The spiritual life of the Jews reached its highest development in Spain, where the contact with the cultured Arabs, whose language the Jews spoke, made the works of the ancient Greek philosophers and scientists accessible to them. In the beginning of the eleventh century Bahya ibn Pakuda, a philosopher, wrote “The Duties of the Heart,” perhaps the most popular work of this literature. His ideal of life is asceticism. His contemporary, Solomon ibn Gabirol (born 1022), wrote a philosophical book, “The Fountain of Life,” which, however, is only extant in a Latin translation. He also wrote an ethical treatise, “The Choicest of Pearls,” and some Hebrew poetry. His poems, of which quite a number have found place in the liturgy, are among the best works of their class. Of his secular poems in Hebrew, a wine song is the most famous. About the same time Samuel Hanagid was secretary to the King of Granada. He was not only a patron of Jewish learning but an author of considerable note. He wrote an introduction to the Talmud, and various works which are sequels to Biblical books, such as Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. His son, Joseph, succeeded him, and was killed in a riot in 1060. The greatest Hebrew poet of mediæval times is Judah Halevi (born about 1080, died 1141). Of his numerous poems, some are of a religious, others of a secular character. Of the latter the best known is a description of a sea voyage; of the former, the Ode to Zion, embodied in the ritual for the ninth of Ab and translated into various modern languages. He also wrote an apology for Judaism, called Kuzari, previously mentioned, which presents its doctrines in the form of dialogues between the King of the Chazars and the rabbi who converted him. In 1140 he went to Palestine to spend the remainder of his days there. He seems to have died before he reached his goal. A younger contemporary is Abraham ibn Ezra (1092-1167). He was born in Spain, and travelled through a great part of Europe and the Orient. Of his numerous works, comprising the fields of poetry, Hebrew grammar, astrology, and other subjects, the most noteworthy is his commentary on the Pentateuch, which makes him rank as the first Biblical critic. He proved by his strong critical arguments that the Pentateuch as we possess it does not come from Moses but was partly the product of later times. His contemporary is Moses ibn Ezra, a very prolific Hebrew poet, whose poems, however, suffer from an excessive play on words. It is not known whether the two Ibn Ezras were relatives.