World, if I have offended you, my guilt will not harm you, and if you forgive me, you will not lack forgiveness, but my God, forgive me with that which will not harm you, and give me that which you will not lack.’”33
And compare the following Sufi remark:
Al-Asmai said: I heard a Bedouin saying his prayer: “God, my sins towards you cause you no harm. Your mercy for me will bring you no loss. alas Forgive me then for what does you no harm, and extend to me what you will not lack.34
The poets of Spain repeat this motif succinctly. Ibn Gabirol:35 “He who stands before his God as a sinner, says in his confession: וְאִם תְּבַקֵשׁ לַעֲוֹנִי, אֶבְרַח מִמְּךָ אֵלֶיךָ [“And if you seek out my sin, I shall flee from you and to you.”]36
At the time of its height, in the “Golden Age” of Hebrew poetry in Spain, the influence of the extreme way of life of the ascetic poetess Al-’adawiyya is apparent in the highly personal sacred poetry that was adopted by the poets who were familiar with her poetry.
One of the paradoxes in sacred poetry presents the two aforementioned aspects of religious experience as a movement between two extremes that are one.38 A well-known expression is the following passage in Keter Malkhut by Ibn Gabirol:39
My God, if my sin is too great to abide, what will you do for your great name?And if I cannot seek your mercy, who besides you will forgive me?Therefore, if you kill me, I will hope for you.And if you demand for my sin, I shall flee from you to you. I will hide from your anger in your shade.And I shall hold onto the fringes of your mercy, and not let you go until you bless me.
Every sentence in this passage expresses contradictory extremes of religious experience. Sin raises the fearful images of the God of Judgement, while the great name of God refers to the opposite aspect, the beneficent, merciful God in the second verse. In the third verse once again the image of a threatening God who might harm a man and kill him, and in the following hope for mercy is expressed again, for protection from a beneficent God. And in the fourth verse sin is mentioned, and the image of the God of Judgement, and afterwards two paradoxes of religious experience, fear of God, “I shall flee from you…from your anger” and “I shall flee to you…and I hide in your shade”. The last verse mentions God’s power to do good and also his fearful power to abandon man.
Ibn Gabirol maintains that knowledge and action free the soul from the captivity of nature and purify it from its gloominess and darkness. Nevertheless, he emphasizes that there are limits to human investigation, there are things that a man cannot fathom, i.e., that are beyond human comprehension. He distinguishes between three stages:
1) Knowledge of matter (the example of matter and form is the human body and its form). 2) Knowledge of the will (the example of the will is the soul). 3) Knowledge of the first cause (the example of the first cause is God, and the will is the power of God, who created everything and motivates everything).
And in fact one of the sages of Islam was Abu Hamad Al-Ghazali (1054 - 1111), the great scholar who is regarded as the renewer of Islam and symbolized the event in which mystical views penetrated legalistic Islam.
Al-Ghazali, a famous teacher and writer in both areas, was one of the leading pillars of the highest school, Almadrasa-Netamiyya, founded in Baghdad. His books are considered among the basic works of the Shafi’i school.40
The idea that the wholeness of the body is a condition for internal wholeness and warning aginst extreme asceticism were not innovations of Al-Ghazali, but can be found not only among rationalists, like Maimonides, but also in pietistic ciricles, and even in monastic ciricles that usually stress the contrast between the flesh and the spirit. Al-Ghazali emphasized the importance of concentration (خشوع) and humility as the important thing in prayer and practicing silent prayer (مناجاة). Fear, according to Al-Ghazali is especially important for novices at the beginning of their way, but they should not overdo it, on the other hand, even in the later stages of worship of God.41
In Sufi literature, the soul is described as the source of appetite and passion. In Hebrew poetry the soul is referred to by five terms: nefesh (soul), ruaḥ (spirit), neshama (breath), ḥaya (living), and yeḥida (unit). The last two terms are like the terms that refer to God. The soul shares some qualities with God: It is one, eternal, and there is nothing else like it. According to the Sufi view of the world, man can come close to God in several ways: repentace, restraing the soul and its appetites, becoming a recluse, and making do with little.42
