** Chovot HaLevavot - Duties of the Heart **

by Rabeinu Bachya ibn Paquda zt'l
free english translation

Note: If one has time to read only one of the gates, I recommend #4, the Gate of Trust in G-d. But Gates 1-3 are the foundation of the entire book.

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Original Hebrew With Commentaries Gates 1-4 | Gates 5-10	from hebrewbooks.org
Original Hebrew OCR Text Gates 1-10	formatted html
~~~~~~ English Translation ~~~~~~
Letter of Approbation by Rabbi Mordechai Kornfeld
Author's Introduction	translation with commentaries by Rabbi Moses Hyamson zt'l, Jerusalem 2014
#1 Shaar HaYichud - Unity of G-d     introduction to G-d	translation with commentaries by Rabbi Yosef Sebag, Jerusalem 2017
#2 Shaar Bechina - Gate of Examination     waking up. essential foundations.	with commentaries by Rabbi Moses Hyamson zt'l
#3 Shaar Avodat HaElokim - Gate of Service of God     more on waking up. more essential foundations.	with commentaries by Rabbi Moses Hyamson zt'l
#4 Shaar HaBitachon - Gate of Trust in God     the most necessary of all things in the service of G-d	translation with commentaries by Rabbi Yosef Sebag, Jerusalem 2014
#5 Shaar Yichud HaMaase - Gate of Devotion     introduction to falsehood and the evil inclination	translation with commentaries by Rabbi Yosef Sebag, Jerusalem 2014
#6 Shaar HaKnia - Gate of Submission     "the beginning and root of repentance"	translation with commentaries by Rabbi Yosef Sebag, Jerusalem 2014
#7 Shaar HaTeshuva- Gate of Repentance     the conditions and requirements of repentance	translation with commentaries by Rabbi Yosef Sebag, Jerusalem 2014
#8 Shaar Cheshbon Hanefesh - Spiritual Accounting     exercises for internalizing the book	translation with commentaries by Rabbi Yosef Sebag, Jerusalem 2014
#9 Shaar HaPerishus - Gate of Abstinence     cultivating self control and total focus	English translation with commentaries by Rabbi Yosef Sebag, Jerusalem 2014
#10 Shaar Ahavas Hashem - Gate of Love of God     the ultimate goal of the book	translation with commentaries by Rabbi Yosef Sebag, Jerusalem 2014
	Zip file of english translation of gates 1-10 in pdf,text,html,epub for offline reading last updated: Feb. 15, 2022
Android App	android app version for free download. This was made by a 3rd party who asked permission.
Hebrew/English PDF (basic. no commentaries)	prepared by R.Adam Litwin

About the Translator: Rabbi Yosef Sebag studied in various yeshivas under great Torah scholars such as Rabbi Dov Shwartzman zt'l (~2 years), Rabbi Nachman Bulman zt'l, Rabbi Nissan Kaplan (~5 years). He also completed degrees in physics and electrical engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and was a research associate in nuclear physics for some time before heading off to yeshiva.

He says: While translating this, I heavily consulted with the out of print translation by Rabbi Moses Hyamson zt'l (former head Dayan and chief Rabbi of the British Empire between 1911 and 1913), which came to my possession on its own in a miraculous way.

The Chovos Halevavos is one of the earliest of the classic Jewish mussar (ethics) works. It was originally translated from Arabic by Chacham Yehuda ibn Tibon zt'l. The commentaries wrote that Chacham Tibon was a singular, master translator who was able to translate the book in such a way that the full depth and all the allusions to different facets and multiple interpretations were preserved, as Maimonides (who knew Arabic) wrote: "I recognized in your words that your heart plumbed the depths of the matter and uncovered the hidden secrets" (Masoret edition pg.58). As is known, the torah way is to condense volumes of information in very few words, carefully crafting ambiguities to allow for different allusions and interpretations, as the Talmud (Sanhedrin 34a) expounds the verse "Is not My word like fire, and like a hammer that shatters a rock into pieces?" (Jer.23:29) - "As the rock splits into many fragments, so one verse may convey many meanings."

For this reason, the hebrew is difficult to understand and was studied mainly by high-level torah scholars. I have translated select commentaries to help bring out some of its depth.