Solomon ben Judah ibn Gabirol (ca. 1021-ca. 1058) was an outstanding Spanish Hebrew poet and philosopher of the Middle Ages.

Solomon ibn Gabirol was born in Málaga and was orphaned at an early age. He spent his formative years in Saragossa, where he found a generous patron in Yekutiel ibn Hassan. The latter died when Ibn Gabirol was 17, and the youthful poet was forced to resume his wandering. The poetry he wrote during this period reflects his melancholy mood.

In Granada, Ibn Gabirol found a new patron in Samuel he-Nagid, the famous Spanish Jewish statesman, poet, and Talmudist, but when Samuel died, Ibn Gabirol again suffered want and need. It seems that he never married. He died at a young age, some believe before his fortieth birthday (1058), but more probably at the age of 48 (1069).

Ibn Gabirol distinguished himself both in his secular and religious poems. The former...