Bahya ibn Paquda
Born on 1050
Died on 1120
Bahya ben Joseph ibn Paquda;
(also: Pakuda, Bakuda, Hebrew: בחיי אבן פקודה, Arabic: بهية بن باكودا), c. 1050-1120, was a Jewish philosopher and rabbi who lived at Zaragoza, Al-Andalus (now Spain). He was one of two people now known as Rabbeinu Behaye, the other being Bible commentator Bahya ben Asher.
He was the author of the first Jewish system of ethics, written in Arabic around 1080 under the title Al Hidayah ila Faraid al-Qulub, Guide to the Duties of the Heart, and translated into Hebrew by Judah ibn Tibbon in the years 1161-80 under the title Chovot HaLevavot, The Duties of the Heart.
Little is known of his life except that he bore the title of dayan, judge at the rabbinical court. Bahya was thoroughly familiar with the Jewish rabbinic literature, as well as the philosophical and scientific Arabic, Greek and Roman literature, quoting frequently from the works of non-Jewish moral philosophers in his work.
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