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IBN SiNÀ'S THOUGHT ON THE "PERFECT MAN": THE ROLE OF THE FACULTIES OF THE SOUL

by

Arba'iyah Yusuf

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Reseach McGiII University, Montreal, in Partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts

Institute of Islamic Studies McGiII University Montreal 1994 National Ubrary Bibl;o!hèque nationale of Canada du Car!ada ••• Acquisitions and Direction des acquisitions et Bibliog raphic Services Branch des services bibliographiques 39S Welli!19tOlI Slreer 395. rue Welhngton Ottawa. Or.lario Ottawa (Ont.no) K1i-.0N4 K1AON4

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Canad;I • ABSTRACT

AUTHOR : Arba'iyah Yusuf

TITLE OF THESIS : Ibn Sïna's thought on the "Perfect Man": the role of the faculties of the soul

DEPARTMENT : Institute of Islarnic Studies, McGiII University

DEGREE : Master of Arts (M.A.)

This thesis is a study ofIbn Sïna's concept ofthe Perfect Man, which is studied here

with reference to the role of the faculties of the soul. Chapter 1 is a brief

introduction to Ibn S""ma's life and his intellectual background. Chapter II studies Ibn

Sïna's views on hurnan existence, the human body and the hurnan soul. In the • section dealing with the the hurnan soul, the faculties of the soul are elaborated at length. Chapter m discusses Ibn S""ma's concept of the Perfect Man, a person who

has reached the highest position which corresponds to the acquired intellect. This

chapter a1so discusses Ibn S""ma's view of the role of the faculties of the soul in

anaining to the position of perfection.

• i Résumé

• Auteur : Arba'iyah Yusuf Titre de Thesis : "La Pensée d'Ibn Sïna à Propos de l'homme parfait: Le rôle des Facultés de l'âme Division : Institut des Études Islamiques l'Université McGill

Licence : Maitrise en Arts

CeTte thèse fait une étude ~u concept de l'homme parfait chez Ibn Sïnà, \' isant en

particulier le role des facultés de l'âme. Le premier chapitre comprend une brève introduction

à la vie d'Ibn Sïna et de son milieu intellectuel. Dans le deuxième chapitre, on expose les

théories de Ibn Sina sur l'existence humaine, sur le corps humain ainsi que sur l'âme. Un interêt

pa.rticulier, est porté àl'étude des facultes de l'âme. Dans le chapitre trois, en première partie,la

conception de Ibn Sïna de l'homme parfait, celui qui a a~eint le niv~u suprême, donc le niveau

de l'intellect acquis. est discuté _ En seconde partie, on discute le rôle des facultés de l'âme

ainsi que leur importance, dans l'aTteinte de la perfection.

.. • TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT .i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .ii

DEDICATION iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS .iv

INTRODUCTION: 1

CHAPTER 1 : IBN SÏNA: HIS LiFE AND INTELLECTUAL BACKGROUND ....4 A. Ibn Sïna's Life 5 B. Ibn Sïna's Intellectual Background 11 1. Youth and education 11 2. His Works 19

CHAPTER Il : IBN SINA'S NOTION OF THE HUMAN BEING 28 A. Human e.xistence 28 B. The elements of I:uman beings 36 • 1. Body 37 2. The soul 39

CHAPTER III : IBN SINA'S CONCEPT OF THE "PERFECT MAN" 54 A. The idea ofthe Perfect Man 54 B. The role ofthe facul:ies ofthe soul in attaining the level of perfection 64

CONCLUSION 75 APPENDIX 77 BIBLiOGRAPHY 82

• Il • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis has taken me one year to write. and has reached completion with

the help of my certain people.

1 would like to thank Dr. Eric Onnsby. who supervised this thesis. made

useful comments on earlier drafts. helpful references. and prov;ded much

encouragement 1would like to thank also Dr. Sajida Alvi. my academic advisor. for

her help and encouragement My thanks are also due to Dr. Abdul Aziz Sachedina

with whom 1 flfSt discussed my thesis proposai.

1 wish to thank the staff of the Islamic Studies library for their help in

locating and obtaining the source material for me. 1 should also like to take this

opportunity to record my gratitude to the Canadian International Development

Agency (CIDA] and the McGill-lndonesia IAIN Project for making it possible for me

to study at McGill University.

1 am also grateful to my friends particularly, Devi Yanti, Nanang Tahqiq and

Abdul Muhayya for their unswerving help and support 1 wish to thank Mu~ammad

Qasim Zaman and Richard McGregor for editing this thesis. and Oliver l:Ianif

Gilsenan for proof reading it

Finally, 1 am extremely grateful to my relatives in Indonesia, whose support

has enableci me to complete my studies abroad.

e- iii •

The thesis is dedicaled for who are in the spirit of seeking the knowledge

iv • INTRODUCTION

In his article "Avicenna: Introduction" in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Muhsin

Mahdi observes:

The generally accepted view that Islamic philosophic tradition established by F"ariibI (d. 339/950) came to an end with Ibn Rushd (Averroes, fl 520­ 95/1126-98) has becn challenged by scholars who have pointed to the continuity of that tradition in the East, principally ir. Iran, to the present day. In order to understand the point at issue, one must begin with Avicenna. as a disciple of F"arabI, which in many ways he was, but

Ibn S"ma was one of the greatest Muslim philosophers. A polymath, his work

encompasses a variety of subjects, which include logic, cosmology, metaphysics,

psychology, and medicine.2

In his philosophical writings, inter aUa, Ibn S'ina discusses the question of

human perfection, the highest and the most ideal positicn a human being can attain

to. Ibn S"ma elaborates on this question through his idea of the faculties of the soul,

lM. Mahdi, "Avicenna: Introduction: Encyclopaedia lranica, edited by Ehsan Yarshater (London & New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1989), Vol. m, 66.

2Sayyed Hossein Nasr, Three Muslim Sages: Avicenna. Suhrawardi and Ibn 'Arabi (New York: Caravan Books, 1964),23.

1 • 2 dividing the soul into: the vegetative, the animal, and me rational.3 Through the

faculties of the rational soul, human beings are able to attain to the various stages oÏ

the intellect, viz. potential intellect, intellect in habitu, intellect in actu, and acquired

intellect The highest position is marked by the attainment of the acquired intellect,

which signifies that perfection is the highest form available for a human being to

reach.

Ibn Sïna speaks of the people who are able to attain to the highest level of

perfection in the context of his discussion of prophethood and sufism'. This

discussion will be the focus of my investigation. The study will primarily be based

on the following three works of Ibn Sïna: [1] Ishiirüt wa al· Tanbfhiit, [2] Al-Najüt,

and [3] Fazlur Rahman's edition of Avicenna's Psychology.

This thesis is divided iilto three parts. The fll'st part will comprise a discussion

of Ibn Sïna's life and his intellectual background. The second part discusses Ibn

Sïna's concept of the human being: human existence, and the elements of a human

being. Ibn Sïna's idea of the faculties of the soul will be studied in this section. The

third part is concerned with the concept of the Perfect Man. The idea of the Perfect

Man and the role of the faculties of the soul in attaining to the level of perfection

3Fazlur Rahman, Avicenna's Psychology (London: Oxford University Press. 1952),25

'See Ibn S'ma, al-Isharat wa a1-TanbThat (Cairo: Dar a1-Ma'w, 1958), Part IV. • 3 will he analyzed here. • CHAfI'ER 1 IBN sÏNÂ: HIS LIFE AND INTELLECTUAL BACKGROUND

Writings on Ibn Sina's life and intellectual background usually refer to the

work of his student and friend Abü 'Ubayd al-Juzja:ni. Al-Juzja:ni's work is comprised

of the autobiography of Ibn Sina, which he himself dictated to aI-Juzja:ni, and Ibn

Sina's biography written by al-Juzjani for the period not covered in Ibn Sina's

dietated memoirs.

Juzja:ni's work has been translated by E. Gohlman and is the primary source

for Ibn Sina's life as discussed in this chapter. Studies on Ibn Sïna include Avicenna:

His Life and Works by Soheil M. Afnan, Three Muslim Sages by Sayyed Hossein

Nasr, Makers of Arab History by Philip K. Hitti, Avicenna and the Aristotelian

Tradition by Dimitri Gutas, A History of[slamic Philosophy by Majid Fakhry, and

Avicenna by L.E. Goodman. The afore-mentioned autobiography of Ibn S-ma and its

continuation by aI-Juzja:ni is found in the 'Uyün al-Anbii' fi {abaqiit al-Apbbii' of

Ibn Abï U\i

Sïna in Vol. n, pp.2-18. The Tarikh al-lfukamii' oflbn aI-Q~ (d. 646/1248), edited

by Lippert, aIso contains the autobiography/biography oflbn S-ma on pp. 413-26. Yet

another source is the Tatimmat Siwiin al-lfikma by Ibn Funduq aI-Bayhaqï (d.

