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    (Wikipedia) - Al-Farabi   (Redirected from Farabi) Muslim scholar Abū Naṣr Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Fārābī Title Born Died Ethnicity Era Main interest(s) Notable work(s)
    The Second Teacher

    c. 872 Fārāb in Syrdarya

    or Faryāb in Khorāsān
    c. 950 Damascus
    Persian or Turkic
    Islamic Golden Age
    Metaphysics, Political philosophy, Logic, Music, Science, Ethics, Mysticism, Epistemology
    kitāb al-mūsīqī al-kabīr ("The Great Book Of Music"), ārā ahl al-madīna al-fāḍila ("The Virtuous City"), kitāb iḥṣāʾ al-ʿulūm ("On The Introduction Of Knowledge"), kitāb iḥṣāʾ al-īqā''āt ("Classification Of Rhythms")
    Influenced by
    • Avicenna, Yahya ibn Adi, Abu Sulayman Sijistani, Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi, Ibn Bajjah, Mulla Sadra, Al Amiri, Averroes, Maimonides and Abū Hayyān al-Tawhīdī, Leo Strauss

    Al-Farabi (Persian: ابونصر محمد بن محمد فارابی‎ Abū Naṣr Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Fārābī; for other recorded variants of his name see below) , known in the West as Alpharabius (c. 872 in Fārāb – between 14 December, 950 and 12 January, 951 in Damascus), was a renowned scientist and philosopher of the Islamic Golden Age. He was also a cosmologist, logician, and musician, representing the multidisciplinary approach of muslim scientists.

    Through his commentaries and treatises, Al-Farabi became well known in the east as well in the west.

    • 1 Biography
      • 1.1 Name
      • 1.2 Birthplace
      • 1.3 Origin
        • 1.3.1 Iranian origin theory
        • 1.3.2 Turkic origin theory
      • 1.4 Life and education
    • 2 Contributions
      • 2.1 Alchemy
      • 2.2 Logic
      • 2.3 Al Farabi, Aristotle, Maimonides
      • 2.4 Music
      • 2.5 Philosophy
      • 2.6 Physics
      • 2.7 Psychology
    • 3 Philosophical thought
    • 4 Works
      • 4.1 Metaphysics and cosmology
      • 4.2 Epistemology and eschatology
      • 4.3 Psychology, the soul and prophetic knowledge
      • 4.4 Practical philosophy (ethics and politics)
    • 5 See also
    • 6 Notes
    • 7 References
    • 8 External links


    The existing variations in the basic accounts of al-Farabi''s origins and pedigree indicate that they were not recorded during his lifetime or soon thereafter by anyone with concrete information, but were based on hearsay or guesses (as is the case with other contemporaries of al-Farabi). The sources for his life are scant which makes the reconstruction of his biography beyond a mere outline nearly impossible. The earliest and more reliable sources, i.e., those composed before the 6th/12th century, that are extant today are so few as to indicate that no one among Fārābī’s successors and their followers, or even unrelated scholars, undertook to write his full biography, a neglect that has to be taken into consideration in assessing his immediate impact. The sources prior to the 6th/12th century consist of: (1) an autobiographical passage by Farabi, preserved by Ibn Abī Uṣaibiʿa. In this passage, Farabi traces the transmission of the instruction of logic and philosophy from antiquity to his days. (2) Reports by Al-Masudi, Ibn al-Nadim and Ibn Hawqal as well as by Said Al-Andalusi (d. 1070), who devoted a biography to him.




    His name was Abū Naṣr Muḥammad b. Muḥammad Farabi, as all sources, and especially the earliest and most reliable, Al-Masudi, agree. In some manuscripts of Fārābī’s works, which must reflect the reading of their ultimate archetypes from his time, his full name appears as Abū Naṣr Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Ṭarḵānī, i.e., the element Ṭarḵān appears in a nisba (family surname or attributive title). Moreover, if the name of Farabi’s grandfather was not known among his contemporaries and immediately succeeding generations, it is all the more surprising to see in the later sources the appearance of yet another name from his pedigree, Awzalaḡ. This appears as the name of the grandfather in Ibn Abī Uṣaibiʿa and of the great-grandfather in Ibn Khallikan. Ibn Abī Uṣaibiʿa is the first source to list this name which, as Ibn Khallikān explicitly specifies later, is so to be pronounced as Awzalaḡ. In modern Turkish scholarship and some other sources, the pronunciation is given as Uzluḡ rather than Awzalaḡ, without any explanation.


    His birthplace is Fārāb on the Jaxartes (Syr Darya) in modern Kazakhstan or maybe Fāryāb in Greater Khorasan (modern day Afghanistan). The older Persian Pārāb (in Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam) or Fāryāb (also Pāryāb), is a common Persian toponym meaning “lands irrigated by diversion of river water”. By the 13th century, Fārāb on the Jaxartes was known as Otrār.


