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Abu Al-Nasr Al-Farabi
(870-950 A.D.)
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A Commemorative Iranian Stamp
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Abu Nasr Mohammad Ibn al-Farakh al-Farabi was born in a
small village Wasij, near Farab in Turkistan in 259 A.H. (870 A.D.).
His parents were originally of Persian descent, but his ancestors had
migrated to Turkistan. Known as al-Phrarabius in Europe, Farabi
was the son of a general. He completed his earlier education at
Farab and Bukhara but, later on, he went to Baghdad for higher
studies, where he studied and worked for a long time viz., from
901 A.D. to 942 A.D. During this period he acquired mastery over
several languages as well as various branches of knowledge and
technology. He lived through the reign of six Abbasid Caliphs.
As a philosopher and scientist, he acquired great proficiency in
various branches of learning and is reported to have been an expert
in different languages.
Farabi travelled to many distant lands and studied for some
time in Damascus and Egypt, but repeatedly came back to Baghdad,
until he visited Saif al-Daula's court in Halab (Allepo). He became
one of the constant companions of the King, and it was here at Halab
that his fame spread far and wide. During his early years he was a
Qadi (Judge), but later on the took up teaching as his profession.
During the course of his career, he had suffered great hardships and
at one time was the caretaker of a garden. He died a bachelor in09/15/09
Damascus in 339 A.H./950 A.D. at the age of 80 years. |
Farabi contributed considerably to science, philosophy, logic,
sociology, medicine, mathematics and music. His major contributions
seem to be in philosophy, logic and sociology and, of course, stands
out as an Encyclopedist. As a philosopher, he may be classed as a
Neoplatonist who tried to synthesize Platonism and Aristotelism
with theology and he wrote such rich commentaries on Aristotle's
physics, meteorology, logic, etc., in addition to a large number of
books on several other subjects embodying his original contribution,
that he came to be known as the 'Second Teacher' (al-Mou'allim
al-Thani) Aristotle being the First. One of the important contributions of Farabi was to make the study of logic more easy by dividing
it into two categories viz., Takhayyul (idea) and Thubut (proof).
In sociology he wrote several books out of which Ara Ahl
al-Madina al-Fadila became famous. His books on psychology and
metaphysics were largely based on his own work. He also wrote
a book on music, captioned Kitab al-Musiqa. He was a great expert
in the art and science of music and invented several musical instruments, besides contributing to the knowledge of musical notes. It
has been reported that he could play his instrument so well as to
make people laugh or weep at will. In physics he demonstrated the
existence of void.
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Although many of his books have been lost, 117 are known,
out of which 43 are on logic, 11 on metaphysics, 7 on ethics, 7 on
political science, 17 on music, medicine and sociology, while 11 are
commentaries. Some of his more famous books include the book
Fusus al-Hikam, which remained a text book of philosophy for
several centuries at various centres of learning and is still taught at
some of the institutions in the East. The book Kitab al-lhsa al
'Ulum discusses classification and fundamental principles of science
in a unique and useful manner. The book Ara Ahl al-Madina al-
Fadila 'The Model City' is a significant early contribution to sociology snd political science. |
A Commemorative Republic of Kazakhstan Bank Note
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Farabi exercised great influence on science and knowledge for
several centuries. Unfortunately, the book Theology of Aristotle,
as was available to him at that time was regarded by him as genuine,
although later on it turned out to be the work of some Neoplatonic
writer. Despite this, he was regarded the Second Teacher in
philosophy for centuries and his work, aimed at synthesis of
philosophy and sufism, paved the way for Ibn Sina's work.
This page last updated 10/11/2009 12:39 p.m.
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