4 • 5 565/1170).S AIl of these sources have been used by WiIIiarn E. Gohlman for his The

Life ofIbn Siizii: A Crirical Edition and Annotated Translation.

A. Ibn Sina's Life

Ibn Sinli's fuIl name was Abü 'AIT aI-l:Iusain Ibn 'Abd-AIHih ibn l:Iasan Ibn

'AIT Ibn S""ma.6 He was known in the West by the narne "Avicenna," which cornes

through Hebrew into Latin: Avicenna, from Aven Sina, is a corrupt form of Ibn

S""ma. No explanation is available, however, for the kuniah "Ibn Sina." His

contemporaries, in acknowledgement of his extraordinary learning, often referred to

him merely as al-Shaikh or" al-Ra'fs. In the West he aIso enjoyed the tit1e of

"princeps philosophus" and even princeps philosophorum, the great master."

He was barn in August 980 (~afar, 370 A.H), foIlowed five years later by his

brother MaJ:1müd, in a large village called Kharmaithan (the land of the sun) near

SWilliam E. GohIman, The Life of Ibn Sïna: A Critical Edition and Annotated Translation (Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1974), I.

6Soheil M. Afnlin, Avicenna: His Life and Works (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1958),57. See aIso, A. M. Goichon, "Ibn Sinli", in The Encyc10paedia of Islam, editee! by B. Lewis, V.L Menage, Ch. Pellat and J. Schacht, (Leiden: El. BriII, London: Luzac & Co, 1971), Vol. m, 914.

'S,,!:ci! M. Afnan, Avicenna: His Life and Wor!ts, 57.

8Avicenna Celebrations Committee, Avicenna Commemoration Volume (Calcutta: Avicenna Celebrations Committee, 1956),ix. • 6 'lukhara! The Encyclopaedia of Islam states that he was born in a village near

Bukhara called Afshana, his mother's native land.'" D. Gutas, however, questions

the time of his birth by pointing out that Avicenna was bom around 370/980, and

perhaps even more likely, quite a few years earlier than thatIl He died in 428, and

was buried in Hamadhan.12

Ibn Sïna's father was from Balkh, a city known ta the Greeks as Bactria, with

the ~'Pithet "the glittering" in Middle Persian literature. Soheil Afnan points out that

Balkh was then an important commercial and political rnetropolis, the intellectual and

religious capital of the Muslim East, a center ofreligious and intellectuallife. As the

seat ofthe Graeco-Bactrian kings, it had once been the center ofHellenic culture, but

had lost its importance for a while, only to recover its ancient glory under the

Samanid and Ghaznavid dynasties. Here Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Manichaeism,

Nestorian Christianity and finally Islam met13 In the days of the AmIr Nü~ ibn

Man~iir, Ibn Sïna's father moved from Balkh to Bukhara, where he worked in the

9Soheil M. Afnan, Avicenna: His Life and WorkS, 57.

IDA. M. Goichon, "Ibn S-mli," 914.

IID. Guta5, " Avicenna: Biography," in Encyclopaedia lranica, Vol. m, 69. The doubt of D. Gutas seems to Il!: answered by al-Juzjlini's biography, which says that the year of bis birth was 370, 'and so he was 58 when he died. See William F. Gohlman, The life of Ibn Sïna, 89.

IZWilliam F. GohIman, The Life of Ibn S-ma, 89.

13Soheil M. Afnan, Avicenna: His Life and Works, 57. • 7 administration --being entrusted with the goveming of a village in one of the royal

estates of Bukhara- during the reign of the Amïr Nü~ ibn Man~ür.'4 Ibn Sina's

father is also believed to have been a money changer. Ibn Sina. however, opted for

a career in scholarship. rather than following his father's profession.'s

According to aI-Juzjani. Ibn Sina's father married a woman named SiŒra.

from Afshana.16 The sources say IittIe about her apart from recording her name. Ibn

Sïnli's father was an Ismliïlï.17 This is significant because of the Ismaïlï

inclination towards philosophy and mysticism.18 Ibn Sina himself bears witness to

the philosophical interest of his family, and that of his father particularly:

...from them [the Isma'TIiyya). he [Ibn Sinli's father). as weil as my brother, heard the account of the soul and the intellect in the special manner in which they speak about it and know it...sometimes they used to discuss this among themselves while 1 was Iistening to them and understanding what they were saying...and also there was taIk of philosophy, geometry. and Indian calculation. My father used to study and ponder over the Rasii'il Ikhwiin al­ $afâ' [the treatises of the sincere Bretheren) and 1also pondered over it from

14L.E. Goodman, Avicenna, 1I.

ISe. George Fry and Jon Paul Fry, Avicenna's Philosophy of Education: An Introduction (Washington. D.C.: Three Continents Press. Inc., 1990), I.

l"William E. Gohlman, The Life of Ibn Sïnà. 17.

l'Ibid., 19. See also Gu~ Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition: Introduction to Reading Avicenna's Philosophicai Works (Leiden, New York: EJ. BriIl,1988), 23: "My father was among those who responded to the proselytizcr of the Egyptians and was considered one of the Ismliïlïs." • 18Many famous philosophers and mysties were Ismliïlïs. • 8 time to lime.'"

Ibn Sina began working for a living soon after the death of bis father, when

he was about twenty years old.:O Ibn S-ma did not have an independent life while

his father was still alive, for he said: "...my father died and 1 was frec to govem my

own affairs and so 1 took over one of the administrative pOSlS of the Sulllin".Z'

Working for the Sulllin, Ibn S-ma moved from one place to another though he never

left Iran.:: The first place where he ever stayed at after Bukhara: was Gurganj. Z3

He moved to Gurganj because the situation --the affairs of the Samlinids had become

disordered- necessitated such a move, not because of bis own inclination.~ In

'"William E. Gohlman, The Life of Ibn Sina. 18-19.

:00. Gutas,"Avicenna: Biography," 69.

%'William E. Gohlman, Avicenna, 41.

::Even though Ibn S-ma never went outside Iran, bis influence spread around the world. Sec A.M. Goichon, The Philosophy of Avicenna and Its Influence on . Medieval Europe. trans. M.S. Khan (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 1969); S. Van Riet "Avicenna: the Impact of Avicenna's Philosopbical Works in the West," in Enevclopaedia !ranica, Vol. m, 104-107; U. Wisser, "Avicenna: The Influence of Avicenna on Medical Studies'in the West," in Enevclopaedia !ranica, Vol. m, 107­ 110; Majid Fakhry, A Historv of Islamic Philosophy (New York & London: Columbia University Press, 1970), 150.

::3Hossein Nasr, Three Muslim Sages: Avicenna. Suhrawardi, and Ibn 'Arabi, 21.

2AW'illiam E. GohIman, The Life 'of Ibn Sina. 41; "the necessity then led me ta forsake Buk\W'a and move ta .Gurganj, where Abü al-l:Iusayn al-Suhayli, an amateur of the sciencies, was a minister." Ibn Fundüq also explains in bis Tatimmat Siwan al-Hikma. Ed. Mu~ammad Shafi' (Lahore, 1935),44-45: that "when the affairs ofthe Samlinids ~e disordered, necessity led him ta leave Bukhiirii and move to • \) Gurganj, he became a lawyer with a salary that he found sufficient for his basic

needs.:S The places where he stayed besides Bukhiira and Gurganj include Nasa.

Baward, Tus, Samangan. Jajarm. at the extreme lirnit of Khur'"dSlin. and then

Jwjan.::O He went to jwjan to serve the Anür Qabüs. but soon after he arrived there

Qabüs lost bis throne, was imprisoned and died.27 From Jwjan. Ibn S'ma continued

bis traveIs to Dihistan and then returned to Jwjan. At this time••Abü 'Ubayd al-

Gurganj." :5lbid.; "1 was presented .0 the Anür there, 'Ali ibn Ma'mün. at that time 1 was in lawyer's dress. They gave me a monthly salary which provided enough for sorne one like me."

