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al-Farabi

الفارابي

c. 878 CE · c. 264 AH† – c. 950 CE · 339 AH †

† Hijri date derived by computation from the Gregorian/Julian date; it may differ from the transmitted date by a day or two.

Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan al-Farabi, d. AH 339 — 'the Second Teacher' after Aristotle, author of Ara' Ahl al-Madina al-Fadila 1.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
Scholar
Era
Abbasid Fragmentation
Region
Persia & Central Asia
Identifiers
Wikidata
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Life in time

72575077580082585087590092595097510001025 c. c. c.
The Early Abbasid Caliphate · Abbasid Fragmentation · The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era · The Umayyad Period Contemporaries: Abu'l-Sa'ib 'Utba al-Hamadhani · Abu Umar al-Mutarriz · al-Naqqash · Sulayman ibn Ahmad al-Tabarani · Ibn al-Akhram

Overview

Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan al-Turki al-Farabi, the sage, who died in 339 AH. 2

His works

Among his works is The Views of the People of the Virtuous City. 2

His life, the rest of his works and his influence need an additional source.

In the 'Al-Mubdi'un' programme

Tareq al-Suwaidan presents al-Farabi as 'the Second Teacher' after Aristotle — philosopher of the Arabs despite his Farabi Persian origin, his culture Arabic and his hundred-plus works all in Arabic; and a master musician besides 3 4 5 6. Of his life: born in Farab 260 AH amid political turmoil while the civilisational current flowed on; ascetic, aloof from strife; he studied grammar under Ibn al-Sarraj in Baghdad while teaching him logic, and philosophy under Yuhanna ibn Khaylan in Harran, then surpassed his teachers 7 8 9 10 11. How he entered philosophy: a student deposited Aristotle's books with him as a trust, letting him read them — he threw himself upon them and mastered them alone 12 13. Of his testimonies: Ibn Sina's 'I journeyed seeking Abu Nasr and never found him' and 'I read the Metaphysics forty times without understanding it until I read al-Farabi's writings'; and 'but for al-Farabi Aristotle would have been lost' — his lost works recovered through al-Farabi's commentaries; and the orientalist Diago calling him 'of greater allure than Ibn Sina, his soul richer in flow' 14 15 16 17 18. Of his asceticism: he refused Sayf al-Dawla al-Hamdani's lavish gifts, content with four dirhams a day for necessity, spending most days alone composing in gardens without books, teaching the hardest questions — while counselling 'do not take my life as your model' 19 20 21 22 23. Of his philosophy: logical sequence and firm interconnection; in Ara' Ahl al-Madina al-Fadila he treats the First Existent negating partner and opposite in a manner consonant with the faith in its fundamentals — with caveats on some creedal points (the speaker's note) 24 25 26 27 28. His analysis of the virtuous city: man's need for man and cooperation, sixteen qualities of its leader, and its opposites — cities of license, appetites, materialism 27 29 30 31. His reconciling project: reconciling Plato and Aristotle as differing only superficially while one in essence — so that religion might face a single philosophy, proving no contradiction between revelation and reason 32 33 34 35. Of his works: al-Jam' bayna Ra'yay al-Hakimayn, Ara' Ahl al-Madina al-Fadila, Kitab al-Musiqi al-Kabir, Ihsa' al-'Ulum, and a treatise on the rules of poetry — forty surviving of over a hundred 36 37 29. He died in Damascus in 339 AH (the recording says 950 by error — corrected to 339 AH) after a life of austerity focused on a single field 38 28.

Connections

Explore the connections

Participated in
Al-Farabi moves to Baghdad· Al-Farabi at Sayf al-Dawla's court
Authored
Ara' Ahl al-Madina al-Fadila
Influenced
Ibn Sina (Avicenna)

People and things also explored

Al-Biruni at Qābūs's court, Gurgān· Ibn Sina travels west to Gorgan· Ibn Sina enters Buyid service at Rayy· Ibn Sina withdraws to Khuzistan· Ibn Sina becomes vizier to Shams al-Dawla at Hamadan· Abu Abdallah al-Natili· ابن رشد الحفيد· Afshana

Explore the timeline

Sources

  1. Kashf al-Zunun an Asami al-Kutub wa'l-Funun — Hajji Khalifa (Furqan ed.) , p. 290
  2. Kashf al-Zunun an Asami al-Kutub wa'l-Funun — Hajji Khalifa (Furqan ed.) , p.290
  3. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:01:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  4. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:02:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  5. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:04:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  6. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:04:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  7. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:02:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  8. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:03:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  9. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:05:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  10. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:05:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  11. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:07:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  12. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:07:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  13. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:08:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  14. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:09:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  15. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:09:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  16. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:10:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  17. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:10:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  18. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:11:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  19. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:12:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  20. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:13:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  21. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:13:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  22. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:14:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  23. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:14:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  24. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:15:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  25. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:15:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  26. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:16:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  27. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:17:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  28. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:24:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  29. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:22:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  30. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:22:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  31. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:23:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  32. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:18:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  33. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:18:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  34. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:19:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  35. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:19:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  36. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:21:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  37. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:21:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  38. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Mubdioune, episode 26, at 00:23:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  • Al-Fārābī — Encyclopaedia Britannica
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “al-Farabi”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/al-farabi/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-28.

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