Among the Sufis an essential question arises: What is the vessel through which one longs for Allah and seeks to approach him? The answer is through the heart and not the body. By “heart” they do not mean the chunk of meat that one could perceive with the senses; but a secret among the secrets of Allah that cannot be reached with the senses. In medieval literature the heart symbolizes faith, and among the Muslims there are three kinds of heart: the norrmal and complete heart that is pure and full of faith, its normality symbolizing the normality of the body, the sick heart, that is defective, like every limb of the body that can be damaged (the faith within it is damaged), and the dead heart that is far from the reality under discussion and far from the worship of God.43
The Sufi way of life was characterized by modesty and frugality. Aljāḥiẓ (776 - 868) attributes the concept to Hassan: “Alhassan said: ‘Son of man, if it is enough for you in this world that which is given to you, then the little there is in it will suffice for you, But if what you are given in this world is not enough for you, nothing in the world will suffice for you’” (وقال الحسن: ابن أدم, ان كان يغنيك من الدنيا ما يكفيك فأدنى ما فيها يغنيك وان كان لا يغنيك منها ما يكفيك فليس فيها شيء يغنيك).44
Alḥarizi in the book of Taḥkemoni, influenced by Arabic literature, refers to the same subject: “Another one said:
If you ask the world enough for your needs/the little it will provide will suffice for you/but if you ask for more than you need/even everything will not suffice for you.”45
The poet al-Ma’ari (973 - 1057) had a different opinion on this subject. Below are some of his views:
Al-Ma’ari believed in fatalism according to which everything that happens to a man comes to him due to a hidden fate over which he has no control or the power to alter it, and man lives only temporarily. He asserts that a man is born, grows old, and lives under the compulsion of the supreme power, without any choice. Man is corrupt because corruption is inherent in him. Good is true good only if it submits to the control of the mind.49
The ancient Greek philosophers dealt with the essence of the soul in relation to the body. Plato, and in his footsteps, Aristotle, regarded the living soul as a unique spark of the humanity of man. Like the Jewish sages they maintained that all the limbs of the human body are double, except for the single soul in the body. Likewise, they divided man between a growing soul, a thinking-speaking living thing. By the expression “speaking living thing” the Greek philosophers expressed the spiritual superiority of man over the rest of creation. The sages of Israel followed this concept, and in particular the philosophers and poets of the “Golden Age” in Spain. In a liturgical poem (reshut) for Nishmat entitled Sheḥi la’el this influence may be perceived in the analogy between man and his God.
Among the characteristics of the liturgical poetry from Spain, which is imbued with philosophical idea, are these two important concepts: the mind’s eye and the heart’s eye. It is known that abstract forms like God’s eye, the angels, and the soul are invisible, but may be perceived by means of the heart’s eye.50 That is the Platonic “Idea.” In other words, what is perceived by means of the internal eye. One of the philosophical sources that had a great influence on the sages of Spain was “The Letters of the Brethren of Purity”.
The ascetic poets believed that everything is finite, and the end of everything is death. A striking expression appears in Psalms: “Where can I escape from Your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I descend to Sheol, You are there too. If I take wing with the dawn to come to rest on the western horizon, even there Your hand will be guiding me, Your right hand will be holding me fast” (Ps. 139: 7-10).
One of the central ideas in Jahiliyyah poetry dealt with the concept of body and soul as one inseparable unit, that exists as long as a man is alive. But Platonic philosophy regarded the soul as imprisoned in the body as a negative reality. Greek literature not only separated between the body and the soul, but emphasized clearly the superiority of the spiritual soul over the material body in which it is imprisoned. This idea found its lyrical expression in n the Arabic abstinence poetry and in the Letters of the Brethren of Purity, in which the soul is described as a spiritual entity similar in its qualities to God.51 The Letters had a great influence on the sages of Spain.