::OSee William E. Gohlman, The Life of Ibn S'ma: A Critical Edition and Annotated Translation, 41-43; see a1so page 125. Nasa was a city in Khur'"dSlin south to Gurganj, part of the domains of the Khwaraztn-shiih. Baward is a city one day journey from Nasa, a1so under the suvereignty of the Khwarazm-shiihs. It is a1so spelled Abiward. l:Iüs was the second city of the Nay~bür [Nishlipür] quarter of Khuraslin. Mter 3891999 it was under the control of Ma~müd of Ghazna [see a1so . Yaqüt, Mu'jam al-Buldan, ed. F. Wustenfeld, (Leipzig, 1866-1873), Vol. m, 560-62]. Samangan is a territory near Jlijarm, and was one of the districts of Naysabür. It is a1so spelled Samalqan. JlijarJ1! is a town wbich is the main center of a large district situated between Nayslibür and Jwjan [see a1so Y-aqüt, Buldan, D, 48-54]. Jwjan was the name of both a province on the southeast shore of the Caspian sea and of its capital city.

27"Amïr Qabüs": Shams a1-Ma'arr Qlibüs ibn Wushmagir (r. 3671978-402/1012), a poet and patron of scholars, he took part in the dynastic struggles between the Büyids and the Samanids, and spent a great deal ofrime in exile. After the fall of the Samanids he was forced te accept the suzeranity of the Ghaznavids. See Abü Mansür 'Abd al-Malik Ibn M~arnmad a1-Tha'\libi, Tatimmlit a1-Yatima. ed. 'Abbas Iqblil, D, 59-61. • 10 Jüzjaru joined Ibn S"ma.2S He also spent time in al-Rayy,"" Qazwïn, Hamadhan, and

Isfahan mostly for teaching, practicing medicine and writing. He died in

Hamadhan.30

There is no information as to whether or not Ibn Sina ever married. It is

reported that he had sexual intercourse with various women, though it is not known

whether those women were his wives. If not, then one might wonder whether sorne

of Gbazijlj's displeasure with him was also due to his morals and not ooly for his

philosophical views, with which he was apparently much concemed.31

2SWilliam E. Gohlman, The Life of Ibn Sinii, 43.

29"Al-Rayy" was the largest of the four capital cities of the JibaI in the 4th/l0th century, according to Yiiqüt, Buldan, n, 890-921. In al-Rayy, he joined the service of al-Sayyida and her son, Majd al-Dawla. It is also mentioned in Three Muslim sages, 21,that Ibn S"ma retired to a village for a few years and then l.:ft for Rayy sometime between 405/1014 and 406/1015. At t1üs rime Persia was Jnder the control of the Buyyid dynasty, various members of which ruIed over the different provinces of the country.

JCW"illiam E. Gohlman, The Life of Ibn Sinii, 43, 51, 65. It is c1early explained , on page 51, that in Hamadhan he joined the service of Kadhabaruyah and managed her business affairs.

3lIn his article "Avicenna" in Encyclopaedia lraniça, Vol. m, 66, M. Mahdi observes that "two generations after Avicenna, Abü l:Iamid GhaziiIi (450-550/1058­ 1111) testifies to the faet that no serious Muslim thinker could ignore the claim of philosophy as a way to the highest and most comprehensive knowledge available to man and as a way to the Truth. He also testifies to the faet that, at least as far as he was concerned, philosophy for praetical purposes meant Avicenna's philosophy. When he set about to learn what philosophy was, he read Avicenna's works. When he tried ta present the intentions of the philosophers. he wrote a summary of Avicenna's philosophy. And when he tried to show the incoherence of the philosophers. he wrote a refutation of Avicenna's doctrines." See aIso aI-GhazaIi, • II B. Ibn Sina's Intellectual Background

1. Youth and education31

By the age of ten Ibn S"ma had studied the Qur'an and a great deal of

literature as well.33 The course of his further education or study of various subjects--

philosophy, geometry, medicine etc.-cannot be traced, for there is no information on

how old he was when he began the study of those disciplines.

Tahafut al-Fallisifah, ed. Sulayman Dunya (Caire: Dar ~ya' al-Kutub al-'Arabiyyah, 1947),37.

31Before explaining his youth and education at length, it is significant to set forth here the subjecls, as the curriculum, that Ibn S"ma studied: 1. Logic; Categories, De 1nterpretatione, Prior Analytics, Posterior Analytics, Topics, Rhetoric, Sophistics, and Poetics. 2. Mathematics [theoretical particular science]; Geometry, Arithmetic, Science of the stars [Astronomy and Astrology], Music, and Optics. 3. Non­ Mathematical [applied mathematical particular sciences]; Mechanics, Medicine, Agriculture, and Alchemy. 4. Physics [books by Aristotle]; Physics which is commented by Alexander, Themistius, and Philoponus, De Caelo, De Generatione et Corruptione, Meteorology. de AnimaIibus. De Plantis, De Anima. De Senu et Sensato. 5. MetaphysicS; metaphysics by Aristotle. 6. Ethics; Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle, Politics [Ietters on Politics by Aristotle and Politics by Plato], and Oeconomics. Dimitri Gutas, Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition, 150-152.

33D. Gutas, Avicenna and The Aristotelian Tradition. 23. See al5O: Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Three Muslim Sages, 20; Sharns aI-D'"m aI-Shahruziiri, Tarikh aI­ Hukama': Nuzhah aI-Arwah wa Rouda al-Afrah, ed. 'Abd aI-Karïm Abü Shuwirb (Jam'iYYah aI-Da'wah aI-IsJamiyah aI-'Âlamiyah, 1988),367. The mastering of the Qur'an and a great deal of literature is taken by many people who write on him to . show the genius of the young person known as Ibn S"ma or Avicenna. The original expression of such is "...when 1reached the age of ten 1had finished the Qur'an and many works of literature, 50 that people were greatly amazed at me" [William E. Gohlman, The Life of Ibn S"ma, 19]. • 12 His father made arrangements for his education both at home and in

school.3< Most of Ibn Sinii's time::, before he reached 18 years of age, was spent in

private study at home. His first teachers besides his father taught him the Qur'an and

literature ["a teacher of the Qur'an and a teacher of literature were provided for

me..."33]. At that time he also began to develop philosophical interests, presumably

under the influence of his father.36

Before elaborating on· bis mterest in philosophy, it is necessary to note an

aspect ofhis studies wbich initially enabled him to earn a living. His study of Islamic

law and 10gic enabled him to work as a lawyer. As Goodman observes:

...the boy marked for bis swiftness as a learner, studied fiqh, Islamic law, with Isma'TI al-Zàhid, a noted l:Ianafi jurists of the town. The l:Ianafi legal

3<"He was sent to a greengrocer ta learn arithmetic, the system we call Arabie, with its distinctive use of Zero. This new system was displaeing the aneient Persian daetylonomy or finger caleulation; but Ibn S-ma evidently remained adept at the latter as weIl, for in 1029 he invented a dactylonomy of bis own to free accountants from dependence on eounters, pen,.or paper," LE. Goodman, Avieenna (London & New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1992), 12.

SSWilliam E. Gohlman, The Life of Ibn Sina. 19.

36Ibid., 19-21. There are also indications that Ibn S-ma tried ta learn and apprehend through bis own analyses: "My father was among those who responded to the proselytizer of the Egyptians and was eonsidered one of the Ismli'ilis. He had hean:l from them the account about the soul and the intellect in the way in wbieh they tell it and present it, and so had my brother. They would sometimes discuss this matter among themselves, while 1 would listen. ta them and comprehend what they were saying, but my soul would not accept it; and they began ta summon me ta it with the constant talk on their tongues about philosophy, geometry, and Indian arithmetic." D. Gutas, Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition. 23-24. • 13 tradiôon. known as a moderate school and favoured by the carly •Abbàsid Khalifs. was the rnainstrearn school at Bukhard. and the jurist, who were also clerics. would have a prominent role to play in Ü'e educaôon of an important official's son. But, law studied in Arabic was a ...ypical secondary study in Isla::.ic as in other scriptural socieôes of the day. The customary dialectic gave Ibn S""ma his carly exercise in pracôcai logic; and these studies laid the basis of hi~ later lawyerly employment.37

At the same ôme, the young Ibn Sïna began the study of philosophy with

another teacher, aI-Natili, to whom Ibn Sïna's earliest philosophical training was

38 3 entrusted. Ibn S""ma started by reading the /sagoge under aI-Natili. '

His abi1iôes in philosophy began to manifest themselves as soon as he was

introduced to this subject. He could formulate his understanding with better

;'iL.E. Goodman, Avicenna, 12. In ïarikh aI-Hukama'. 367. Shams aI-IY'm aI­ Shahrurüzï explains that Ibn S""ma studied Islamic law under the supervision ofIsma'n al-Z:ihid. Sec aIso William E. Gohlman, The Life of Ibn Sïnil, 21: "before his arrivai [a teacher ofphilosophyl, 1 had devoted myselftojurisprudence, with frequent visits to Isma'il the asceôc about it...! was a skilful qucsôoner, having become acquainted with the methods of prosecuôon and the procedures of rebuttal in the manner which the pracôoners of it [jurisprudencel follow."

