الفارابي .. كتاب المائة الأوائل

al-Farabi

874 - 950 AD

The philosopher Abu al-Nasr al-Farabi is Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tafran. He was called al-Farabi in relation to the place where he was born, which is the state of Farab from the country of the Turks beyond the river. And Al-Farabi, in all his culture and writings, is an Arab philosopher, and one of the orientalists described him as the founder of Arabic philosophy. And they called Al-Farabi the name (the second teacher), given that Aristotle was the first teacher.

Al-Farabi was fond of travel since his youth. So he moved in the countries of Islam until he entered Iraq and lived in Baghdad, where he learned a part of the sciences and philosophy, then he traveled from it to Aleppo and contacted the Hamdani Emir Saif al-Dawla, and he gained favor with him and dressed in the clothes of the people of Sufism, then he accompanied the Emir to Damascus in his campaign against it in the year 950 AD, and he passed away in Damascus in that year when he was nearly Eighty years old.

Al-Farabi was inclined to contemplation and consideration and preferred solitude and tranquility.

Al-Farabi had knowledge of medicine and had outstanding talents in music and is considered the greatest theoretical scientist in the music industry. It was said that he was at a young age hitting the lute and singing. And when he saluted his face, he said: Every singing that comes out from between a mustache and a beard does not show pretentiousness.

Al-Farabi wrote many works in all sciences and arts, and only twelve books remained in the libraries of Europe. Among his books on music: Kitab al-Musiqah al-Kabir, which is a great and huge book that contains the secrets of this industry from both its scientific and artistic sides.

Al-Farabi was not satisfied with the classification of books, but rather invented musical instruments. He states that he made an instrument similar to the qanun. He played it once, so the audience laughed, played a second time, and made them cry, and played a third time, so he slept them, then left.

And that his book The Virtuous City is an attempt to describe an ideal republic in a wonderful way, as he dreamed of organizing the world in a comprehensive organization that would make it an ideal state or a righteous, sane city in which the presidency of government would be for a self-described philosopher who was almost a prophet.