The soul whom Abū al’Atāhiyya addresses is not immune from the inclination to sin because the body and soul can both fall into the net of the evil inclination, but the soul has a better chance to refrain from sinning and cut itself off from the vanity of this world.53 Among the Jewish poets of Spain the recurrent motif “From You and to You” is widespread. Ibn Gabirol, standing before God as a sinner, says in his confession:
“And if you seek out my sin, I shall flee from you and to you.”54
The source of this motif is in Keter Malkhut, par. 35, but its terse phrasing is Arabic. The motif recurs in a poem of Abū al’Atāhiyya: “Woe to my soul which went far with love” (أَلَا مَنْ لِنَفْسِي فِي الْهَوَى قَدْ تَمَادَتِ).55
“I have no choice but to be his [God’s] servant/To God I return both my weariness and my joy” (verse 12)
A man’s storming passions, the body and its never-ending material desires are also given many lyrical expressions. On the one hand, the poets realize the power of passion that never finds satisfaction, and on the other hand confront the man who pursues them with his fate that will deprive him of them.56 One of the problems of the man pursing his appetites or possessions is the lack of awareness of his end: If a man remembered at every moment that his end is to die, he would not waste his life in pursuit of vanities:
“Let a man remember throughout his life/that to death he will be taken.”57
Bow before God, wise and unique/and run to serve Him with fear,Face your world by night and by day/and why pursue vanity and for what?You are compared in your life to the living God/who disappears as you disappear.Just as your Creator is pure and clean - /know that you are pure and innocent.Powerful, He holds the heavens on His arm - /like you hold a silenced corpse.Sing songs, my soul to your Rock/who does not put your image in the earth.My heart, bless your Rock always/whose name every soul will praise!
The poem opens with a direct and dramatic address by the poet to his soul, in which he commands it to bow down before God and to hasten to worship Him in fear and awe. The rhyme of “haḥakhama” (the wise) and “be’eima” (in fear) emphasizes the link between the soul’s understanding and its ability to choose to cleave to God and worship him in fear. Thanks to its wisdom, the soul understands the importance of worshipping God.
The speaker calls upon his soul to devote his time to the supreme spiritual world from which it comes, and not to waste it on the vanities of this world. Ibn Gabirol stresses before the soul that it is similar to God in its eternal existence and its invisibility and parallel to it in more qualities: The God who created it is pure and pristine, as it is pure and innocent; The powerful God holds the heavens (the world) in His arms, just as the soul carries the silent body. In the last verse the speaker addresses the body (its heart) and calls upon it to praise God, who is praised by every soul.
Know, my soul, your master/who will reward youAnd worship the one who will listen/on this day to your conversationKnow, my soul, what you will do/before you go up to your RockWhy my single one and for what/have you pursued vanities in vain?Remember the Judgment Day/and be not foolish and debauched.
The poet turns to the soul, calling upon it to wake up and recognize the existence of God, who does not forget his creation, and urges it to worship God, who alone can listen to his prayers and petitions. He calls upon it to wake up from its slumber and be sober, to be aware of its actions before the body dies and it goes up to heaven. The poet addresses his soul with two questions in order to warn it for its vain actions and wants to remind it to prepare for the Day of Judgment and not act foolishly and take part in the debauchery in this world.
Abū al’Atāhiyya also addresses his soul, and he also reminds it that death is approaching, and calls upon it to prepare for the Judgment Day that awaits it after death:
“Oh, my soul, forget not your book/woe unto you if you receive it in your left hand.”60“Fear God and abandon pride and remember/the judgment of the sinner on the Day of Judgment.”61“Oh, my soul, until when will you distance yourself from the truth/until when will you not repent?”62“Oh, my soul, if you cannot be good/resemble those who are good.”63“(You) debauch yourself – and death comes to us – evening and morning/He whom the face of death does not reach in the morning, it will reach in the evening.”64“Until when do you amuse yourself and play/and death runs towards you with an open mouth.”65“Oh, he who builds a house and prepares it/what have you done for the sake of your world to come?”66
In the four poems that were selected for comparison, the speaker addresses the soul and ignores the body. This fact testifies to the great value of the spiritual soul as opposed to the loweliness of the material body. The purpose of the address to the soul is to warn it to distance itself from the world before meeting God on the Judgment Day. This warning in the poem is addressed to the individual soul, but it applies to the audience in general.
Ibn Gabirol addresses his soul in the first verse of the poem “Know my soul,” saying:
Know my soul, what you will do/before you go up to your Rock (verse 1),
And he continues, asking:
Why my single one and for what/have you pursued vanities in vain? (verse 14).
Similarly, Ibn Gabirol addresses his soul in the poem “Bow before God” and implores it to cease pursuing the vanities of this world:
Bow before God, wise and unique/and run to serve Him with fear (verse 1)Face your world by night and by day/and why pursue vanity and for what? (verse 2)
The speaker refers to his soul, using the names “unique” and “wise”, and he also cites the qualities that it has in common with God, such as “purity”, “innocence”, and “invisibility”.
