  In his elaboration on the metaphysics of matter, Ibn Gabirol frequently uses the Arabic term “al-‘unsur” (instead of the more common Arabic terms “al-hayûlâ” and “al-madda”) for matter. In fact, as outlined in section 1, this is one of the key pieces of evidence for identifying a uniquely “Empedoclean” strain in his thinking. That said, many readers instead simplistically fall into a Kabbalistic reading of Ibn Gabirol since the Arabic “al-‘unsur” is correlated to the Hebrew term “yesôd” both in Ibn Gabirol's own Hebrew poetry as well as in Falaquera's 13th century Hebrew translation of the Fons Vitae. While to be sure, the Hebrew term “yesôd” (literally “foundation”) is a cornerstone term and concept in Jewish mysticism, the desire to read Ibn Gabirol Kabbalistically (as a proto-Zoharian) is simply under-supported by the mere fact that he (and his Hebrew translator) use the term “yesôd”. While there might be Kabbalistic traces in Ibn Gabirol, it is methodologically inadvisable—and  distorting—to simply start out assuming there are. We might note, for example, F. E. Peters' boldly claiming—with no stated evidence—in his “Avicebron” entry in the New Catholic Encyclopedia: “The true philosophical home of Avicebron is in the Zohar and in the speculative sections of the Cabala” (see Peters 1967, volume 1, p. 1130). Such a claim is not prima facie evident. In an obviously more methodologically careful spirit, there are scholars of Jewish mysticism who recommend connections to Ibn Gabirol (usually with reference to Ibn Gabirol's poems, not his Fons Vitae) (see, for example, Idel, who offers the suggestion of mystical overtones in an Ibn Gabirol poetic reference to “ten sefirôt” (Idel 1982, p. 278); see too: Idel 1992; Liebes 1987; Heller-Wilensky 1967). While we needn't dismiss the idea of links between Ibn Gabirol and Jewish mysticism (he was most likely familiar with the Sêfer Yetzîrah tradition, and possibly other traditions, of sefîrôt), we must be methodologically cautious to not over-Kabbalize Ibn Gabirol (and especially his Fons Vitae): use of terms like “sefîrôt,” “yesôd,” et al. do not necessarily reveal Jewish mystical overtones or influence. Scholem reminds us (in his study of Ibn Gabirol's influence on Kabbalah) that even after many studies of the link between Ibn Gabirol and the Kabbalah, we have no clear conclusions (Scholem 1939, p. 160). (Avoiding reading Ibn Gabirol as a proto-Zoharist is not to deny any impact of Ibn Gabirol on later Kabbalists; but even this question of forward-influence must be treated with care; as Scholem also notes, the mere use of the term “Divine Will” in Kabbalistic thinkers after Ibn Gabirol does not necessarily reveal a Gabirolean influence (Scholem 1939, p. 161)).