38According to Ibn S""ma: "At that Ôffie Abü 'Abd Allah aI-Natilï who claimed to know philosophy, arrived in Bukhara; so my father had him stay in our house and he devoted himself to educaôog me." William E. Gohlman, The Life of Ibn Sïn~ 21. Sec aIso, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Three Muslim Sages. 20. It is aIso menôoned that the names ofthe physicians Abü Man~ür Qom and Abü Sahl MasïJ:îi are also among his teachers. D. Gutas, "Avicenna: Biography," Encyclopaedia Iranica, 69.

39Jn the notes to the translaôon of the Autobiography/biography, it is explained that /sagoge (isiighuji). POIphyry's introducôon to the Organon of Aristotle, it was used for many centuries in the East and in the West as the clearest and most pracôcal manual of Aristotelian 10gic. Sec aIso DeLacy O'Leary, How Greek Science Passed to the Arabs (London, 1944), 26-27. • 14 explanations than his !Cacher's.'" He also showed remarkable ability developing

further thought, particularly in explaining to his teacher what the latter did no!

understand.·' His independent study was aided by the corrimentaries made available to him. He often depenr.ed on them for his understanding of Plato and Aristotle.42

""When Na1ilï mentioned to him the definition of genus, as being that which is predicated ofa number ofthings ofdifferent species, in answer to the question "What is it?" Ibn S"ma evoked his admiration by verifying this definition in a manner unlike any an-Natilï had heard of. He [Nati1ï] was extremely amazed at Ibn S"ma; whatever problem Natilï posed, Ibn S"ma conceptualized better than his !Cacher, 50 an-NatïIi advised Ibn S"ma's father against Ibn S"ma's taking up any occupation other than leaming. William E. Gohlman, The Life of Ibn S"ma, 21-23. Sec also Dimitri Gutas, Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition, 25-26•

• 1.....Then 1 began to read the books [of Organon] by myself and consult the commentaries until 1 had maStered logic. As for the Elements of Euclid, 1 read the five or six propositions with him, and thereafter undertook on my own ta solve the entire remainder of the book. Next 1 moved on to the Almagest [of Ptolemy] and when 1 had finished its introductory sections and reached the geometrical figures, an­ NatïIi said ta me, 'Take over reading and solving them by yourself, and then submit them to me so that 1 can show you what is right and what is wrong.' But the man could not deal with the book, so 1 made the analysis myself; and many were the figures with which he was unfamiliar until 1 presented them to him and made him understand them, then al-Na1ilï took leave ofme, leading for Gurganj, and 1occupied myself on my own with determining the validity ofthe books both original texts and commentaries, on Physics and Metaphysics, and the gares of the Philosophical Sciences began opening for me." D. Gutas, Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition. 26-27. "Euclid": The Elements, calIed the Elements ofGeometry (Ü~iU al-Handasa) by Ibn al-Nadim, Fihrist. 1, 265. He also transliterares the Greek as al-Astriishiya. al­ Qifti, p. 62. gives the same t'Wo titles. Ibn Khaldün, al-Mugaddima (Cairo, n.d), p. 486, says that it is calIed the Elements (~iU) or first principles (arkiin).

42"".1 read the Metaphysics [of Aristotle], but 1 could not understand it nor its object, and 1 despaired of myself and said, 'this is a book which there is no way of understanding' but one day in the afternoon when 1 was at the bookseIlers' q~, • 15 According to Soheil Afnan in his Life and Works of Avicenna. much of the

Peripatetic and Stoic thought found in his writings stems from the commentaries that

he studied.43

Ibn S-ma now became completely immersed in philosophy; he claims to have

spent a year and a half not sleeping through a single night, but instead. reading

logical and philosophical works, organizing his knowledge in a file. with syllogisms

ordered according to their premises and recorded on papyrus cards."

It is said that what the still adolescent Ibn S-ma knew about the aims or

a saIesman [MuI:tammad ai-Dallai] approached with a book in his hand which he was ca1Iing out for sale. He offered it to me, but 1 refused it with disgust, believing that there was no merlt in this science. But he said to me, 'buy il, because its owner needs the money and so it is cheap. 1 will sell it to you for three dirham.' So 1 bought il, it was Abii N~ aI-rariibi's book on the objects of the 'Metaphysics'. See William E. Gahlman, The Life of Ibn S-ma, 35. See also Soheil Afnan, Life and Works of Avicenna, 60. "He took up the Metaphysica of Aristotle, read it sorne forly times, but to his great disappointrnent still could not understand il. One day in the book' sellers' street a broker offered hirn a cheap volume which he bought only reluetantly. It turned out to be'Faràbi on the objects ofMetaphysica. He rushed home and read il, whereupon the whole purpon of Aristotle's treatise -.vas revea1ed to his mind, and he went out to distribute alms to the poor in gratitude the next day."

43Soheil Afnan, Life and Works of Avicenna, 60.

"L.E. Goodman, Avicenna, 14; see Ibid.: "Writing on papyrus, unlike paper, could be readily scratehed out and emended. When stumped by sorne question, Ibn S-ma relied on prayer, wine, and even the thoughts that came to hirn in bis drearns to clarify intraetable obscurities by giving hirn the middle term that would bridge the gap between premises and conclusions. As a result of this intensive wode, he says, he came to know as much as he would ever know.•.and he understood all that he knew to the full extent of human capacity. Only first philosophy eluded him. He had read Aristotle's Metaphysics forly times and could practically recite it by heart." • 16 objects of the Metaphysics was a question Aristotle. himself had raised when he

wondered whether metaphysics was a single science:s Ibn Sina had despaired of an

answer and had come to the conclusion that metaphysics is unintelligible. He finally

found the answer in al-rarabï's treatise, as already mentioned. Briefly, his

understanding of the Metaphysics after reading al-rardbfs commentary gave him the

idea that,

Metaphysics, often called theology in Arabic, does not deal strictly with God, the mind and the soul, as unprepared readers might suppose. Its aim is not to be confounded with those of Islamic dialectical theology, ka/am, which takes root in scriptural problematics and cIassically addresses the issues of divine unity and theodicy. Metaphysics is a far more general and independent inquiry. Other sciences deal with particular sorts of beings and notions-­ physics, with bodies in terms of motion and change; geometry with magnitudes and their· relations and the higher-order properties of those relations; arithmetic, with numbers; medicine with the human body insofar as it is susceptible to diseases. But metaphysics is a universal science, dealing with whatever alI beings have in common solely by virtue of their reality: existence and unity, for example.46

His study of philosophy was complete by the time he was eighteenth years

old. His having access to the library of SuI~ Nù~ Ibn Man~ür must also have

greatly assisted him in his philosophical training."

4S[bn Khaldùn, Mugaddimah. IV 14,22, tr. Rosenthal, 3.51-5, 143-5.

46L.E. Goodman, Avicenria, 15.

""Thus 1 continued until 1 had rnastered the totality of sciences. My comprehension of them then lat age eighteen] attained the limits of human possibility. AIl that 1 leamed during that period is precisely what 1 know now [Ibn S"ma]." Philip K. Hitti, Makers of Arab History (London, Melbourne, Toronto: • 17 Another discipline in which he excelled was medicine. He had tumed to this

subject before he completed his study ofphilosophy. For him, studying medicine was

much easier than philosophy.. He studied on his own, by reading, and learned from

others by practicing medicine.48 ln Ibn Sïna's own words:

1desired (to leam) medicine and 1read the books that have been wrinen on this subject. Medicine is not one of the difficult sciences, and therefore 1 excelled in it in a very short time, to the point that distinguished physicians began to read medicine with me. 1cared of the sick, and there opened up to me indescribable possibilities of therapy which can only be acquired through experience. At the same time 1 was also occupied with jurisprudence and would engage in legal disputations, being now sixteen years of age....It happened that the ~ul!ful at that time in Bukhara, Nü~ Ibn Man~ür, had an iIIness which perplexed the physicians. Since my name had become weil known among them for my complete devotion to the Philosophical Sciences and to reading, they mentioned me in his presence and asked him to summon me. So, 1 presented myselfand collaborated with them in tteating him, and was enrolled in his service.49

Briefly, Ibn S"ma's methods of leaming those subjects can be summarized as

follows: syllogism,SO prayer,51 dreams,5Z wine drinking,53 and independent

Macmillan, 1968), 202.