    There is a difference of opinion on the ethnic background of Farabi. According to Dimitri Gutas, " ultimately pointless as the quest for Farabi’s ethnic origins might be, the fact remains that we do not have sufficient evidence to decide the matter " The Cambridge companion to Arabic philosophy also states that " these biographical facts are paltry in the extreme but we must resist the urge to embellish them with fanciful stories, as the medieval biographers did, or engage in idle speculation about al-Farabi’s ethnicity or religious affiliation on the basis of contrived interpretations of his works, as many modern scholars have done." According to the Oxford Encyclopaedia of African Thought " because the origins of al-Farabi were not recorded during his lifetime or soon after his death in 950 C.E. by anyone with concrete information, accounts of his pedigree and place of birth have been based on hearsay ".

    Iranian origin theoryAn Iranian stamp bearing an illustration of Al-Farabi''s imagined face

    Medieval Arab historian Ibn Abī Uṣaibiʿa (died in 1269)—al-Farabi''s oldest biographer—mentions in his ʿOyūn that al-Farabi''s father was of Persian descent. Al-Shahrazūrī who lived around 1288 A.D. and has written an early biography also states that Farabi hailed from a Persian family. According to Majid Fakhry, an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University, Farabi''s father "was an army captain of Persian extraction." As noted by Dimitri Gutas, Farabi has in a number of his works references and glosses in Persian and Sogdian (and even Greek but not Turkish). Sogdian has also been suggested as his native language and the language of the inhabitants of Fārāb. Muhammad Javad Mashkoor argues for an Iranian-speaking Central Asian origin. A Persian origin has been discussed by other sources as well.

    Turkic origin theoryAl-Farabi''s imagined face appeared on the currency of the Republic of Kazakhstan

    The oldest known reference to a possible Turkic origin is given by the medieval historian Ibn Khallikān (died in 1282), who in his work Wafayāt (completed in 669/1271) states that Farabi was born in the small village of Wasij near Fārāb (in what is today Otrar, Kazakhstan) of Turkic parents. Based on this account, some modern scholars say he is of Turkic origin. Others, such as Dimitri Gutas, criticize this, saying that Ibn Khallikān''s account is aimed at the earlier historical accounts by Ibn Abī Uṣaibiʿa, and serves the sole purpose to prove a Turkic origin for al-Farabi, for instance by inventing the additional nisba (surname) "al-Turk" (arab. "the Turk")—a nisba Farabi never had. However, Abu al-Fedā'', who copied Ibn Ḵhallekān, corrected this and changed al-Torkī to the descriptive statement "wa-kāna rajolan torkīyan", meaning "he was a Turkish man." In this regard, Oxford professor C.E. Bosworth notes that "great figures as al-Farabi, al-Biruni, and ibn Sina have been attached by over enthusiastic Turkish scholars to their race".

    Life and education








    Al-Farabi also considered the theories of conditional syllogisms and analogical inference, which were part of the Stoic tradition of logic rather than the Aristotelian. Another addition Al-Farabi made to the Aristotelian tradition was his introduction of the concept of poetic syllogism in a commentary on Aristotle''s Poetics.

    Al Farabi, Aristotle, Maimonides



    Farabi wrote a book on music titled Kitab al-Musiqa (The Book of Music). According to Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Mehdi Aminrazavi: the book of Kitab al-Musiqa is in reality a study of the theory of Persian music of his day although in the West it has been introduced as a book on Arab music. He presents philosophical principles about music, its cosmic qualities and its influences. Al-Farabi''s treatise Meanings of the Intellect dealt with music therapy, where he discussed the therapeutic effects of music on the soul.

    PhilosophyLatin translation of Kitab ihsa'' al-''ulum (In English, "An Encyclopedia of the Sciences") by Gerard of Cremona

    As a philosopher, Al-Farabi was a founder of his own school of early Islamic philosophy known as "Farabism" or "Alfarabism", though it was later overshadowed by Avicennism. Al-Farabi''s school of philosophy "breaks with the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle moves from metaphysics to methodology, a move that anticipates modernity", and "at the level of philosophy, Alfarabi unites theory and practice in the sphere of the political he liberates practice from theory". His Neoplatonic theology is also more than just metaphysics as rhetoric. In his attempt to think through the nature of a First Cause, Alfarabi discovers the limits of human knowledge".


    Al-Farabi also wrote a commentary on Aristotle''s work, and one of his most notable works is Al-Madina al-Fadila(اراء اهل المدينة الفاضلة و مضاداتها) where he theorized an ideal state as in Plato''s The Republic. Al-Farabi represented religion as a symbolic rendering of truth, and, like Plato, saw it as the duty of the philosopher to provide guidance to the state. Al-Farabi incorporated the Platonic view, drawing a parallel from within the Islamic context, in that he regarded the ideal state to be ruled by the prophet-imam, instead of the philosopher-king envisaged by Plato. Al-Farabi argued that the ideal state was the city-state of Medina when it was governed by the prophet Muhammad as its head of state, as he was in direct communion with Allah whose law was revealed to him.


