Solomon Ibn Gabirol

Solomon ben Yehuda ibn Gabirol Avicebron
Possible depiction of Ibn Gabirol
Born	1021/1022 Málaga, Caliphate of Cordoba
Died	1070 (1050?) Valencia, Taifa of Valencia/Toledo
Other names	Avicebron
Notable work	Fons Vitæ
Era	Medieval philosophy
School	Jewish philosophy

Solomon ibn Gabirol (alt. Solomon ben Judah) (Hebrew: שלמה בן יהודה אבן גבירול‎‎ Shlomo Ben Yehuda ibn Gabirol, pronounced [ʃe.loˈmo bɛn jɛ.uˈdaː ˈɪ.bn ˌga.bi.ˈrɒːl]; Arabic: أبو أيوب سليمان بن يحيى بن جبيرول‎‎ Abu Ayyub Sulayman bin Yahya bin Jabrirul, pronounced [æ.ˈbuː æj.juːb ˌsu.læj.ˈmæːnɪ bnɪ ˌjæ'ħjæː bnɪ dʒæ.biː.'ruːl]) was an 11th-century Andalusian poet and Jewish philosopher with a Neo-Platonic bent. He published over a hundred poems, as well as works of biblical exegesis, philosophy, ethics. and satire. One source credits Ibn Gabirol with creating a golem, possibly female, for household chores.

In the 19th century it was discovered that medieval translators had Latinised Gabirol's name to Avicebron and had translated his work on Jewish Neo-Platonic philosophy into a Latin form that had in the intervening centuries been highly regarded as a work of Islamic or Christian scholarship. As such, Ibn Gabirol is well known in the history of philosophy for the doctrine that all things, including soul and intellect, are composed of matter and form (“Universal Hylomorphism”), and for his emphasis on Divine Will.

Little is known of Gabirol's life, and some sources give contradictory information. Sources agree that he was born in Málaga, but are unclear whether in late 1021 or early 1022 CE. The year of his death is a matter of dispute, with conflicting accounts having him dying either before age 30 or by age 48.

Gabirol lived a life of material comfort, never having to work to sustain himself, but he lived a difficult and love-less life, suffering ill-health, misfortunes, fickle friendships, and powerful enemies. From his teenage years, he suffered from some disease, possibly lupus vulgaris, that would leave him embittered and in constant pain. He indicates in his poems that he considered himself short and ugly. Of his personality, Moses ibn Ezra wrote: "his irascible temperament dominated his intellect, nor could he rein the demon that was within himself. It came easily to him to lampoon the great, with salvo upon salvo of mockery and sarcasm" He has been described summarily as "a social misfit"