had been formulated in this generation at Basra. Al-Majriti’s pupils were astrono-
mers and astrologers at Córdoba; one of them (22 in Figure 8.4) propagated
the Pure Brethren system to Saragossa (one of the independent Muslim states of
the north), where this astrological occultism was passed along to the first impor-
tant Jewish philosopher in Spain, Ibn Gabirol (Sirat, 1985: 97). Ibn Gabirol is
the creative individual at the intersection of the networks, connecting also to
the Jewish network of poets and grammarians at Córdoba and Lucena; he be-
came a famous religious poet in his own right. Another famous contemporary,
perhaps also at this cultural center Saragossa, was the Jewish philosopher Bahya
ibn Paquda. A second network worthy of note (10, 15, and 26 in Figure 8.4)
begins with a follower of al-Sijistani in Baghdad, and continues the tradition of
logic and mathematics first at Córdoba, then at Toledo (where also appear such
scientists as 27 and 28; see key to Figures 8.4 and 8.5). The first scientific star is
the mathematician-astronomer al-Jayyami (25 in Figure 8.4) at Córdoba in the
mid-1000s.
- Barcelona had been ruled by the Christians since the 800s; in the 1100s it became
one of the first places for translation from Arabic into Latin. Bar Hiyya is notable
for the first Hebrew exposition of the Ptolemaic astronomy and for the first
complete solution in Europe of the quadratic equation (DSB, 1981: 1:23), while
his philosophy is a mixed Neoplatonism reminiscent of the Pure Brethren influence
propagated by Ibn Gabirol at Saragossa. The two cities are 150 miles apart, and
for centuries were the major outposts between which influences flowed across the
Muslim-Christian frontier.
- Maimonides himself (1956: 164) reports that he was acquainted with Jabir’s son.
The Guide for the Perplexed (pt. 2, chaps. 4–12) contains a section on astronomy.
- See EP (1967: 4:267); DSB (1981: 5:591–592). Ibn Daud is sometimes identified
with John of Seville; but John translated in Toledo about 1133–1143, whereas
Ibn Daud and Gundissalinus came a generation later, in the 1160s (DSB, 1981:
15:174, 190).
- Ibn Daud never mentions him, but it is unlikely that they did not know of each
other, as they represented the opposing wings of the Jewish community on the
reconciliation of philosophy and scripture.
- At Saragossa, Muslim scientists and Jewish grammarians had had important net-
works in the previous century; here too was where Ibn Gabirol apparently brought
Neoplatonism and astrological occultism from the Islamic network into Jewish
philosophy, and where Bahya ibn Paquda probably flourished.
- Meir ibn Megas (48 in the key to Figure 8.5), from the main Jewish academy of
Lucena, was reputed to be Maimonides’s teacher (Pelaez de Rosal, 1985: 137); like
Ibn Daud, Meir had migrated to Toledo as the academy broke up under the
Almohad conquest in 1148. If the young Maimonides studied with Meir at Toledo,
it is not unlikely that he would have known Ibn Daud as well.
- Note that Ibn Zaddiq was an official in Córdoba during Ibn Rushd’s youth.
- For instance, the existence of God; God’s unity, perfection, and justice; the creation
of the world; validity of prophecy; and survival of the soul after death (Fakhry,
1983: 281–283). Ibn Rushd goes on to argue, for example, that the QurÁan
Notes to Pages 440–443^ •^987
