In homage to the friendship with my friend Dr. Antonio
Borrell and his distinguished family.
Ramón Llull was born in Palma, Majorca around 1232 and
died in 1315. He was a mystic, apologist, philosopher, theologian, poet and
saint. The work that brought him renown was Blanquerna,
composed as a fruit of Llull’s hermitic life around the year 1285. Included in
this work is a part entitled Book of the Friend and the Beloved [Libro
del amigo y del Amado] of 366 brief and concise sentences. He cites several
aphorisms surrounding the dialogue between the friend and the Beloved. He
does it in such a way that the symbols, allegories and metaphors are combined
with dialogues, more narrative phrases and proverbs. Scholars concur in
emphasizing that the main sources of inspiration oscillate between the Bible,
Franciscanism, Neo-Platonism, Sophism, and troubadour poetry. Sophism and
Franciscanism influenced his vision on the nature as revelation of the divine
presence, while the troubadour current provided him with the appropriate
resources to let his mystical and philosophical thoughts intertwine in a
dialogue of love.
(Cont...)