In five characteristics the soul resembles God:
A soul that has gained these qualities and shares them with the Creator of the world, must praise and glorify Him. This is an ancient Jewish concept, tht describes the link between the soul of man and God.
In the first verse of the poem Ibn Gabirol asks his soul to submit itself and bow down before God (Shehi la’el) and to pray and worship Him out of “fear”. The term shehi is from the root ש.ח.ה/י, which means bow, bend down. Addressing the soul to bow before God and submit oneself to him, stands out in Ibn Gabirol’s other poem as well, “Know, my soul” (Nafshi de’i):
Before God bow down/prostrate yourself, fall down (verse 9)
In this poem, in which the poet commands his soul to turn to its supreme source and cease pursuing vanity, the imperative form of face recurs:
Face your world by night and by day/and why pursue vanity and for what? (verse 2)
The poet gives orders.
The poet Abū al’Atāhiyya also addresses his soul in his poems:
Oh, who is to my soul, which sailed away with its inclinations/and when I say so it returns from folly (verse 1).
Oh, the soul of this world is not a beloved relative/leave it to people who argued over it (verse 7).
When Abū al’Atāhiyya addresses his soul, he entreats it not to lust like others after the vanities of this world and its appetites. The difference between Ibn Gabirol and Abū al’Atāhiyya is that Ibn Gabirol perceives the soul as resembling God and attributes to it divine qualities. Descriptions like these do not occur in Abū al’Atāhiyya’s poetry specifically and in the poetry of Arabic poets in general because they would violate Muslim law.67
“The World” and “Time” are among the prominent subjects in the poetry of Spain. These subjects display a dark, pessimistic aspect opposed to the colorful and joyful experience of wine songs and songs of desire. The World (Heb. tevel) and Time (Heb. zeman) were linked together in the world of poetry, and they remained in it for centuries. Alduniya; (الدنيا) in Arabic; in Hebrew (tevel) “is the continent that is populated”. It is synonymous with earth, land, universe.68
Here is verse by R. Samuel Hanagid from Ben Qohelet:
My comrade, will you earn the world to come? —and your legs rush to the joys of this world?You are like a man with two wives, when you do/the will of one—you anger the other (
In Arabic Ibn Abed Rabba in his book Al’aqed alfarid waqalo: “They said:
The parable of this world and the world to come is like the parable of a man who has two wives, if he pleases the one, he angers the other.”69 Samuel Hanagid addresses people, anyone who desires a long life—lovers of this world, your lives are worth nothing, and reminds them that they were born to die, everyone returns to whence he came:
Lovers of days on the earth, do you know that your lives are worthless?You, every branch is from the root of death, it will return to its roots (
Abū al’Atāhiyya, who lived at a time long before the poets of Spain, would mention in his poems one of the principles of abstinence: preference for the world to come over the earthly life, He implored people not to be enslaved to this world, but to withdraw from a life of hedonism, and abandon material life. He points out that death is approaching, and reminds people that life in this world is in vain, but true happiness is to be found in the true life after death.70
The motif of abstinence is expressed in Abū al’Atāhiyya’s poem: “The tragedy of man is love of the world” (الْمَرْءُ آفَتُهُ هَوَى الدُّنْيَا).71
In the following verses we shall se how the poet prefers life after death to the present life:
The love of this world is the tragedy [illness] of man/and the wealthier a man becomes the more he becomes despotic (verse 1).I came to know the results of this world/so I left what I desired for that which I feared (verse 2). Oh, you who build a home and furnish it/what have you done for your home in the world to come? (verse 18).
In the following verses the poet mentions the day of death, from which a man cannot escape:
Did you count those whom you have seen/when they were alive and afterwards you saw that they are dead? (verse 21).
You will reach the court of death/and will reside in the dwelling places of the dead (verse 22).
In the other poem, “Oh, my soul, which went too far in love” أَلَا مَنْ لِنَفْسِي فِي الْهَوَى قَدْ) (تَمَادَتِ Abū al’Atāhiyya emphasizes the advantage of abstinence and abandoning material life:72
Oh, my soul, this world is not a beloved relative/leave it to the people who fight over it (verse 7).
