A Judeo-Arabic poem attributed to Abu Hamid al-Ghazali

Abstract

A Judaeo-Arabic poem, preserved uniquely in MS St Petersburg, Russian National Library Heb II A73, recapitulates the essentials of the doctrine espoused in Abu Hamid al-Ghazali's treatise, al-Ma‘arif al-‘aqliyya. However, the poem exploits this doctrine in order to show that “our master Moses”, known also as kalim Allah, represents the apex of human prophecy. Hence, we argue, the poem was penned by a Jew, one of many who studied and admired the writings of al-Ghazali.