A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue: Philosophy and Mysticism in Bahya ibn Paquda's "Duties of the Heart"

Diana Lobel

Published by University of Pennsylvania Press 2007

A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue

Philosophy and Mysticism in Bahya ibn Paquda's "Duties of the Heart"

Diana Lobel

In the series Jewish Culture and Contexts

https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812202656

Overview
Contents

About this book

In A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue, Diana Lobel explores the full extent to which Duties of the Heart marks the flowering of the "Jewish-Arab symbiosis," the interpenetration of Islamic and Jewish civilizations.

Author / Editor information

Diana Lobel is Associate Professor of Religion at Boston University. She is the author of Between Mysticism and Philosophy: Sufi Language of Religious Experience in Judah Ha-Levi's Kuzari.

Reviews

"It is difficult to imagine a timelier book that this. . . . Outstanding."—Speculum

"An ambitious attempt to fill a long-standing lacuna in the history of Jewish thought by presenting a synthesis and evaluation of Bahya in his intellectual context. It draws on over a century of scholarship, suggests some new sources for Bahya and new readings of old sources, and offers an interpretation of his thought."—Charles H. Manekin, University of Maryland

"This manuscript contains a subtle, probing, and rich exposition of the key issue of devotional self-examination within Jewish and Islamic mysticism. The author has a superb sense of Arabic, Sufi mystical psychology, and the extraordinary dialogue (sometimes openly acknowledged, often left unacknowledged) among Jewish, Islamic, Christian, and Greek traditions at the time of Ibn Paquda."—Michael Sells, University of Chicago

"Lobel illustrates the power of philology in the best sense. Her critical ear for the nuances and history of Arabo- Islamic terminology . . . enables her to probe the deep structural penetration of Sufi ideas in the work of Jewish thinkers and seekers. To put it another way, A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue traces the process by which Arabo-Islamic conceptual frames are imported into Judaism through shared use of the Arabic language. . . . Lobel is keenly attuned to the historical dimension of the work and its place in the cultural and intellectual history of the Jews of al-Andalus and all of Islam."—The Medieval Review

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Introduction: Bah̩ya's Work in Its Judeo-Arabic Context Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Philosophical Mysticism in Eleventh-Century Spain: Baḥ'ya and Ibn Gabirol Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	21
2. On the Lookout The Exegesis of a Sufi Tale Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
3. Creation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	51
4. The One Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	66
5. Speaking about God: Divine Attributes, Biblical Language, and Biblical Exegesis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	96
6. The Contemplation of Creation (l'tibār) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
7. Wholehearted Devotion (lkhlāṣ ): Purification of Unity (lkhlāṣ al-Tawḥi ̄d), Purification of Intention in Action (Ikhlāṣ al-'Amal) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	146
8. Reason, Law, and the Way of the Spirit Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	177
9. The Spirituality of the Law Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	196
10. Awareness, Love, and Reverence (Murāqaba, Mah̩abba, Hayba/Yir'ah) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
List of Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	245
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	323
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	345
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	361

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 376
Keywords: Religion; Jewish Studies; Religious Studies

eBook

Published: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 9780812202656