And regarding the fate of the debauched soul, Abū al’Atāhiyya writes:
[The poet wonders] where do they go who wasted their lives in entertainment/and where are the generations that passed and were wiped out? (verse 10)
Abū al’Atāhiyya reminds his soul of the generations that existed before it and are extinct in order to persuade it to stop desiring this world, which ends in oblivion and death.
Solomon Ibn Gabirol also addresses his soul in two poems and impores it to devote its life to worshipping God and cease its pursuit after vanity.73 Both poems mention the approach of death and warn about the Day of Judgment, on which all the living receive recompense for their actions in this world.
Abstinence poetry is basically pessimistic. With death lingering on the horizon, preaching that one should remove himself from the vanity of the world is the main subject of this poetry. Its purpose is to awaken man and bring him to take account and repent before leaving the material world.74
These motifs appear in the following verses from Ibn Gabirol’s poem “Bow before God:”
Bow before God, wise and unique/and run to worship Him with fear (verse 1)Face your world by night and by day/and why pursue vanity and for what? (verse 2)
In his poem “Know my soul” Ibn Gabirol also calls upon his soul to refrain from the vanities of the physical world, and to prefer the spiritual world:
Why, my unique one, and for what/do you go vainly after vanity (verse 14)Gird yourself, help yourself/refrain, be noble (verse 15)Abandon the vanity of the world, and do not/mourn over its arrogance (verse 16)
In the next stanza the poet warns about death approaching and the Judgment Day in its wake:
Remember the Day of Judgment and do not look and debauch yourself (verse 22).
Ibn Gabirol was familiar with the poetics and ornamental language of Arabic poetry and made marvelous use of its idioms and rhetorical techniques. Despite the profound influence of Arabic poetry on Ibn Gabirol, we can distinguish a certain uniqueness, such as his use of acrostics. He would sign his name Solomon (Shelomo) at the beginning of verses. This was a customary practice among the Hebrew poets of Andalusia, who were able in this way to stake their claim of ownership on their works for generations to come.
Both Ibn Gabirol and Abū al’Atāhiyya made extensive use of opposites and pairs of words that demonstrate the contrast between this world and the world to come. Here are a few examples:
In his poem “Bow before God” (verse 2) he presents the contrast between “your night” and “your day”, and in the poem “Know my Soul” (verse 23) the opposition of “good” and “evil”.
In Abū al’Atāhiyya’s first poem “Oh, my soul, which went too far in love,” he contrasts “misery” with “happiness” in verse 12 (شِقْوَتي وَسَعَادَتِي –طباق). In his second poem, “The tragedy of man is love of the world”, verse 8, he contrasts between “slave” and “master” (العَبْدِ وَالْمَوْلَى –طباق); the contrast between “faults” and “merits” (مساويها – محاسنها); in verse 12: “bearer of the tiding of death” and bearer of good tidings” (النعي والبشرى); verse 21: the contrast between “life” and “death” (أحياء- موتى); and in verse 32 the contrast between “please” (appease) and “annoy” (أرضى- أغضب).
Allusions refer, by means of a word or expression that appears in a work, to other literary sources, creating a connection between the work itself and another event or literary work. This connection enriches the fabric of the later work, expanding its meaning and giving it more depth.
Muslim poets from before the period of Spain would enrich their poetic compositions with materials that refer to their sources, the Quran and the Hadith. Such a usage may be called “the Quranic connotation”.
A study of Abū al’Atāhiyya’s Diwan reveals that he preached to his readers by including expressions and phrases from the Muslim sacred ceremonies, and made great use of allusions from the Quran and the Suna.
Ibn Gabirol and the Jewish poets of Andalusia were influenced by the Bible, which served for them as an important source to enrich their literary work. Abu Alatahayya, who preceded Ibn Gabirol by many years, used this technique extensively. His vast knowledge of Islamic sources enabled him to use allusions to the Quran and Hadith, in addition to incorporating proverbs from the Arabic tradition.
In Abū al’Atāhiyya’s poem “Oh, my soul, which went too far in love,” it says:
A soul that lived a long life of temptations/will in the end die despite its experience in fleeing from death (verse 9).
In this verse the poet alludes to Sura 50 (“The Qaf”), verse 19: “And the intoxication of death will bring the truth; that is what you were trying to avoid”
(وَجَاءَتْ سَكْرَةُ الْمَوْتِ بِالْحَقِّ ذَلِكَ مَا كُنْتَ مِنْهُ تَحِيدُ).74
To where did they go who spent their lives in entertainments and in naughtiness/and where are the generations that existed and were destroyed? (verse 10).