48Philip K. Hitti, Makers of Arab History, 204.

49y). Guta5, Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition. 28-29. See also Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Three Muslim Sages. 21; Avicenna's mastery of medicine had already made him a favorite of the ruler.

SOJbn S"ma says: "1 compiled a set of flIes for myself, and for each argument that 1 exanüned, 1 recorded the syllogistic premises it contained, the way in which they were composed, and the conclusion which they might yield; and 1 would also take into account the condition of its premises until 1 had ascertained that particular • 18

problem. Every time 1 was at a loss about a problem, conceming which 1 was unable to find the middle term in a syllogism...." D. Gutas, Avicenna and the Aristote!ian Tradition, 177.

S'Ibid., 181: "Avicenna's prayers and frequent visits to the mosque when he was unable to discover the middle term in a syllogism are mentioned in the Autobiography not as an expression of his general piety, but rather as an indication of the close connection he believeti to exist between prayer and the Intuition of middle terrns. In his shon essay On the Nature of Prayer, Avicenna distinguished between an outward prayer, proper to the body, and an inward prayer, proper to the rational soul. The function of. the rational soul is to wait for the unveiling oÏ truths and to reflect with complete Intuition and pure mind upon the perception of subtle ideas."

S2lbid., 183-4: ''The same epistemological operation induced through philosopbical prayer, viz., the reception by the rational soul of the intelligibles from the active intellect 'according to the order of the terrns of propositions', also lies behind Avicenna's statement thet 'many problems became clear to me while a slcep'. According to Avicenna, as a matter of fact, human souls can acquire 'something of the unknown' (i.e., the world of intelligibles, the 'intellectual matter' mentioned above) when a persan is asleep. The reason for this is that the imaginative faculty, whose function dreaming is, is less Iikely to be distraeted by the calIs of other faculties during sleep, and thus more open to receive the divine influence. Few ofthe representations depieted by the imaginative faculty during slcep, however, are those of the 'effluence from the divine realm upon the soul;' mostly they have to do with a person's concems while aw.ake. Accordingly, for the four kinds of dreams wbich Avicenna identifies, only one is true, that wbich has its origin in a divine agency that transmits to the soul ofthe sleeper the 'unknown'. In such state the sleeper perceives unknown matter5, either as they are in themselves or through their images, by ascertaining them." See also Avicenna's essay On Dreams, M. A. Khan, "A Unique Treatise on the Interpretation of dreams," Avicenna Commemoration Volume, 298.

"Ibid, 184-5: "Few incidents in Avicenna's life have enjoyed the notoriety ofbis repon about drinking wine while working: it has attraeted the religious condernnation of orthodox Mus1ims and excited the romantic imagination of admiring Westerners. Avicenna, however, insened it in bis Autobiography neither to provoke the former nor to titillate the latter. He simply wished to make the pharmacological point, as a physician, that wine is a drug. and that when taken in moderation it enhances the • 19 verifirotion [taJ:1qïq and related concepts]. ln relation to :ndependent verification.

Gutas says that there are three issues which Ibn Sïna touches upon which have a

wider significance for his entire philosophical work, viz.. taiJqrq [verification]. ta~z1

[acquisition], and istinbüf [conclusion]; taqlrd [imitation] and ta'as~ub [fanaticism]:

ill.!'iif [justice]. However, Ibn Sïna rejects the second, i.e. taqlïd and ta·~ub.$ol

2. His Works

The most popular works of Ibn Sïna can be classified. at least, into four major

subjects: philosophy, medicine, physics, and mysticism.ss His major writings are al-

Shifii'S6 (the Book of the Remedy), the Latin Sufficier.tia, which is the longest

physical capacity to think. Like so many other aspects ofAvicenna's life and thought, his drinking wine has to be seen in its scientific, cultural, and social contexl. ...ln the Canon ofMedicine, Avicenna repeats most of the transmined knowledge about the effects of wine and presents sorne additional material that is of relevance to this discussion. He first describes, in terms of humoral pathology, the beneficial effects on the body: wine is also very efficient in causing the produets of digestion to become dissenùnated through the body. It cuts phIegm and dissolves il. It extracts yellow bile into urine and other [bodily wastes]. It renders black bile more slippery and able to leave [the system] easily. It subdues the harmful influence of this black bile by contrariety, and it breaks up aIl entanglements without the necessity of excessive and abnormaI heating."

S4lbid., 187-194.

ssSH. B. Abed, "Avicenna: Logic," Encyclopaedia lranica. Vol. ID, 70-73.

S60J'his work contains logic: categories, de interpretatione, syllogism, demonstration, dialectic, sophistics, rhetoric, and poetics; physics: physica, de caelo. de generatione et corruptione, meteorology, nùneraIogy, de anima, botany, and zoology; mathematics: geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and music; metaphysics. On the date of such work's composition, it is recorded that Ibn S'ma began in the winter • 20 encyclopedia of knowlee!ge ever written by one man, al-Najaf' (the Book of

Deliverence), which is a summary of the Shifii.', Ishiirat wa' I-Tanbihiit" (the Book

ofDirectives and Remarks), and al-Qanûn [the Book ofMedicine).S9 With reference

to al-Qtinûn, Philip K. Hitti observes that "Arab science reachee! its highest point"

of 1013, after the death of Qabüs, and he finishee! in the year of 1027.

S7"Jüzjanï says in the Biography that Avicenna wrote The Salvation en route to Siibüt-Hwast right after completing the last books of The Cure. This infonnation is aise repeated in anonymous· Longer Bibliography. According te the chronology establishee! for The Cure in the precee!ing section, The Salvation was thus written in 417/1026 or 418/1027." Ibid., 112.

SS"AI-Ishiirtit wa al-Tanbi7ùit is Avicenna's last philosophical summa, written sometime between 421-425/1030-1034. It marks the cuInùnation ofhis philosephical carcer because itachieves the greatest possible extrapolation from Aristotelian models ofpresentation, surpassing the stage reachee! during his period of Eastern philosophy, and it provides a concrete and magnificent example of his concept of praxis of philosophy which proceeds by deriving corollaries on the basis of fundamentai principles through the help of Intuition." Ibid., 140.

~ajid Fakhry, A Historv ofIslamic Philosophy. 150-152. Majid Fakhry renders al-Shifii.' as the Book of Healing [it is his major philosophicai treatise, an encyclopedia of IsIamic-Greek learning in the eleventh century, ranging from logic to mathematics), al-Najtit as the Book ofSalvation [this is much more widely read than al-Shifii.'), and Ishiirtit wa al-TanbiJuit as the Book ofRemarks and Admonitions [this is one of his late books and the produet of a more independent phase in his intelleetual development). Fakhry aise quotes the statement of the late bibliographer .Hii.i.ji KhaIifah's (d. 1657), that "Ibn S'mii's major work, al-Shifii.', is based on a similar book of aI-FaIibi's [aI-F"arabi is referred to in the Arabic sources as the 'second teacher" in contrast to AristotIe, 'the first teaeher'), with of the Second Teaching [al-Ta'lÜ7l al-ThàlUl, which has not been preserved." See aise Seyyee! Hossein Nasr, Three Muslim Sages. 23; Tariq Sajjad, "Ibn S'ma: Memadukan Kebijakan Tnnur dengan FIlsafat Yunani," Panji Masyarakat 751-752 (April 1-10 & 11-21, 1993),49-50. • 21 with Ibn S'ma.60 Al-Qiiniln is a complete system of medicine based on the Greek

sources and Avicenna's insights.61 Ibn S'ma works which have come down to us are

in Arabic with the exception of two which are in Persian. The Persian works are

Andar Diinesh-e Rag (On the Science of the Pulse, also known as Resala-ye Nabz)

and a treatise on philosophy in the broadest sense entitled Diinesh-niima (Book of

Sciem:e).62

In a bibliography of Ibn S'ma's writings. William E. Gohlman has listed a

hundred works.63 G.c. Anawati's list comprises a total of 276 works, including texts

noted as doubtful and sorne apocryphal works. while Mahdavi lists 131 works as

60philip K. Hitti, A Short Historv of the Near East (Princeton, New Jersey: D. Van Nostrand Company Inc., 1966), 126.

