1150th anniversary of the scientist, philosopher Abu Nasr al-Farabi

In the framework of the celebration of the 1150th anniversary of the scientist and philosopher Abu Nasr al-Farabi, we are publishing material about the life, work and heritage of the great thinker.

 AL-FARABI: LIFE AND WORK

The ancient city of Otrar was located on the territory of modern southern Kazakhstan at the confluence of the river Arys with the Syr Darya. The Otrar oasis, located at the joint of the nomadic steppe with a settled agricultural population, at the fork of the most important trade routes after the Arab conquest, became known as Farab district. In this blessed land in 870 the great thinker of the East al-Farabi was born. Al-Farabi’s full name is Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan ibn Uzlag al-Farabi at-Turki. The word “tarhan” in his name indicates that the philosopher belonged to a privileged family, and the phrase “at-Turki” proves that al-Farabi was a Turk by origin.

A few biographical data about al-Farabi came to us thanks to the writings of medieval authors: “Sources of information about the classes of doctors” Ibn Abi-Usaybiya, “Messages about scholars and sages”, authored by al-Kifti and “Dates of deaths of famous people and information about sons of time” Ibn Khallikan.

In his youth, al-Farabi had the opportunity to get acquainted with the treasures of the richest at that time, the second in the world in the number of books and manuscripts (after the famous Alexandria book depository) of the Otrar library. Probably since then an unquenchable thirst for knowledge had awakened in him. Al-Farabi, a young man of twenty, is leaving his homeland in search of knowledge and rushing to the Middle East. His goal was to visit the largest centers of intellectual and cultural life of the Arab Caliphate, such as Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo, Aleppo, and others. After long journeys, al-Farabi settled in Damascus, where he enjoyed the favor and respect of the ruler at the time Safe Ad-Daul ben Hamdani. As a true sage, al-Farabi needed a minimum of comfort and privileges, spending most of the day writing his treatises or having wise conversations by the pool or in a shady garden. Al-Farabi died in 950 at the age of eighty and was buried in the “cemetery of kings” Bab as-Sagir in Damascus. According to legend, the ruler himself read the prayer on him on four papyruses. Al-Farabi left behind a rich cultural heritage.

HERITAGE

The greatest scientist al-Farabi was born in the Turkic family of the Kipchak clan. It is worth noting that the Turkic world has given mankind with a number of outstanding scientists and thinkers. Among them, astronomer and mathematician Abbas Dzhauhari, who together with al-Khorezmi took part in the compilation of famous astronomical tables, Mohammed Khaidar Dulati left an invaluable monument on the history and culture of Turkic nations “Tarih-i-Rashidi”, Mahmoud Kashgari created a work on Turkic dialectology “Divan lugat at-Turk “, geographer Janah ibn Hakan al-Kimaki, etc.

Al-Farabi’s “weapon” against social injustice and suffering was the word, enlightenment, philosophy. He believed in the achievement of happiness by people in earthly life. He expressed this idea in his works: “A Treatise on the Views of inhabitants of a Virtuous City,” “Civil Policy,” “Showing the Way to Happiness,” “On Achieving Happiness,” and others. The result of al-Farabi’s many-sided scientific research was the treatise “On the Classification of Sciences”, in which the sciences of that time were listed in strict order, the subject of research of each was determined. According to contemporaries, “no one has ever written anything like this before.” In the XII century “On the Classification of Sciences” had been translated into Latin twice. His works on logic include “Categories”, “Dilelectics”, “Book of Letters”, “Gems of Wisdom”, “Speeches Used in Logic”, “Analytics”, “Proof”, etc. The treatises on music and poetry include “the Great book of music”, “On the art of poetry”, “Treatise on the canons of the art of poetry”. The famous French orientalist Rudolph d’Erlange translated and published in Paris in 1930-1935 two-volume French translation of the “the Great book of music”, which was a significant contribution to the study of the heritage of al-Farabi in Europe. Al-Farabi not only knew the theory of music perfectly, but was able to play musical instruments. The phrase of M. Zhumabaev is widely known: “Who does not know the music of the Turks and the nine-string dombra  of Farabi.” It can be assumed that al-Farabi is the inventor of the nine-string or four-string dombra “Ut”. Al-Farabi’s natural-science treatises include “Comments on Ptolemy’s Almagest,” “On objection to Galen about his disagreements with Aristotle regarding the organs of the human body,” “On the need for the art of chemistry,” and others. The rich cultural heritage of the Turkic thinkers provided fertile ground for development of modern Kazakhstan.

AL-FARABI. THE DIALOGUE OF EAST AND WEST

Arabic-language philosophy was greatly influenced by ancient Greek philosophy. Al-Farabi, according to Ibn Khallikan, could say: “If I had lived in the time of Aristotle, I would have been the best among his disciples.” Al-Farabi created an entire encyclopedic system, similar to Aristotelian teachings. He wrote about 160 treatises covering all branches of knowledge known at that time: politics, psychology, ethics, natural sciences, aesthetics, logic, and of course philosophy. Unfortunately, not all works have been preserved, but the main works have survived and are stored in the best libraries of the world: in Cairo, Istanbul, Beirut, London, Berlin, Paris, Bratislava, Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Arab thinkers Al-Biruni, Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Baja, Ibn Tufayil and many others considered themselves disciples of al-Farabi. Ibn Sina said that he understood the “Metaphysics” of Aristotle only through the comments of al-Farabi. Ibn Sina’s medical works were highly valued in Europe throughout the Middle Ages. Ibn Rushd was known in Europe under the name of Averroes. Ibn-Rushd developed the idea of al-Farabi about the superiority of philosophy over religion, reason over revelation, laying the foundations of the doctrine of the duality of truth. Ibn-Baja was also influenced by the philosophy of al-Farabi, in his work “On the lifestyle of a hermit” he writes about the important role of knowledge in achieving ethical excellence. Ibn-Tufeyl in “The novel of Haya, the son of Yakzan,” develops the thought of al-Farabi about the perfection of the philosophical way of knowing the truth.

Speaking about the influence of al-Farbi on European philosophy, first of all we should mention the Jewish philosopher, the theologian Maimonides, whose work “Guide to the Lost” contains the ideas of al-Farabi. Through Maimonides, a thread is traced in the history of philosophy leading from al-Farabi to Spinoza, D. Skot, R. Bacon. The English monk and philosopher R. Bacon, fluent in Arabic, studied the works of al-Farabi in the scripts. During the Renaissance, Europe regained the “treasures” of classical ancient Greek philosophy and the al-Farabi’s merit in this is very significant. Al-Farabi is one of the key figures in the history of intellectual thought, that influenced the development of world civilization. His legacy had contributed to the establishment of dialogue and the rapprochement of cultures of East and West. The theme of dialogue between East and West remains relevant to this day. A dialogue strategy seems to be the only right one to strengthen solidarity and mutual understanding in the modern world.

Source:

Al-Farabi Research Center

http://al-farabi.kaznu.kz