(أَلَا أَيْنَ مَنْ وَلَّى بِهِ اللَّهْوُ وَالصِّبَا وَأَينَ قُرُونٌ قَبْلُ كَانَتْ فَبَادَتِ)
These words allude to Sura 20 (“Ta Ha”), verse 128: “Then, has it not become clear to them how many generations We destroyed before them as they walk among their dwellings? Indeed, in that are signs for those of intelligence.”75
And from the second poem, “The tragedy of man is love of the world:”
The tragedy [illness] of man is love of the world, and the more a man becomes wealthier, the more he becomes despotic (verse 1).
(المَرءُ آفَتُهُ هَوَى الدُّنْيَا وَالْمَرءُ يَطْغَى كُلَّمَا اسْتَغْنَى)
In this verse there are allusions to two verses (6 - 8) in Sura 96 (“The Clinging Substance”): “No! [But] indeed, man transgresses because he sees himself self-sufficient. Indeed, to the Lord is the return. (كَلاَّ إِنَّ الإِنسَانَ لَيَطْغَى أَن رَّآهُ اسْتَغْنَى إِنَّ إِلَى رَبِّكَ الرُّجْعَى).76
Indeed. I examined and did not find anything/more valuable than a little sustenance, and not greater than that (verse 6).
وَلَقَد بَلَوْتُ فَلَمْ أَجِدْ سَبَباً بِأَعَزَّ مِن قَنِعٍ وَلَا أَعْلَى))
This verse alludes to the Hadith: “He who makes do with little will be strong and the covetous person will be brought low” (عَزَّ مَنْ قَنِعَ وَذَلَّ مَنْ طَمِعَ).77
In the following verse Abū al’Atāhiyya incorporated a proverb in order to clarify his idea:
The truth shines and is not hidden/even the blind can see its light (verse 35).
This verse alludes to the proverb “The truth shines and a lie is unstable” (الحقُّ أَبْلَجُ وَالْبَاطِلُ لَجْلَجٌ).79
Ibn Gabirol also made much use of allusions, as for example, in the opening of his poem “Bow before God”:
שְׁחִי לָאֵל, יְחִידָה הַחֲכָמָה, וְרוּצִי לַעֲבֹד אוֹתוֹ בְּאֵימָה (בית 1)
Bow before God, wise and unique/and run to serve Him with fear (verse 1).
The expression “to serve Him” alludes to the verse: “And you shall come to see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between him who has served the Lord and him who has not served Him” (Malachi 3:18).
קְרָבַי, בָּרֲכוּ תָמִיד לְצוּרכֶם אֲשֶׁר לִשְׁמוֹ תְהַלֵּל כֹּל נְשָׁמָה! (בית 7)
My heart, bless your Rock always/whose name every soul (neshama) will praise! (verse 7).
Here the speaker alludes to the verse: “Let all that breathes (neshama) praise the Lord” (Ps. 150:6).
In the poem “Know My Soul” the poet wrote:
וּרְאִי פְקֻדַּת רֹב עֲווֹן / בִּצְעֵךְ, וְעוֹד לֹא תִמְעֲלִי (בית 6)
And see the order of sinfulness/you have committed, and not yet trespassed (verse 6).
In this verse the poet alludes to Lev. 26:40—“And they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, in that they trespassed against Me, they were hostile to me.” And in the next verse:
קוּמִי בְעוֹד לַיִל, וְאַל / תִּתְיַשְּׁנִי, תִּתְעַצְּלִי (בית 7)
Rise up while it is still night/and do not slumber or be slothful (verse 7)
This verse alludes to Proverbs 6: 9—“How long will you be there, lazybones; when will you wake up from your sleep?”
And subsequently:
אוּלִי יְחַנֵּך צוּר וְלֹא / תֵרְדִי אֱלֵי שַׁחַת בְּלִי ) בית 13)Perhaps the Rock will educate you and you will not/descend to the grave of oblivion (verse 13).
