The Fountain of Life

work by Ibn Gabirol

Also known as: “Fons vitae”

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June 26, 2026

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The "Fountain of Life" (Fons vitae) is a significant philosophical work by Solomon ibn Gabirol, an 11th-century Hebrew poet and Neoplatonic philosopher from Moorish Spain. Although written in Arabic, it is best known through a 12th-century Latin translation, where the author was known as Avicebron.12

The work presents a Neoplatonic system of creation and emanation, influenced by thinkers like Plotinus. It describes a hierarchy of being, originating from a divine will that mediates between the transcendent deity and the cosmos. Matter emanates from the divine essence, and form from the divine will, creating a fundamental duality within the Godhead itself.132

While Fons vitae had limited direct influence on Jewish philosophy, it significantly impacted Christian Scholasticism, though it was also critiqued by figures like Thomas Aquinas. The text explores concepts of universal matter and form, and the human intellect's role in ascending towards the divine.12

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Ibn Gabirol
Philosophy
…only in the Latin translation, Fons vitae, with the author’s name appearing as Avicebron or Avencebrol; it was re-identified as Ibn Gabirol’s work by Salomon Munk in 1846. It had little influence upon Jewish philosophy other than on León Hebreo (Judah Abrabanel) and Benedict de Spinoza, but it inspired the…
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…only in the Latin translation, Fons vitae, with the author’s name appearing as Avicebron or Avencebrol; it was re-identified as Ibn Gabirol’s work by Salomon Munk in 1846. It had little influence upon Jewish philosophy other than on León Hebreo (Judah Abrabanel) and Benedict de Spinoza, but it inspired the…
Read More

Don Raimundo
…works and the highly influential Fons vitae (“Fountain of Life”) of the Jewish poet and philosopher Ibn Gabirol. The Toledan translators, subsequently associated with a great cathedral school, produced works for three centuries; and under Raimundo’s reign there began the flourishing of Christian-Arabian-Jewish culture in Spain.
Read More
…works and the highly influential Fons vitae (“Fountain of Life”) of the Jewish poet and philosopher Ibn Gabirol. The Toledan translators, subsequently associated with a great cathedral school, produced works for three centuries; and under Raimundo’s reign there began the flourishing of Christian-Arabian-Jewish culture in Spain.
Read More