ABRĀHĀM ben DĀVID HA-LĒVI. – Jewish-Spanish philosopher and historiographer, born in Toledo, died around 1180. He is a notable figure in the history of medieval Jewish and Arab philosophy on account of a philosophical work of his, composed in Arabic in 1161 under the title al-'Aqidah ar-rafi'ah (The Elevated Belief), lost in the original Arabic but preserved in two Hebrew translations, one of which remains unpublished, while the other was published in Frankfurt in 1852.
A. follows the Aristotelian system; nevertheless, he endeavors—and in this he is fairly original—to reconcile Greek philosophy with the religious and theological concepts of Judaism. He should be regarded as a precursor of Maimonides. He also wrote a history of Judaism in an anti-Karaite sense.