The Book of Direction to the Duties of the Heart

Bahya Ibn Pakuda was born c. 1050, and livedfor some time in Saragossa in Spain. His major work was written in Arabic, butit is most well-known by its Hebrew title Hovotha-Levavot (Duties of the Heart). It enjoyed enormous popularity and wasreprinted many times.

In the book Bahya investigates themotivation of Jewish practice and embarks on a philosophical enquiry into thenature of God, religion, and man. He was very much influenced by theNeoplatonism of his age, as well as by the Muslim mystics.

This edition by Menahem Mansoor is thefirst translation of the work from the original Arabic text, and this shows anumber of variations from the Hebrew version. He has added an Introduction andNotes which draw attention to the influences on Bahya’s thought and to otherrelevant material.

‘The accepted and normative translation .. . reliable and readable.  This bookbelongs in even the smallest collections of Judaica, as well as of ethicalliterature.’  Choice