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Bahya Ben Joseph Ibn Pakuda, Yehudah Ibn Tibon, Max Emanuel Stern : HOVOT HA-LEVAVOT

Vien, 1856

(FT) ardcover, 8vo, xxvi, 462 pages. In Hebrew. SUBJECT(S) : Jewish ethics -- Early works to 1800. Lehrbuch der Herzenspflichten; Torat hovot ha-levavot. Bahya (second half of 11th century) , was a “moral philosopher. Little is known about the particulars of Bahya's life beyond the fact that he lived in Muslim Spain, probably at Saragossa. Bahya was also known as a paytan and some of his piyyutim are metered. Twenty piyyutim, either published or in manuscript, signed with the name Bahya are assumed to be his. Bahya's major work, Kitab al-Hidaya ila Fara’id al-Qulub, was written around 1080. It was translated into Hebrew by Judah ibn Tibbon n 1161 under the title hovot ha-Levavot ("Duties of the Hearts") , and in this version it became popular and had a profound influence on all subsequent Jewish pietistic literature. Several abridgments were made of the Hebrew translation, and the work was translated into Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Yiddish. In more recent times it has been translated into English, German (Choboth ha-L'baboth. Lehrbuch der Herzenspflichten, tr. By M. Stern, 1856) , and French. In his Hovot ha-Levavot Bahya drew a great deal upon non-Jewish sources, borrowing from Muslim mysticism, Arabic Neoplatonism, and perhaps also from the Hermetic writings. From Muslim authors he borrowed the basic structure of the book as well as definitions, aphorisms, and examples to illustrate his doctrines. Despite the fact that Bahya borrowed so liberally from non-Jewish sources, Hovot ha-Levavot remains an essentially Jewish book” (Vajda in EJ 2007) . OCLC lists 18 copies worldwide. Front and back cover not attached. Yellowing of pages. Good condition. (Rab-50-6)

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