Arab scholars of antiquity, who left behind a great scientific and creative heritage, are honored in the modern world. Perhaps some of their views and concepts seem outdated today, but at one time they directed people towards science and enlightenment. One of such great scholars was Al-Farabi. His biography originates in the city of Farab (the territory of modern Kazakhstan) in 872.
The life of the great philosopher
Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tarhan ibn Uzlag, known to the whole world as Al-Farabi, lived a long life, leaving behind numerous works on philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, music and the natural sciences.
Contemporaries called this great man the second teacher, implying that Aristotle was the first. Al-Farabi’s biography gives very little information, since during the life of the scientist no one paid attention to this, and all the available data were bit by bit collected a couple of centuries after his death.
It is known for sure:
- He was born in the city of Farab in 870 (according to some reports in 872). A fairly large city was near the place where the Syr Darya and Arys are connected. Later, the village was renamed Otrar, and today its ruins can be seen in the south of Kazakhstan in the Otrar region.
- The father of the future philosopher and scientist was a respected military leader from an ancient Turkic family.
- Even as a young man, Abu Nasr Al-Farabi, whose biography is silent about his childhood, escaped secular receptions and spent a lot of time studying the works of Aristotle and Plato.
- For some time he lived in Bukhara, Samarkand and Shash, where he studied and worked at the same time.
- Al-Farabi (biography talks about this in more detail) decided to complete his education in Baghdad. At that time, it was the capital of the Arab Caliphate and a major cultural and scientific center.
- On the way to Baghdad, a young scientist, whose level of knowledge at that time can be called encyclopedic, visited cities such as Isfahan, Hamadan and Rhea (modern Tehran).
- Arriving in the capital in 908, Al-Farabi (the biography does not provide more accurate data) studies logic, medicine, science, Greek, but which teachers are unknown.
- Having lived in Baghdad until 932, he left it, becoming already a well-known scientist.
Life in Damascus and world fame
The move was the impetus for the further development of the philosophical and scientific talents of the scientist, but almost nothing is known about his personal life at that time.
- In 941, the philosopher moved to Damascus, where no one knew anything about him. The first years in this city were rather difficult, since he had to work in the garden, and at night write his great treatises.
- At one time, Abu Nasyr Al-Farabi (the biography does not indicate exact dates) visited Syria, where he had the patron Sayf al-Daul Ali Hamdani, who helped many scientists and artists of that time.
- It is known that in 949 the scientist was in Egypt.
- There are 2 versions of how the great philosopher died. Some sources say that he died for natural reasons at the age of 80, for others - he was robbed and killed on the way to Askalan.
Such was the life of Abu Nasr Al-Farabi, whose brief biography does not convey in its entirety its grandeur, which cannot be said about his works.
Scientific Approach to Learning
So the mind of Al-Farabi was arranged (the biography does not tell about this), which could cover several scientific directions at once for their study and development. He was well-versed in many of the sciences known during the Middle Ages and excelled in all of them.
His activity began with the study of the works of the great Greek sages. Giving comments to them, he tried to bring their thoughts in plain language to a wide range of people. Sometimes for this he had to state all this in his own words. Another scientific method that Al-Farabi used was an analysis of the great treatises of antiquity with a detailed description of their contents. This can be determined by the manuscripts, where the Arab scholar left his notes, which can conditionally be divided into 3 types:
- An extensive commentary, based on the statement of the ancient sage with a detailed explanation of what the author wanted to say. Such work was carried out with each chapter or section of the treatise.
- An average commentary, in which only the first phrases of the original were taken, and everything else was an explanation of Al-Farabi. The biography of the scientist does not convey the essence of this work.
- A summary of the ancient works on his behalf can be called a small comment. At the same time, Al-Farabi could combine several works of Aristotle or Plato at once in order to convey to students the meaning of their philosophy.
Studying and commenting on these works not only promoted their promotion to the masses of people, but also directed the thoughts of the Arab scholar to further consideration of these philosophical questions.
Contribution to the Development of Sciences
Thanks to Al-Farabi, a new direction in the development of the sciences and arts of that time began. His works are known in such disciplines as philosophy, music, astronomy, mathematics, logic, natural sciences, philology and others. His scientific works influenced such scholars of the Middle Ages as ibn Sina, ibn Badja, ibn Rushd and others. To date, about 130 works of the scientist are known, he is also credited with organizing and creating the library in Otrar.
A biography of Al-Farabi in Russian indicates that he was able to study and comment on almost all the works of Aristotle, as well as such wise men as Ptolemy (“Almagest”), Alexander Afrodeziysky (“On the Soul”) and Euclid (“Geometry)”. Although ancient Greek treatises influenced the development of Al-Farabi's philosophical and scientific thought, most of his works are his mental research and practical experiences.
The philosophical works of al-Farabi
All scientific works of the Arab scientist can be divided into several types:
- General philosophical works that were devoted to the laws of the universe, their properties and categories.
- Proceedings in which aspects of human activity and ways of understanding the world were considered.
- Treatises on matter, the study of its properties, as well as categories such as time and space. These include work in mathematics, geometry and astronomy.