•IC. George Fry and John Paul Fry, Avicenna's Philosophy of Education: an Introduction. 5.

62lt is said that "Diinesh-e Rag was probably composed before the Diinesh-niima because Ibn S'ma states in the preface to the latter that 'in that prince's shadow [prince: 'Ala'-al-dawla Kakiiya, the Buyid ruler of Isfahan] he had achieved all his ambition-for security, dignity, respect for science-.... Andar Diinesh-e Rag consists of nine chapters and deals with the human body, the soul, and medicine. DtJnesh­ niima is a comprehensive tt;el1tise on seven sciences grouped into four: logic, metaphysics. natural science, and mathematics. The.most distinctive feature of the Diinesh-niima, said, is its style which is much simpler, easier, less formai, and more lively than that ofthe Arabic works. It is important to point out that the Maqased al­ Faliisefa of MuJ.tammad GhazaIï may be regarded as the Arabic translation of the Diinesh-niima because its structure and content are in general on the same lines." M. Achena, "Avicenna: Persian Works," Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. ID, 99-104.

·William E. Gohlrnan, The Life of Ibn Sina, 143-152. • 22 authentic and 110 as doubtfuI." Shaykh Abü 'Ubayd al-Juzjanï lists the following

as being among Ibn Sina's writings:

[1] The Compilation, one volume; [2] The Sum and Substance, twenty volumes; [3] Good Works and Evil, two volumes; [4] the Shifli' (Healing), eighteen volumes; [5] The Qiinün, fourteen volumes; [6] Comprehensive Observations, one volume; [7] The Judgment, twenty volumes; [8] The Najat (Deliverence), three volumes; [9] Guidance, one volume; [la] Instruction, one volume; [II] The Middle Summary, one volume; [12] The 'A/a'i, one volume; [13] The Colic, one volume; [14] The Arabie Language, ten volumes; [15] Cardiac Remedies, one volume; [16] The Epitome, one volume; [17] a portion of The Eastern Phi/osophy, one volume; [18] Exp/anation of Modals, one volume; [19] The Return, one volume; [20] The Origin and the Return; [21] Conversation; [22] Foreordination and Destiny; [23] Astronomica/ 1nstrumenrs; [24] The abject ofthe "Categories"; [25] Logic, in poeticform; [26] Peoms on Majesty and Phi/osophy; [27] On the Consonants; [28] Consideration ofDia/ectica/ TopicS; [29] Summary ofEuclid; [30] Summary on the Pulse, in Persian; [31] Definition; [32] Ce/estia/ Bodies; [33] Instruction in the Science ofLogic; [34] The Branches ofPhi/osophy; [35] Limit and Infinity; [36] A Testament, which he made for himse1f; [37] 1Jayy ibn Yaq~an; [38] That the Dimensions ofa Body are not Part ofits Essence; [39] On Endive; and his discourse; [40] On the Impossibility of the Same Thing Being a Substance and an Accident; [41] That the Know/edge ofZayd is not the Know/edge of 'Amr; [42] Letters ta Friends and Officiais; [43] Letters about questions which passed between him and other learned men; [44] Comments on the Qiinûn; [45] Essentia/ Phi/osophy; [46] The Net and the Bird.6S

William E. Gohlman lists more ofIbn S""mii's works than al-Juzjiinï had lïsted.

He says that,

MA.M. Goichon, "Ibn S""ma," The Encvc10paedia ofIslam, Vol. ID, 941; sec Ibid.: Ibn S""mii's works cover significantly medicine and phiIosophy.

~illiam E. Gohlman, The Life of Ibn Sina. 46-47. • 23 As for the bibliography which Abü 'Ubayd aI-Juzjanï mentioned in his biography, it contained about forty works. However 1 have endeavored to collect what was wrinen and have set down in this bibliography what 1 have found, added to what Shaykh Abü 'Ubayd mentioned. coming 10 about ninety works.66

66Ibid., 91. The list of Ibn Sïna's works according to William E. Gohlman are "[1] The Supplements, mentioned in his writing as a commentary on the Shifii'. [2] The Shifii' (Healing), which summarizes the whole of the four sciences. He wrote the 'Physics' and the 'Metaphysics' in twenty days in Hamadhan. [3] The Sum and Substance, which he wrote in his home city for the lawyer Abü Bakr al-Baraqï in the early part of his life in about twenty volumes and which is only found in the original manuscript. [4] Good Works and Evil, on ethics, which he also wrote for this lawyer, in two volumes. and which is only found in his possession. [5] The Judgment, in twenty volumes. in which he commented on aH of the books of Aristoùe and in which he judged between the Easterners and the Westemers. It was lost in Sul!lin Mas'üd's raid. [6] The Compilation, known as ' Arü9i's philosophy, which he wrole at the age of twenty one for Abü aI-f:lasan al-'Arü9l, leaving out the mathematics. [7] The Qanün (Canon) of medicine, part of which he wrote in JUIjan and in Rayy, and which was finished in Hamadhan; he intended to work on a commentary and carry out experiments for il. [8] The Middle, or JurjWu~ [Summary] on logic, which he wrote in JUIjan for Abü Mu~amrnad aI-Shïriizï. [9] The Origin and the Return, on the sou!, which he also wrote for him in JUIjan. [10] Comprehensive Observation. which he also wrote in JUIjan for Abü Mu~amrnad aI-Shïriizï. [Il] The Return, which he wrote in aI-Rayy for its ruler Majd al-Dawla. [12] The Arabie Language, on philology, which he wrote in ~ahan, but did not transpose into clean copy, so nothing resembling a copy of it has been found. [13] The 'Ala'i Philosophy, in Persian, which he wrote for 'Ala' aI-Dawla ibn Kaküyah in I~ahan. [14] The Najat, which he wrote on the road to Sabür Khwast while he was in the service of 'Ala' aI­ Dawla. [15] Instruction and Remarks, which is the last and the best work he wrote on philosophy, to which he held steadfasùy. [16] Guidance, on philosophy, which he wrote while a prisoner in the casùe of Fardajan for his brother 'Ali, and which contains a summary of aH the branches of philosophy. [17] The Colie, which he wrote in that same casùe and which is entirely 10st. [18] The treatise Ifayy ibn Yaq;iin (Alive. the son ofAwake), also wrinen in the casùe, an aHegory about the active intellect. [19] Cardiae Drugs, which he wrote in Hamadhan. [20] An essay on the Pulse, in Persian. [21] An essay on Phoneties, which he wrote in ~ahan for aI­ Jabban. [22] A lener to Abü Sahl aI-Masilfi on the Angle, which he wrote in JUIjan. [23] An essay on Natural Faeulties for Abü Sa'id aI-Yamami. [24] The treatise, the •

Bird, an allegory in which he describes his attainment of the knowledge of the truth. [25] Definitions. [26] An essay refutîng the treatise of Ibn al-Tayyib on Natural Facu/ties. [27] Essential Philosophy, which contains the three sciences (logic, physics, and metaphysics). [28] An essay on the Conversions ofModals. [29] The Large Epitome on logic; as for the Small Epitome, it is the logic of the Najat. [30] The Ode, in couplets, on logic, which he wrote for al-Suhayli" in Gurganj. [31] Discourse on Unity, in metaphysics. [32] An essay on the Attainment ofHappiness, which is known as the Ten Arguments. [33] An essay on Foreordination andDestiny, which he wrote on the way to ~fahan during his escape and flight to ~fahlin. [34] An essay on Endive. [35] An essay on Instruction in the Science ofLogic. [36] A treatise on the BrQ1lches ofPhilosophy and the Scier.ces. [37] A tI'eatise on Oxymel. [38] An essay on Infinity. [39] Commentaries, which Ibn zaylli wrote at his dietation. [40] An essay on the Characteristics ofthe Equator. [41] Discussions about questions asked by his pupil Bahmanyar and his answers to him. [42] Ten Questions, which he answered for Abü al-Ray~an al-Bïrünï. [431 Answers to Sïxteen Questions ofAbü al­ Ray~an. [44] An essay on the Position ofthe Eanh in Relation to the Heavens and on its Existence in the Center. [45] The Eastern Philosophy, which is not extant in its entirety. [46] An essay on the Error ofAnyone Saying that Quzntity Belongs to Substance. [47] An essay on the Consideration of Dialectical Topics. [48] Introduction ofthe Art ofMusic, which is not the one found in the Najat. [49] An essay on the Celestial Bodies. [50] An essay Correcting the Errors in Medical Trearment. [51] An essay on the Nature of Astronomical Observation and its Conformity with Physical Science. [52] An essay on Ethics. [53] An essay on Astronomical Instruments, which he wrote in ~fahan during his observations for 'Alli' al-Dawla. [54] A letter to al-Suhayli" on Alchemy. [55] An essay on the Object of the 'Categories' (of Aristotle). [56] The At!JJawiyya Letter on the Rerurn, which he wrote for the prince Abü Bakr MuJ:tammad ibn 'Ubayd. [57] The Defense of Poets, in poetry, which he wrote in his home city when he was seventeen years old. [58] An essay on the Definition ofBody. [59] Throne Philosophy, which is elevated discourse on metaphysics. [60] His Testament, in which he committed his soul to God. [61] An essay that the Knowledge ofZayd is not the Knowledge of 'Amr. [62] The Management and Provisioning ofSoldiers, Slave Troops. and Armies. and the Taxation of Kingdoms. [63] Disputes of his which occurred with Abü 'Ali al­ Naysabiirï concerning the soul. [64] Discourse, Words ofPrice (to God); and Works in rhymed prose. [65] A reply containing an apology about what was attributed to him in these discourses. [66] A Summary ofEuclid, which 1 think was the one added to the Najat. [67] An essay on Arithmetic. [68] A number of odes and poems on asceticism and other topies, in which he describes his positions. [69] Sorne letters, • 25 Ibn Sïna's scholarly career began at the age of seventeen when he wrote what

