Alfaquln
THE JEWISH ENX'YCLOPEDIA
375
Alfarabi's views (•(HK-cniiiif; propliccy are stoutly Altiirabi claims that contested by .ludali lial.t'vi. prophecy eiiiiinates from a soul of Influence |niritiiil icasoniii;; powers; the soul on Jewish associates itself with the active reason
and receives from
it aid and iustruethis naluraMslic- explanation of prophecy .hidah ha licvitotjdly dissents, holdinir the ojiinion that pni])hecy is in re-
Philosophers.
lion.
From
God speakini; (i. Hi). Nevertheless, Alfanibis conception of proi)hecy w-as shared by Abraham ibn Daud. wlio speaks of three gradations of reason: rea,soii "in poteutia." "in actii." and the "intellectus Maiinonides also adojitcd Alfarabi's nequisitus." views con<'eniinj; i)rc>phccy. while at the same time insisting on the selection by the divine will, and on the prophet's inner preparation by a hiirher moral standard and imajrinative faculty (Moreh. ii, ;!(>)an(l ality
Alfasi
Halfah. son of Alagab, and his son Hayyini. according to Abraham ibn Daud. denounced him to the government upon some unknown charge. He left his home and tied to .Spain, w hither Ids fame as the author of tli<'"Halakot " ("Er. viii.) had preceded him.
He went toCordova. where he found support and lection in the house of
))ro-
Meirb. .Muheyiribn Shartamikosh. From C'onlova he went to Granada, and thence to Lucena. Here he probably acted as the olfieial rabbi of the congregation after the death of Isiuic il)n Giat (losil). with whom lie had some
Joseph
b.
angry discussions. There was also some ill-feeling between Alfasi and Isimc Albalia. The latter, when on his deathbed. aske<l his son to go to Alfasi and tell him that he jiardoned all his olTenses against him, and bigged Alfasi to do the same on his ]iart and
follows him in hisclassilicationof the soul-|iowers in From him. too. in all probhis"Eiud]t Chapters." nbilily. Maimoiiides borrowed a passjige concerning theseven divisions (d' medical science, which are to be found in .lfaral>i's distribution of the sciences. Finally, in his" .Mureh." ii, '2~. Maimoindes has made use of Alfarabi's commentary uixiu Aristotle's " Physics," Other writers likewise relleet Alfarabi's intluence upon Jewish literature: Abraham b. Hiyyah Albargeloni. Joseph ibn Aknin. Shem-'fob Pal(piera. and .Moses di Rieti knew and availed them selves of Alfarabi's writings. While Alfarabi's teachings were generally held in the highest esteem, his view concerning the immor tality of the human soul was vigorously ccMubated by .lewish authors. Arabic |)hilosophers endeavored to solve the problem of immorOn Immor- lalily, left unsettled by Aristotle, by su,i:gestiti,ir that during man's life the tality. human intellect combines with the Alfarabi conAi'tivc lntellig<Mice of the Universe. Man's su siders this hypothesis as utterly absurd, preme aim is rather to elevate his capabilities to the This conidghest degree of i>erfeetion attainable. ception, which was expressed by Alfaral)i in the lost ecvmmentary on the " Nikomaehean Ethics." brought MUich reproof ujion him: and for it Inuuanuel ben in his "Final Judgment" to the infernal regions.
Solomon,
him
(c.
28),
consigns
Sti'Inselinfltler, Al-Ftiralti'K, tlftt Arahiiic)if}i uint Sfhriftttu SI. IVlerslmrK. ls«>!i; rtltirn. index, s.v. hirtthi; BnM-({i'lMiimii. tVi-yr/i. il. A riiliiM-hr 11 Litirtilur. ISHS, I. L'ln; Scliniiilclci-s. Ihu-Hintittit l^liiltuinitluirum Aralnmu llenn. IKHS; Cu.slrl.
ItiKi.iofiR.vPMV l*ltihtsiiiilu-n
iilfni.
Li}it'u
Jhlir.
Itihl. Ariihifii-tli'<iminrtly(s, vol. Sh.li,:, ,l,,lli Aill.„i Alilhi. l-tC.
1.;
Do
Iti)S.sl,
IHzhniann Y
ISIIIK'
j_,,
(From
ft
.Mfll>l.
lrftdlt)on«l portrait.)
ALFASI, ISAAC BEN JACOB
also i< ailed the epitaph attached to his"llalukoi "i Kinineut TahnudisI born in lUKiat Kala't ibn Hamad, a villag<' near Fez. in North .frica (whence his surname, which is sometimes at taebi'd also to Juilah llayyug. thegRimmarianUdiedal l.ucena. llltS. Five scholars named haac. all distinguished Talmudists. nourished about the same time: vi/.. Isaac ben harucli Albalia of Seville. Isaac ben Juilah ibn Oiat of I.neeiai. Isaac ben Keubeu of liarcelona. Isiuic ben Moses ibn Sakid of I'undiedita. and Isjiacbeti Jacob .lfasi. Of these the last named was the most promi-
ha-Kohen
in
He seems to have devoted himself (Xelusively study of the Talmud, under Habbis Hanaiieel and Nissim. Imlh in Kairwan. the recHis Career, ognized mbbinicid aulhcirilies of the
nent. to the
age, .fl<r lheirdialh..lfasi took their place in the estimation of his contemporaries, anil was ri'iiardeil as the chief expounder of the Talmud. Whatever his odlcial position may have been, he had loabaiidon il inhisold age(lOSS); for two informei's.
Isaac Albalia's to be a friend to his opponent's son. wish was fullilled. and his .son found iu Alfasi a true friend and a second father. In his capacity as rabbi. Alfasi was both judge and teacher. As a judge he enjoyed the confidence of litigants, and his decisions were carefidly studied
by otiur nibbis as guides in similar ca.ses. As a teacher, his great learning attracletl a large number of students, eager lo listen to his exposition of the Talmud among them was Joseph ibn .Migash. the teacher of Maiinonides. Hefore liis death Alfasi designated this Joseph ibn Migash as his siU'ces.sor, pa.ssing over his own son. though he likewise was an excellent Talmudic scholar. Alfa--i diid, aged ninety years, at l.ucena. on Tuesday, the tenth of Si wan May HI ). 11(13 (the dale given in the epitaph is impossible^ and a monument was erected to his memory, whereon were ins<'ritH'd the following somewhat livperbolic lines (given at bv Lu/zalto iu "Abne the end of Alfasi. vol. iii,
(
