Also known as Maimonides. Medieval Jewish legal scholar, community leader, philosopher, and physician. He is best known for his commentary on a rabbinic law code, the Mishnah; his codification of the whole of Jewish law, the Mishneh Torah; and his extraordinarily complex explanation of scripture and theology for one of his favorite students, the Guide for the Perplexed. In addition, he is known for his Treatise on the Art of Logic and for several epistles written in response to particular requests. These, like the Mishnah and the Guide, were written in Arabic but in Hebrew letters. Though he was a highly accomplished student and exegete of Aristotle, he wrote no commentaries on Aristotelian works. His work is studied by scholars of medieval philosophy today for his philosophical treatment of Jewish thought and for the light he sheds on predecessors and near contemporaries such as Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, and Ibn Bajjah, as well as on Islamic dialectical theology (kalam).