Guide of the Perplexed: On Knowing God

It is hard to overestimate the influence of Moses Maimonides’ Judeo-Arabic magnum opus, the Guide of the Perplexed (Dalālat al-ḥā’irīn). First written as a series of small treatises for his beloved student Joseph Ibn Sham‘ūn, the Guide sought to negotiate the tensions between Greco-Arabic philosophy, particularly Aristotelianism, and Jewish tradition. The Guide is a rich work that covers an array of subjects, including biblical anthropomorphisms, prophecy, negative theology, and the creation or eternality of the world. Maimonides generally adopted a negative attitude toward earlier Jewish theologians and instead recommended the views of al-Fārābī, Ibn Bājja, and to a lesser extent Ibn Sīnā. In subsequent centuries, the Guide provoked a range of strong reactions, accreting numerous commentaries. To this day, interpreters of the Guide debate even basic questions such as whether Maimonides believed that the world had been created in time as opposed to being eternal. This excerpt, from near the end of the book, follows a lengthy analysis of the reasons for the biblical commandments. Here Maimonides explains the purpose of the prayers as training for developing one’s ability to maintain a mental focus on God. Italics indicate Hebrew words among the Judeo-Arabic.