Al-Farabi

Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn al-Farakh al-Farabi (Persian: ابو نصر محمد بن محمد فارابي‎) (b. 872 - between 14 December 950 and 12 January 951), also known as Alpharabius, was a renowned Born in Farab Khorasan of Ancient Iran. philosopher and jurist who wrote in the fields of political philosophy, metaphysics, ethics and logic. He was also a scientist, cosmologist, mathematician and music scholar.

Quotes

• A just city should favor justice and the just, hate tyranny and injustice, and give them both their just desserts.
  • H. Gibb et al., eds., "Mazalim", The Dictionary of Islam vol. IV (Leiden: Brill, 1991)

Quotes about Al-Farabi

• Farabi followed Plato not merely as regards the manner in which he presented the philosophic teaching in his most important books. He held the view that Plato’s philosophy was the true philosophy. To reconcile his Platonism with his adherence to Aristotle, he could take three more or less different ways. First, he could try to show that the explicit teachings of both philosophers can be reconciled with each other. He devoted to work is partly based on the so-called Theology of Aristotle: by accepting this piece of neo-platonic origin as a genuine work of Aristotle, he could easily succeed in proving the substantial agreement of the explicit teachings of both philosophers concerning the crucial subjects. It is however very doubtful whether Farabi considered his Concordance as more than an exoteric treatise, and thus whether it would be wise of us to attach great importance to its explicit argument. Secondly, he could show that the esoteric teachings of both philosophers are identical. Thirdly, he could show that “the aim” of both philosophers is identical.
  • Leo Strauss, Farabi's Plato, Louis Ginzberg Jubilee Volume, American Academy for Jewish Research, 1945. Reprinted, revised and abbreviated, in Persecution and the Art of Writing.

External links

• Al-Farabi at Islamic Philosophy Online
• Introduction to al-Farabi