Joseph ben Judah ibn Aknin (, ; ) was a Sephardic Jewish writer of numerous treatises, mostly on the ''

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

'' and the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

. He was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, but settled in Fes, where by his own admission he lived as a crypto-Jew. Though a native of Spain, his family had originated in North Africa.

Works

In addition to an introduction to the Talmud in Arabic (Hebrew translation at
Mevo ha-Talmud
'), and a treatise on Talmudic weights and measures, his surviving works include: * ''Sefer ha Musar'' (''"Book of Morality"'') :A commentary on the ''

Pirkei Avot Pirkei Avot (; also transliterated as ''Pirqei Avoth'' or ''Pirkei Avos'' or ''Pirke Aboth'', also ''Abhoth''), which translates into English as Chapters of the Fathers, is a compilation of the ethical teachings and maxims from Rabbinic Jewis ...

'' similar to that of

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

. * ''Tibb al-Nufūs al-Salīma wa-Mu'' ʿ''ālajat al-Nufūs al-Alīma'' (, ''"The Hygiene of Healthy Souls and the Therapy of Ailing Souls"'') :A book on psychology, with a chapters on friendship, speech and silence, keeping a secret, lying, food and drink, asceticism, education, the needs and destiny of the soul, persecutions and the proper response to them, and repentance. The chapter on education argues that the study of logic and science should not be undertaken before the age of thirty, and only after a solid traditional education so that religious convictions should not be affected by philosophical doubts. * ''Inkishāf al-asrar ważuhūr al-anwār'' ('','' ''"The Divulgence of Mysteries and the Appearance of Lights"'') :A commentary on the ''

Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...

'', treating each verse at three levels: at the literal level, citing contemporary grammarians to explain every word on the scroll; at a rabbinical level, based on midrashic texts, symbolising the people of Israel's relationship with God; and at an allegorical level, describing the soul trying to unite itself with the intellect, supported by Jewish and Arab poets, and the philosophy of

Al-Farabi file:A21-133 grande.webp, thumbnail, 200px, Postage stamp of the USSR, issued on the 1100th anniversary of the birth of Al-Farabi (1975) Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi (; – 14 December 950–12 January 951), known in the Greek East and Latin West ...

and

Avicenna Ibn Sina ( – 22 June 1037), commonly known in the West as Avicenna ( ), was a preeminent philosopher and physician of the Muslim world, flourishing during the Islamic Golden Age, serving in the courts of various Iranian peoples, Iranian ...

. * ''Risālat al-ibānah fi uṣūl al-diyānah'' ( ''"Clarification of the Fundamentals of Faith"'') A book no longer in existence that discussed a man's freedom. * A Hebrew translation of

's Kitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir (Great Book of Music) Works which have been lost include ''Hukkim u-Mishpatim'' (a compendium of Jewish law), and a theological work ''Risalat al-Ibana fi Uṣul al-Diyana'' (''"A Religious Clarification of Religious Fundamentals"''). Ibn Aknin is known to have known

in North Africa, and draws on many of the same sources, sharing a similar outlook. But he is not the Joseph ben Judah to whom the ''

Guide A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Exp ...

'' is addressed.

References

* Colette Sirat, ''A History of Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages'', pp. 207–8. Cambridge University Press, 1990. * Hava Lazarus-Yafeh
Judeo-Arabic Literature
1977. 1150s births 1220s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Jewish writers 12th-century Arabic-language writers 13th-century Arabic-language writers 12th-century Catalan Jews 12th-century Catalan people 13th-century Catalan Jews 13th-century Catalan people Writers from Barcelona {{Judaism-bio-stub