appears to be his fust work, a Shan Treatise on the Soul in the Manner of a

Summary, still extant in Arabic and Latin in ten chapters, very humbiy dedicated to

Nü~ Ibn Man~ür.67 Goodman explains that the work is clearly a young scholar's

conversations, correspondence, and light works, in Arabic and Persian. [70] Commentaries on the 'Question of1!unayn'. [71] Medical Principles and Practice. [72] Twenty Questions which his contemporaries asked him. [73] A Number of Medical Questions. [74] Questions called Rarities. [75] Questions which he explained in Notes. [76] Answers to Simple Questions. [77] His letter to the 'ulama' of Baghdad which asked them to judge between him, and a man of Hamadhan who claimed to be a philosopher. [78] A letter to a friend which asks him to judge between him this Hamadhani. [79] Answers to a number ofquestions. [80] His words explaining the Essence ofSorrow. [81] His commentary on Aristotle's De Anima, which is said to be from the Judgment. [82] An essay on the Soul, known as the Chapters. [83] An essay on the Refutation ofthe Science ofAstrology. [84] Anecdotes on Grammar. [85] Metaphysical Chapters on the Proofofthe First (Principle). [86] Chapters on the Sou! and Physics. [87] A letter to Abü Sa'id ibn Abi al-Khayr on Asceticism. [88] An essay on the Impossibility ofthe Same Thing Being a Substance and an Accident. [89] Questions which passed between him and sorne leamed men concerning the branches of knowledge. [90] Comments which Abü al-Faraj, the Harnadhiini doctor, posed while in ms sessions. and sorne answers of his. [91] An essay which is mentioned in his writings as being on the Traveled and Uninhabited Parts ofthe Eanh. [92] A Summary (ofposition) that the Angle which is formed by the Circumference and the Tangent Ms no Magnitude."

671t is mentioned that "Avicenna began his career as an author, at the age of seventeen, with a shon treatise on the soul in ten chapters, dedicated to Siimanid ruler in Bukhara, N~ Ibn Man~ür." R. N. Frye, "The Siimanid," The Cambridge History of Iran (Cambridge, 1975), IV. 136-161. Further it is said that "Avicenna refers to it in his introduction simplyas 'a tretise on the soul after the fashion of compendia,' but it has been given various titles in the bibliographica1 and manuscript traditions in order to distinguish it from the numerous works which he wrote on the subject." Gutas has labeled it his 'Dissenation' because it was written when he had completed what can be ca1led his 'graduate' education. Dimitri Gutas, The Aristotelian Tradition, 82. 26 essay, not a dissertation as Gutas calls il, but more like a BA honors thesis, clearly dependent, as Gutas shows, on Ibn Sina's reading in Nü~'s library.68

His flTst work was followed by two rather more ambitious books, both written at the request of his neighbors. The flTSt work is called al-'Arü4i:

A scholar who lived in Ibn S-ma's neighbourhood, one Abü'l-f:lasan al-'Aruc;iï, that is, the prosodist, gave him the opportunity to write his fjrst real book at the age of twenty-one, commissioning what Ibn Sina calls a "Summation" named in the sponsor's honor and treating "aIl the sciences except mathematics." 69

For another neighbor, Abü Bakr al-Baraqï, a Kwarizmian scholar ofjiqh :l;ld the Qur'lin who was alse interested in philosophy, Ibn Sïna wrote Kitlib al-1!~11 wa'l-Ma~ùI (S!U7l and Substance). The work is an appraisal of the philosophic sciences in sorne twenty volumes. It is mentioned that he also wrote for al-Baraqï another book, a work on niorals caIleci /nrwcence and Guilt (K. al-Bi" wa'l-

68WiIliam E. Gohlman, The Life of Ibn Sina. 47-49.

09Jbid., 18-19. Following Gutas, Goodman, notes that the 'Arü4i W"4S the first of many anernpts by Ibn S-ma 10 treat within the confines of a single work all the sciences ofthe AIexandrian School tradition that elaborated on the Aristotelian canon. The work includes Logic, Rhetoric and Poetics, an Aristotelian Physics and Meteorology, a De Anima, and a Metaphysics with accounts of ontology, the hierarchy of being, potentiality, action, necessity and possibility, the etemal and the temporal, universaIs. perfection and imperfection, the four Aristotelian causes, priority and posteriority, the idea of essential creation, unity and pluraIity, and emanation from the necessary existent. • 27 'Ithm).70

To sum up this chapter. il would he appropriate to say a few words about the

inteUecrual development of Ibn Sïna. First of aU. from a very young age, he lived

in an atmosphere condusive to learning. Second. his own strong motivation to acquire

knowledge led him to greatly develop and refine his intellecrual abilities. Finally. he

saw no limitations of time and place on his ability to learn. so that while still young

he was able to acquire an immense body of knowledge relating to a host of

disciplines.

'"Ibid•• 19. Sum and Substance aimed to he a commentary on and distillation of the entire philosophical legacY. • CHAPTER II IBN SïNA'S NOTION OF THE HUMAN BEING

Ibn Sïruï's notion ofthe human being must be discussed before discussing his

thought on the Perfect Man which deals specifically with the role ofthe faculties of

the soul in attaining the level ofperfection. This is because the notion ofthe human

being provide an entry to discussion ofthe focus ofthe thesis. Therefore, this chapter

will discuss two aspects: human existence and the elements ofthe human being. The

former will present the idea ofhuman existence in relation to the Creator, while the

latter will present Ibn Sïruï's view on the human body and human soul. The

discussion ofthe human soul is very important for the analysis attempted in the lest • chapter and which is the focus of the thesis. A. Human existence

The concept of existence has always been very important for three groups:

theologians,1 philosophers,2 and mystics or sufis. AlI three groups discuss both the

IAccording to Jami, that "the majority of the theologians took the position of existence is a single concept common to ail existences, and that this single concept becomes multiple and is divided into portions through its attribution to things, as, for example, the whiteness ofthis snow [as distinguished from the whiteness of] that snow. The existences ofthings are these portions, and these portions along with that concept intrinsic to them are external to the essences of things and only mentally superadded to them in the view of their verifiers, and both mentally and externaIly in the view of others." Sec Jami, Durrah al-Fakhirah fi Ta.Qgïg Madhhab aI-Süfiyah wa al-Mutakallimïn wa al-~ukamà' aI-Mutagaddimïn (TehÏ2n: Danishga-i Mak Gill, • 28 • 29 existence of God and the existence of the universe. For understanding Ibn Sïna's

views on human existence, his views on God's existence cannot be neglected, for, to

him as to other philosophers, al-raT':ibï for example, God is the Giver of existence.

According lO Ibn S"ma. as Fazlur Rahman explains, "the sole principle of individual

existence is God --the Giver ofexistence; matter is the occasional cause of existence,

Mutri'al Muassah-i Mutali'at-i Islami, Shu'bah-'i Tihran: Danishga-i Tihran, 1980), 34. Translation as in Jami, The precious Pearl: Durrah al-rakhirah fi Tahqïq Madhhab al-Siifiyah wa al-Mutakallimïn wa al-Hukama' al-Mutagaddimïn, translated by Nicholas Heer (Albany: State University of New York Press. 1979,34.

