Moses Ibn 'Ezra's "Treatise of the Garden" and Maimonides' "Guide of the perplexed"

Abstract

The Spanish poet Moses Ibn 'Ezra (1055-1138 ca.) is also known for a Judeo-Arabic book dealing with philosophical and philological questions, the «Treatise of the Garden». In the first part of the «Treatise of the Garden» Moses Ibn 'Ezra deals with some key-themes of theology, metaphysics, human physiology and psycology, through the linguistical and terminological examination of some passages of the Hebrew Bible. I try to argue that the general scheme of the work and the treatment of some themes suggest that Moses Ibn 'Ezra’s work might be, at least, one of the models employed by Moses Maimonides while writing his «Guide of the Perplexed».