Introduction to the Kabbalah

just as every creature is stimulated by its own faculties immediately from its very birth into the light toward those actions to which it is dedicated—certainly the bird to flying, the reptile to crawling, and others to their own proper duties—so was he, by a certain singular force of genius drawn from his very birth, immediately stirred and driven toward letters. From this, while still a boy, he made such progress in all disciplines—whether perceived from elsewhere or, as I suspect, arising rather from his own lively and fertile sharpness of mind—that although he spent only eighteen years, eleven months, and twenty-two days in this life (during which time a lethal illness stole much from him, first attacking him with certain fits, as it were, and later keeping him continuously confined to his bed for nearly a year until it took him from our midst), he nevertheless held the Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Chaldean original: Chaldæamque; likely referring to Aramaic, common in Kabbalistic studies languages, and all the sciences, as well-understood and familiar to himself. He began to labor upon Philosophical, Theological, Astronomical, Mathematical, and Kabbalistic original: Caballisticos; relating to Jewish mystical tradition books in the fourteenth year of his age, and until about his eighteenth year, he wrote most extensively on all these disciplines.

Thus, anyone to whom the abundance and learning of these works has been well-proven—along with the source from which they flowed, namely the sharpness and fertility of his genius, whose swift and copious movements manifested themselves most greatly in debating and disputing with all the most learned men—will perhaps not doubt that if a full and accustomed course of life had been granted to him, he would easily have written more than any other mortal. But such a person will certainly conclude this: that these writings of his, which are now coming into the light or will do so in the future, will never represent the full excellence of his youthful genius, since they were not polished by him with that intent; for no omen of his fate i.e., no premonition of his early death suggested the occasion for him to do so. Therefore, friend reader, if perhaps you seek something in this little book and do not find it, do not [ascribe] this as a
fault original: culpa; this is the catchword for the next page