Page:Chapters on Jewish literature (IA chaptersonjewish00abra).pdf/194

190 were either compilations from older books or direct translations from the Arabic. It was far otherwise with the ethical work entitled “Heart Duties” (Choboth ha-Lebaboth), by Bachya Ibn Pekuda (about 1050-1100). This was as original as it was forcible. Bachya founded his ethical system on the Talmud and on the philosophical notions current in his day, but he evolved out of these elements an original view of life. The inner duties dictated by conscience were set above all conventional morality. Bachya probed the very heart of religion. His soul was filled with God, and this communion, despite the ascetic feelings to which it gave rise, was to Bachya an exceeding joy. His book thrills the reader with the author’s own chastened enthusiasm. The “Heart Duties” of Bachya is the most inspired book written by a Jew in the Middle Ages.

In part worthy of a place by the side of Bachya’s treatise is an ethical book written