(poetics), politics, religion, and jurisprudence,
as it lays down the rules of reasoning peculiar to
these respective domains (hence, there are types
of rationality and different modes of discourse and
argumentation).
Al-Farabi’s cosmological and metaphysical
doctrines are the foundations upon which he
builds—like Plato (d. ca. 347 b.c.e.)—the political
philosophy explicated in his books The Virtuous
City (al-Madina al-fadila) and the Civil Polity (al-
Siyasa al-madaniyya). He uses a Neoplatonic ema-
nationist theory crafted within the structure of
Ptolemaic cosmology to account for God’s power
of creation. However, God, or the First Being (al-
awwal), does not, like “the One” of the ancient
philosopher Plotinus (d. 270 c.e.), utterly tran-
scend being and thought. Rather, it is conceived
largely along the lines of Aristotle’s Unmoved
Mover, albeit with emanationist properties. God’s
principal activity is, as it were, intellectual, “echo-
ing Aristotle’s conception of God’s activity as
‘thinking of thinking’ (no ̄esis noe ̄seos). It is God’s
intellectual activity which underlies God’s role
as the creator of the universe” (Black, 189). In
effect, al-Farabi’s First Being cleverly combines a
Neoplatonic metaphysics of emanation, Aristotle’s
Unmoved Mover, and the Quranic conception of
God. It is clever insofar as it attempts to fuse the
absolute transcendence and unity (tawhid) of God
with a rational account of the world’s creation,
albeit one at odds with the doctrine of creation
from nothing (ex nihilo).
Al-Farabi’s political philosophy is more
straightforwardly Platonic, outlining a grada-
tion of different kinds of polities at the apex of
which is the ideal city dedicated to good and
happiness. For al-Farabi, philosophy provides us
with the highest form of knowledge or wisdom
(hikma). But philosophy must endeavor to be
practical. For example, the ruler(s) of the ideal
polity arduously and artfully unites the arts and
sciences of philosophy and prophecy, or political
and religious leadership. In addition, the polity
aims at realizing the virtues and happiness of its
citizens, as the best form of life is within a prop-
erly ruled polis.
Al-Farabi valued philosophy as the highest
form of knowledge, owing in part to its reliance
on “scientific demonstration,” whereas he con-
fined theology to “imaginative representations,”
resorting to the rational methods of rhetoric and
dialectic. However rational such methods may
be, they are not on par with the demonstrative
method of philosophy. Moreover, the “acquired
intellect” of the philosopher is a different medium
from the “imaginative faculty” of the prophet, for
prophetic revelations are the truths of philosophy
put in understandable form for commoners. The
rhetorical, dialectical, and political arts, in other
words, permit wisdom to be put in a commu-
nicative form congenial to the masses. After all,
philosophers are few and far between, but their
wisdom and understanding should and can ben-
efit everyone.
Deemed the “second teacher” (after Aristotle,
d. 322 b.c.e.) and the “second master” (after Abu
Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi, d. ca. 866 c.e.),
al-Farabi was a great synthesizer of philosophi-
cal and theological traditions. Renowned for an
ascetic demeanor, near the end of his life he
returned to Aleppo in syria following a trip to
egypt. There he was associated with Sayf al-Dawla
(918–967), a prince known for his generous
patronage of the arts. At 80 years of age, he died
in Aleppo. Al-Farabi’s philosophy left a decisive
impression on ibn sina (d. 1037) and was deeply
cherished by Islamic and Jewish philosophers,
affecting even the Latin Scholasticism of 13th-
century Europe. The great Muslim theologian
abU hamid al-ghazali (d. 1111) found much to
contend with in the subsequent development of
Islamic Neoplatonism.
See also creation; politics and islam.
Patrick S. O’DonnellFurther reading: Deborah L. Black, “Al-Farabi.” In
History of Islamic Philosophy, edited by Seyyed Hossein
Nasr and Oliver Leaman, 178–197 (London: Routledge,Farabi, Abu Nasr al- 225 J