    Al-Farabi thought about the nature of the existence of void. He may have carried out the first experiments concerning the existence of vacuum, in which he investigated handheld plungers in water. He concluded that air''s volume can expand to fill available space, and he suggested that the concept of perfect vacuum was incoherent.


    In psychology, al-Farabi''s Social Psychology and Model City were the first treatises to deal with social psychology. He stated that "an isolated individual could not achieve all the perfections by himself, without the aid of other individuals." He wrote that it is the "innate disposition of every man to join another human being or other men in the labor he ought to perform." He concluded that to "achieve what he can of that perfection, every man needs to stay in the neighborhood of others and associate with them."


    Philosophical thought

    The main influence on al-Farabi''s philosophy was the neo-Aristotelian tradition of Alexandria. A prolific writer, he is credited with over one hundred works. Amongst these are a number of prolegomena to philosophy, commentaries on important Aristotelian works (such as the Nicomachean Ethics) as well as his own works. His ideas are marked by their coherency, despite drawing together of many different philosophical disciplines and traditions. Some other significant influences on his work were the planetary model of Ptolemy and elements of Neo-Platonism, particularly metaphysics and practical (or political) philosophy (which bears more resemblance to Plato''s Republic than Aristotle''s Politics).

    Al-Farabi as well as Ibn Sina and Averroes have been recognized as Peripatetics (al-Mashsha’iyun) or rationalists (Estedlaliun) among Muslims. However, he tried to gather the ideas of Plato and Aristotle in his book "The gathering of the ideas of the two philosophers".


    Works Metaphysics and cosmology

    In contrast to al-Kindi, who considered the subject of metaphysics to be God, al-Farabi believed that it was concerned primarily with being qua being (that is, being in and of itself), and this is related to God only to the extent that God is a principle of absolute being. Al-Kindi''s view was, however, a common misconception regarding Greek philosophy amongst Muslim intellectuals at the time, and it was for this reason that Avicenna remarked that he did not understand Aristotle''s Metaphysics properly until he had read a prolegomenon written by al-Farabi.

    Al-Farabi''s cosmology is essentially based upon three pillars: Aristotelian metaphysics of causation, highly developed Plotinian emanational cosmology and the Ptolemaic astronomy. In his model, the universe is viewed as a number of concentric circles; the outermost sphere or "first heaven", the sphere of fixed stars, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and finally, the Moon. At the centre of these concentric circles is the sub-lunar realm which contains the material world. Each of these circles represent the domain of the secondary intelligences (symbolized by the celestial bodies themselves), which act as causal intermediaries between the First Cause (in this case, God) and the material world. Furthermore these are said to have emanated from God, who is both their formal and efficient cause.



    Epistemology and eschatology

    Human beings are unique in al-Farabi''s vision of the universe because they stand between two worlds: the "higher", immaterial world of the celestial intellects and universal intelligibles, and the "lower", material world of generation and decay; they inhabit a physical body, and so belong to the "lower" world, but they also have a rational capacity, which connects them to the "higher" realm. Each level of existence in al-Farabi''s cosmology is characterized by its movement towards perfection, which is to become like the First Cause; a perfect intellect. Human perfection (or "happiness"), then, is equated with constant intellection and contemplation.


    This motion from potentiality to actuality requires the Agent Intellect to act upon the retained sensory forms; just as the Sun illuminates the physical world to allow us to see, the Agent Intellect illuminates the world of intelligibles to allow us to think. This illumination removes all accident (such as time, place, quality) and physicality from them, converting them into primary intelligibles, which are logical principles such as "the whole is greater than the part". The human intellect, by its act of intellection, passes from potentiality to actuality, and as it gradually comprehends these intelligibles, it is identified with them (as according to Aristotle, by knowing something, the intellect becomes like it). Because the Agent Intellect knows all of the intelligibles, this means that when the human intellect knows all of them, it becomes associated with the Agent Intellect''s perfection and is known as the acquired Intellect.



    Psychology, the soul and prophetic knowledge



    Practical philosophy (ethics and politics)

    The practical application of philosophy is a major concern expressed by al-Farabi in many of his works, and while the majority of his philosophical output has been influenced by Aristotelian thought, his practical philosophy is unmistakably based on that of Plato. In a similar manner to Plato''s Republic, al-Farabi emphasizes that philosophy is both a theoretical and practical discipline; labeling those philosophers who do not apply their erudition to practical pursuits as "futile philosophers". The ideal society, he says, is one directed towards the realization of "true happiness" (which can be taken to mean philosophical enlightenment) and as such, the ideal philosopher must hone all the necessary arts of rhetoric and poetics to communicate abstract truths to the ordinary people, as well as having achieved enlightenment himself. Al-Farabi compares the philosopher''s role in relation to society with a physician in relation to the body; the body''s health is affected by the "balance of its humours" just as the city is determined by the moral habits of its people. The philosopher''s duty, he says, is to establish a "virtuous" society by healing the souls of the people, establishing justice and guiding them towards "true happiness".

