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Abraham Abulafia
1240 CE – 1291 CE · Spain/Italymystical
Description
Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia was the founder of the school of "Prophetic Kabbalah". He was born in Zaragoza, Kingdom of Aragon, in 1240, and is assumed to have died sometime after 1291 following a stay on the island of Comino in the Maltese archipelago.
Facts
| Born | 1240 |
| Died | sometime after 1291 |
| Occupation | Philosopher and writer |
| Period | 1271–1291 |
Life & work in brief
Summarised by section — one row per topic, for fast reading.
| Topic | Summary |
|---|---|
| Biography | Very early in life he was taken by his parents to Tudela, Kingdom of Navarre, where his aged father, Samuel Abulafia, instructed him in the Hebrew Bible and Talmud. |
| Teachings | Abulafia’s literary activity spans the years 1271–1291 and consists of several books, treatises on grammar, and poems, but amongst which only thirty survive. |
| Influence | Abulafia's subterranean influence is evident in the large number of manuscripts of his major meditation manuals that flourished down to the present day until all his works were finally published in Mea Shearim in Jerusalem during the 1990s. |
Prophecies
Key prophetic utterances and visions attributed to Abraham Abulafia, with sources.
| Prophecy / vision | Source |
|---|---|
| Prophetic ecstasy by permuting and combining the letters of the Name | Sefer ha-Melamed |
| Unsealing the Name; the spirit united with the letter | Sefer ha-Ot |
| Declares himself Messiah in 1295 — the prophecy fails | Vital / Sabbatean chronicles |