Salomon ibn Gabirol était un poète et philosophe andalou du XIe siècle, adepte de la pensée néoplatonicienne. Il a publié plus de cent poèmes, ainsi que des œuvres d'exégèse biblique, de philosophie, d'éthique et de satire. Dans l'histoire de la philosophie, il est reconnu pour sa doctrine selon laquelle toutes choses, y compris l'âme et l'intellect, sont composées de matière et de forme (« hylémorphisme universel »), et pour son insistance sur la Volonté Divine. Son œuvre philosophique fut considérée pendant des siècles comme un sommet de la pensée islamique ou chrétienne.
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.