Here alluding to Isa. 38: 17—“Truly, it was for my own good that I had such great bitterness: You saved my life from the pit of destruction, for You have cast behind Your back all my offences.”
we recognize Another element that separates the two poets is that Solomon Ibn Gabirol incorporates in his poetry his vast knowledge of science and philosophy, such as the constellations, sea routes, stars in the heavens etc.
Analysis of these poems reveals that there is a great similarity between the poems that concern love of God and the reflection of the Zuhd-abstinence motif. The reader may notice that the poets were God-fearing, devoted believers in God, in such a way that is expressed in each and every poem. Their faith in God is expressed in different aspects that were examined in the study, whether in the contents of the poem, the use of artistic techniques, or ways of structuring the poem simply and the effort to reach out to the reader. For example, the use of contrast between the speaker and God. While the former is infinitesimal and earthly, God is omnipotent, enormous, and awe-inspiring.
In addition, Both Solomon Ibn Gabirol and Rābi’a al-’Adawiyya make abundant use of metaphors and images in order to sharpen these differences and illustrate the world of contrast in which they find themselves.80 In every one of the poems, it was analyzed that there are different images and metaphors, even using a number of metaphors to describe the same action. However, despite the similarity, a significant difference may be observed in Rābi’a al-’Adawiyya’s tendency to use personification much more than Ibn Gabirol. Rābi’a frequently describes her love of God in the language of love between men and women, including longing and other expressions that Ibn Gabirol did not use.
Beyond their great use of metaphors and images of contrast, and simple language, both used the artistic trademark of flowery openings. In the case of Ibn Gabirol this may be seen as part of the characteristics of the poem from the point of view of internal rhyme and structure.
In contrast to the striking similarity in these aspects, two significant distinctions separate these poets. First of all, the period in which the two speakers lived (the 8th and 11th century). Secondly, in Rābi’a al-’Adawiyya’s poetry her physical difficulties are notable, as are all the terrible problems which she must struggle. In Ibn Gabirol’s poems most of the problems that he must face are internal ones, mainly resultant from his complicated emotional situation, and not physical conditions as in the works of Rābi’a al-’Adawiyya. In addition, Ibn Gabirol frequently incorporates his knowledge of both the religious and scientific world, for example by referring to sources or to other philosophical or scientific phenomena. Rābi’a al-’Adawiyya makes no use of these tools.
The philosophical poems deal with questions of life and death that pertain to every human being, and they generally express a pessimistic attitude towards the man’s fate that of the world. In Arabic poetry in the East, philosophical poems were widespread, and they were mainly poems of morality and abstinence, calling on man to loath the pleasures of life in this world, to withdraw from society and engage in thought alone, and they undoubtedly influenced the Hebrew philosophical poetry composed in Spain. The Hebrew poets referred to these poems as Zuhd poems, i.e., poems of abstinence.
The contact created between two cultures in Spain enriched the cultural world of the Jewish poet, and in particular the secular poetry, which reached its height in the 10th century. Abstinence poetry is considered one of the new genres that the Jewish poets fashioned in Spain. Solomon Ibn Gabirol’s abstinence poetry was influenced by Muslim Zuhd poetry and in particular by the poetry of Abu Alatahayya. Ibn Gabirol gave his poetry a Jewish character by integrating the material that he drew from Abū al’Atāhiyya into a Hebrew framework, such as including Biblical allusions and the use of the acrostic, unique to Jewish poets. All of these features gave his work the appearance of an original Hebrew work.
1See
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7Prof. Paul Fenton, professor of Jewish studies at the Sorbonne, wrote an important article in the third volume of the research compilation, Bein ‘ever ve’arab, 2004. See:
8Shihab Abu Alfathuh, known as Alsaharudi Alhalabi, born in Sarhud, northern Iran, was a philosopher and scholar influenced by the teachings of the Ismaelites. Because of his extreme opinions he was murdered by religious sages at a young age.
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10A compilation 52 letters of the Brethren. About the Brethren, see above note 103.
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24Regarding nihilism (‘adamuiyya) in the view of Abū al’Atāhiyya, see
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40The Shafi’i school is one of the four schools that developed in Islam. Its founder was Muhammad al-Shafi’i, born in Gaza.
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46Ibn Hazm preached about the value of frugality and devoted a special chapter to the subject in his enormous book, Hayona-tuk al-hamama, 178.
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50Cf. Maimonides, Mishne Torah, Foundations of the Torah, 4: 7.
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