Commentary: On Ecclesiastes

Abū ’l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī was a physician and philosopher active in Baghdad. Some of his contemporaries praised him as Aristotle’s equal. For unclear reasons, Abū ’l-Barakāt converted to Islam late in life, apparently with his protégé and student Isaac Ibn Ezra, the son of Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089–1167), who had settled in Iraq. Abū ’l-Barakāt composed biblical and talmudic commentaries; portions of his Judeo-Arabic commentary on Ecclesiastes survive. He attracted attention among later Muslim thinkers, and Samuel ben Eli, a leader of Baghdadi Jewry in the late twelfth century, quoted his writings during the controversy over Maimonides’ approach to the belief in the resurrection of the dead.