    Of course, al-Farabi realizes that such a society is rare and requires a very specific set of historical circumstances to be realized, which means very few societies could ever attain this goal. He divides those "vicious" societies, which have fallen short of the ideal "virtuous" society, into three categories: ignorant, wicked and errant. Ignorant societies have, for whatever reason, failed to comprehend the purpose of human existence, and have supplanted the pursuit of happiness for another (inferior) goal, whether this be wealth, sensual gratification or power. It is interesting to note that democratic societies also fall into this category, as they too lack any guiding principle. Both wicked and errant societies have understood the true human end, but they have failed to follow it. The former because they have willfully abandoned it, and the latter because their leaders have deceived and misguided them. Al-Farabi also makes mention of "weeds" in the virtuous society; those people who try to undermine its progress towards the true human end. The best known Arabic source for al-Farabi''s political philosophy is his work titled, al-Madina al-fadila (The Virtuous City).

    Whether or not al-Farabi actually intended to outline a political programme in his writings remains a matter of dispute amongst academics. Henry Corbin, who considers al-Farabi to be a crypto-Shi''ite, says that his ideas should be understood as a "prophetic philosophy" instead of being interpreted politically. On the other hand, Charles Butterworth contends that nowhere in his work does al-Farabi speak of a prophet-legislator or revelation (even the word philosophy is scarcely mentioned), and the main discussion that takes place concerns the positions of "king" and "statesmen". Occupying a middle position is David Reisman, who like Corbin believes that al-Farabi did not want to expound a political doctrine (although he does not go so far to attribute it to Islamic Gnosticism either). He argues that al-Farabi was using different types of society as examples, in the context of an ethical discussion, to show what effect correct or incorrect thinking could have. Lastly, Joshua Parens argues that al-Farabi was slyly asserting that a pan-Islamic society could not be made, by using reason to show how many conditions (such as moral and deliberative virtue) would have to be met, thus leading the reader to conclude that humans are not fit for such a society. Some other authors like Mykhaylo Yakubovych attest that for al-Farabi religion (milla) and philosophy (falsafa) constituted the same praxeological value (i.e. basis for amal al-fadhil—"virtuous deed"), while its epistemological level (ilm—"knowledge") was different.

    See also
    • List of Muslim scientists
    • List of modern-day Muslim scholars of Islam
    • List of Iranian scholars
    • Islamic mythology
  • ^ a b c d e f g Corbin, Henry; Hossein Nasr; Utman Yahya (2001). History of Islamic Philosophy. Kegan Paul. ISBN 978-0-7103-0416-2. 
  • ^ Brague, Rémi; Brague, Remi (1998). "Athens, Jerusalem, Mecca: Leo Strauss''s "Muslim" Understanding of Greek Philosophy". Poetics Today 19 (2): 235–259. doi:10.2307/1773441. ISSN 0333-5372. JSTOR 1773441. 
  • ^ Alternative names and translations from Arabic include: Alfarabi, Farabi, Avenassar, and Abunaser.
  • ^ DANIEL BALLAND, "FĀRYĀB" in Encyclopedia Iranica . excerpt: "Fāryāb (also Pāryāb), common Persian toponym meaning “lands irrigated by diversion of river water"
  • ^ "C. E. Bosworth, "OTRĀR" in Encyclopedia Iranica". Iranicaonline.org. 2002-07-20. Retrieved 2012-09-19. 
  • ^ al-Fārābī. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 20, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/201680/al-Farabi
  • ^ Lessons with Texts by Alfarabi. "D. Gutas, "AlFarabi" in Barthaolomew''s World accessed Feb 18, 2010". Bartholomew.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2012-09-19. 
  • ^ Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Mehdi Amin Razavi. "An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia, Vol. 1: From Zoroaster to Umar Khayyam", I.B. Tauris in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2007. Pg 134: "Ibn Nadim in his al-Fihrist, which is the first work to mention Farabi considers him to be of Persian origin, as does Muhammad Shahrazuri in his Tarikh al-hukama and Ibn Abi Usaybi''ah in his Tabaqat al-atibba. In contrast, Ibn Khallikan in his ''"Wafayat al-''ayan considers him to be of Turkish descent. In any case, he was born in Farab in Khurasan of that day around 257/870 in a climate of Persianate culture"

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