186 CHAPTER SIX
World’ (Gen. 21:35).”^109 Abraham had to suffer the violent reaction of
his contemporaries, and he was rewarded with divine blessing, that in
him “all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). For Maimo-
nides, Abraham is indeed the blessing for all the families of the earth, the
father of mono theists past and present.^110 It is perhaps not accidental
that Moses Maimonides chose to give this patriarch’s name to his only
son. An indication of Maimonides’ identifi cation with Abraham can be
seen in his account of Abraham’s sufferings, introducing it with a personal
voice, as his own conjecture: “I have no doubt (la shakk indi) that in
view of the fact that he, may peace be upon him, disagreed with the doc-
trine of all men, these erring men reviled, blamed and belittled him.”^111
Abraham is thus the fi rst activist prophet; and yet Maimonides also de-
scribes him, as well as the other patriarchs, as carry ing on this activity
while preserving an inner isolation, “performing these actions with their
limbs only, while their intellects were constantly in His presence.”^112 The
option of keeping an inner isolation is best demonstrated in Maimonides’
portrayal of Moses, whom Maimonides depicts as the emblematic
philosopher-prophet-king. Maimonides praises the ability of some proph-
ets to keep their minds on the contemplation of God while living in this
world:
And there may be a human individual who, through his apprehen-
sion of the true realities and his joy in what he has apprehended,
achieves a state in which he talks with people and is occupied with
his bodily necessities while his intellect is wholly turned toward
Him, may He be exalted, while outwardly he is with people, in the
sort of way described by the poetical parables that have been in-
vented for these notions “I sleep, but my heart waketh.” (Song of
Songs, 5:2)^113Perhaps more than any Islamic phi losopher, Maimonides, “the disciple
of al- Farabi,” incorporates the notion of alienation into the philosophi-
cal ideal. While the Muslim phi losophers present their alienation as a
concession and justify their alienation as a response to a hostile society,
(^109) SeeMishneh Torah,Hilkhot Avodat Kokhavim 1:3. On Maimonides’ use of this verse,
see M. Schwarz’s note in his Hebrew translation of Guide of the Perplexed (Tel- Aviv,
2002), 3n1.
(^110) On Abraham as the fi rst mono theist, see also Ravitzky, “Contemplation and Leadership
in Maimonides’ Thought.” See also chap. 4, above, apud notes 6 and 124.
(^111) Guide 3.29 (Dalala, 375:14– 15; Pines, 515).
(^112) Guide 3.51 (Dalala, 459:18– 23; Pines, 624).
(^113) Guide 3.51 (Dalala, 459; Pines, 623). On this chapter, see Ravitzky, “Contemplation
and Leadership in Maimonides’ Thought,” 46– 52.