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al-Fārābī
(32,571 words)

al-Fārābī, Abū Naṣr Muḥammad (d. Rajab 339/December 950–January 951), Muslim philosopher, one of the ‘founders’ of the falsafa tradition, sometimes referred to as ‘al-Muʿallim al-Thānī’ (lit. ‘The Second Teacher’, Aristotle being the First). 

Part I: Life and Works

Biography

Scholars hold differing opinions about his father’s name and his ethnic background. The earliest source of information about al-Fārābī’s life and works is Ibn al-Nadīm (d. 385/995), who gives his name …

Cite this page
Part I: Sadeq Sajjadi, Translated by Alexander Khaleeli and Part II: Sayyad Javad Tabatabai, “al-Fārābī”, in: Encyclopaedia Islamica, Editors-in-Chief: Farhad Daftary. Consulted online on 29 November 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1875-9831_isla_COM_036121>
First published online: 2018
First print edition: 20180110



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