- Separate works (the biography of Al-Farabi mentions this) are devoted to the types and properties of wildlife and its laws. This includes works on the activities of people in biology, physics, chemistry, medicine and optics.
- The scientist paid special attention to the study of socio-political systems, issues of morality and education, pedagogy, public administration and ethics.
Over his 80 years of life, Al-Farabi left a great legacy that was largely ahead of its time. His work has not ceased to be relevant in our time.
The basis of being according to the teachings of Al-Farabi
The great scientist laid the foundations of a new philosophy, according to which everything that exists in the world is divided into 6 stages, interconnected by a causal relationship:
- The first step is the root cause of the appearance of all things, why and by whom everything was conceived.
- The second is the appearance of everything.
- The third stage is an active and developing mind.
- The fourth is the soul.
- The fifth step is form.
- Sixth is matter.
These steps are the basis of everything that surrounds a person, and the scientist divides them into 2 types:
- Things and conditions, which he called “possibly existing”, since their nature is not always caused by the necessity of their existence.
- The latter, on the contrary, always exist on their own and are called “necessarily existing”.
Al-Farabi (a brief biography and acquaintance with his works indicate this) called God the primary cause of everything, since only he has intrinsic integrity and uniqueness, while the remaining steps have multiplicity.
The second reason is the emergence of planets and other celestial bodies, which by their nature differ from earthly forms. Al-Farabi defined the third step as the cosmic mind, which cares for wildlife and seeks to bring the world to perfection.
The last 3 steps are connected with our world, and the scientist paid the closest attention to them. He separated the functions of God from what is happening in the material world, thereby limiting his intervention in the life of people, giving them free will. He was able to affirm the power of matter, endowing it with eternity.
The relationship of form and matter
The scientist paid a lot of attention to the relationship of form and matter. For example, he gives the interpretation of form as the integrity of the structure, and matter - as the essence and foundation of all things. It was he who pointed out that form can exist only due to the presence of matter and cannot be outside the body. Matter, in turn, is a substrate that must necessarily be filled with content (form). The great scientist writes about this in his works “On Matter and Form” and in the “Treatise on the Views of the Residents of a Virtuous City”.
God
Al-Farabi’s attitude toward God was more scientific than religious. Many followers of the scientist, and then religious Arab leaders, claimed that he was a true Muslim who respected the traditions of Islam. But the works of the sage indicate that he tried to know God, and not blindly believe in him.
No wonder a scientist of this level was buried without participating in the procession of the clergy. Too bold were the statements of Al-Farabi about the structure of the world and all things.
The doctrine of the ideal city-state
The scientist paid a lot of attention to such aspects of life as happiness, morality, war and public policy. He devoted such works to them:
- “A Treatise on Achieving Happiness”;
- “Ways of happiness”;
- “Treatise on War and Peaceful Life”;
- “A treatise on the views of the inhabitants of a virtuous city”;
- “Civil Policy”;
- “A treatise on the study of society”;
- “On virtuous mores.”
All of them touch upon such important aspects during the brutal Middle Ages as love for one's neighbor, immorality of wars and people's natural desire for happiness.
If we combine these works, we can draw the following conclusion from the author’s philosophy: people should live in a world of goodness and justice, striving for spiritual development and scientific enlightenment. He came up with a city in which management is led by sages and philosophers, and its inhabitants do good and condemn evil. In contrast to this ideal society, the author describes cities ruled by envy, the pursuit of wealth and lack of spirituality. For their time, these were pretty bold political and moral views.
About music
Being talented in everything, Al-Farabi (a biography in the Kazakh language confirms this) devoted a lot of time to musicology. So, he gave the concept of musical sounds, described their nature and found out from which categories and elements any musical work is built.
This brought the study and composition of music to a new level. He introduced other peoples to the music of the East, leaving behind his treatises “The Word of Music” and “On the Classification of Rhythms”. Unlike the Pythagorean school, according to which hearing was not important for distinguishing sounds, and the main thing in this is calculations, Al-Farabi believed that it was hearing that allows you to define sounds and combine them in harmony.
Doctrine of knowledge
One of the important aspects of the scientist's work is the study of such a category as the mind and the form of knowledge. He talks about where the knowledge came from, about their connection with reality, about how a person cognizes reality. For example, Al-Farabi considered nature to be an object for study, since people gain all knowledge from outside, observing the world around them. Comparing the various properties of things and phenomena, analyzing them, a person gains understanding.
Thus, sciences were formed, thanks to which people began to better understand the world around them. He talks about the spiritual strength of a person, that is, about the structure of his psyche, about how people perceive odors, distinguish colors and feel different emotions. This is a very deep in content work, including “The Basis of Wisdom, ” where the author considers categories such as likes and dislikes, as well as the reasons for their occurrence.
Logic as a form of knowledge
The scientist paid a lot of attention to such a science as logic. He considered it a special property of the mind, the presence of which helped a person judge the truth and affirm it experimentally. The art of logic according to Al-Farabi is the ability to separate false categories from true ones with the help of evidence, which was not at all characteristic of religious dogmas and beliefs.
Scientists from the East and other countries supported his work “Introduction to Logic” and “Introductory Treatise on Logic”. Logic is a tool with which people can gain knowledge about the surrounding reality. So the great scientist believed.