~e giS! ofthe position of the philosophers is that "existence is a single concept common to al1 [proper] existences. These [proper] existences, however, are dissimilar realities which are multiple' in themselves not merely through the accident of attribution, for in that case they would be simi1ar to each other and agree in reality, not through specific differences, for in that case absolute existence would be their genus. On the contraI)', existence is an accident concomitant with them like the light of the sun and the light of a lamp. Although both sun and lamp differ in reality and in concomitants, they, nevertheless, have in common the accident of light Simi1ar to this are the whiteness of snow and the whiteness of ivory, or quantity and quality, which have in common accidentality, or even substance and accident, which have contingency and existence in èommon. However, since each [proper] existence does not have its own name, as is the case with the divisions of contingent being or the divisions of accident, it was irnagined that the multiplicity of existences and their division inlO portions was due entirely to their attribution lO the quiddities which are their substrata, like the whiteness ofthis snow and [the whiteness] ofthat, or the light of this lamp and [the light] of that. Such, however, is not the case. On the contraI)', they are different and dissimi1ar realities subsumed under this concept which inheres [in them] but is extemal to them. When one considers that this concept becomes multiple and is divided inlO portions through its attribution to quiddities. then [one realizes] that these portions also are extemal to those existences with dissimi1ar realities." Ibid., 35. • 30 supplying extemal attributes of multiplicity.") "God is unique in that He is the

Necessary Being; everything else is contingent in itself and depends for its existence

upon God.''' Ibn S-mli posits God's existence as necessary, and explains that human

existence is the proof of His existence.

This position or view is as pointed out by Nenon,

by no means unique to Ibn S-mli but also deployed by al-rarabï who was, indeed, its instigator, it rested upon the firm distinction that Ibn S-mli made between that which is necessary and that which is possible or contingent This is perhaps Ibn S-mli's most famous proof and the one that had the most wide­ ranging influence in both the East and the West It runs as follows: every being which exists "can be c1assified as either necessary (wtïjib) or possible/contingent (mwnkin). A possible being is defined as that whose non­ existence does not produce an impossibility. In other words, it does not have to exist A necessary being is that whose hypothetica1 non-existence would result in an impossibility: that is, it must exist Now it is in the nature of possible being that it is dependent or contingent In view of the impossibility for Ibn S-ma of an infinite regress of possible beings, the series of possible beings therefore originates from sorne being who owes his existence to himself and in whom, uniquely, essence, and existence are merged. That

Necessary Being is, of course, God Himself.s

God, therefore, is the first cause. This idea is elucidated by Ibn S-ma in terms

)Fazlur Rahman, "Ibn S-ma", A History of Muslim Philosophy. ed. M.M. Sharif (Karachi: Royal Book Company, 1963), Vol. 1,486.

·lbid., 503.

Sian Richard Nenon, Allah Transcendent: Studies in the Structure and Semiotics ofIslamic Philosophv, Theology, and Cosmology (London and New York: Routletge, 1989), 172. Sec also Nasr, An Introduction 10 Islamic Cosmologica1 Doctrines: Conception of Nature and Methods used for 115 Study by Ikhwàn al-Sam. al-BiJiini, and Ibn Sïna (London: Themes & Hudson, 1978),209-10. • 31 of bis theory of emanation, which seeks to expIain "how the many are brought forth

from the One who is at the same time transcendent with respect to all multiplicity. "0

Ibn S"ma's cosmology and cosmogony aim at depicting the continuity that exists

belWeen the principle and its manifestation.7 This manifestation, which is found in

multiplicity, is described by a cenain hierarchy.

The bierarchy existing in the idea of emanation initiates from the Necessary

Being. From the Necessary Being cornes the First Intellect, the second, the third and

so on, until at the level of the Tenth Intellect by which it produces matter or the

worid of Generation and Corruption. In Ibn Sïna's emanationist hierarchy, the First

Intellect is considered as having provided a type of bridge belWeen the Deity and the

universe. The link belWeen the celestial and sublunary world is provided by the Tenth

Intellect. Indeed, "it generates both matter and fonns for the latter [sublunary worid]

including the human soul, ~d is also the principle originator of, and catalyst in

human intellection.'" ln this regard, Ibn Sïna's emanationist hierarchy is more

6Sayyed Hossein Nasr, Three Muslim sages: Avicenna. Suhrawardi. Ibn 'Arabi (New York: Caravan Book, ,1964), 28. It is to be noted that a simiIar view was elaborated by Suhrawardi, and in this he was followed by al-Ghazali; lan Richard Nenon, Allah Transcendent. 256-260. See also al-Ghàzali, Mishkaat al-anwdI' ("The Niche for Lights"), Trans. W.H.T. Gairdner (London: The Royal Asiatic Society, 1924), 45-65.

7Nasr, Three Muslim Sages, 29.

SIan Richard Nenon, Allah Transcendent. 165-169. • 32 c10sely related to aI-rarabi's concept9

The process or'emanation, in the thought of Ibn S""ma, is c10sely tied to the

function and significance of the ange!. This is because the ange! is the instrument

tbrough which the act of creation is achieved.10 The One or Necessary Being

'1bid., 116. The thought of Ibn S""ma and aI-rarabireveais c1ear signs of a sinùlar scheme, even though there are some differences. Both of them believed that God is the fl1'St cause and emanation continues until the Tenth Intellect The difference is that Ibn S""mii conceives of the emanation as being from the first Intellect to the second and so forth, and from the second until the Tenth Intellect, the angels and the bodies. are produced. Al-rarabi, however, simply speaks of the line of the intellects and the stars. See lan Richard Nenon, Ibid., 116 and 165. Further explanation on aI­ rarabi's emanation can be understood from this staternent; "From God, the Fl1'St ernanates a series of ten intellects, culminating in the Tenth Intellect which is the Agent or Active Intellect (al-'Aql al-Fa'iiI). The Latter aets as a bridge between the heavenly or celestiai world and the sublunary world. It thus has a highly specialized and distinctive raIe in aI-rarabi's cosmology. These intellects are associated with the production ofthe fixed stars, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon." lan Richard Nenon, al-Farabi and His School (London and New York: Routledge), 52. Sec aIso Fakhry, A History of !slamic Philosophy (New York & London: Columbia University.Press. 1979), 183; Nicholson, A Literary History ofthe Arabs, 313; Richard Wa1zer, aI-rarabi on the Perfeet State, 101-103.

l"Nasr, Three Muslim Sages. 29. Nasr seems to equate Ibn S""ma's emanation with the Qur'anic doctrine of creation. Sec lan Richard Nenon, Allah Transcendent, 166: "Sorne scholars, notably Sayyed Hossain Nasr, have .somewhat tendentiously to Islamize the doctrine ofemanation by considering it to be like creation. For Nasr, Ibn S""ma's cosmology is Islamic." Nasr himself says in lùs Islamic Cosmological Doctrine, 214: "It is neither in his unified vision of the cosmos nor in the doctrine of Divine intellection that Ibn S""ma differs from the Islamic perspective. It is more in lirniting the power of God to a predetermined 10gical structure and in diminishing the sense of awe of the finite before the infinite that he came to be criticized by certain authorities of the Islamic tradition." Morewedge too criticizes Nasr's view, in order to clarify the meaning of emanation and creation. The key word in Nasr's description of God's creation of the world is 'production'. "In disagreement with Nasr, we wish to point out that theIe is a difference between 'producing something • 33 produces the First Intellect [al- 'aql al-awwal], or the First Caused [al-ma'/ul al-

awwal]. The FlTSt Intellect is ranked as the Supreme Archangel [wajh al-qudsJ. The

first product ofthe Necessary Being is a purely immaterial intellect, one or undivided

like the Necessary Being. The next process is that the FlTSt Intellect contemplates

itself and its divine author. This is because the plurality which occurs in the universe

derives from the FII'St Intellect, not from the Necessary Being.1I

As a result of contemplation, the FlTst Intellect produces the Second Intellect

when it becomes aware of God's necessary existence; then it produces the soul or

Angel of the First sphere or Heaven when it contemplates itself or the conception of

the FlTSt Intelleet;12 and it prOduces the body of that sphere when it is aware of the

out of nothing' and 'producing something by ernanation from one thoughl' ln the latter case, there is a resemblance between the agent alld the product; this resemblance is not to be found in the first case. Whereas the Islamic God produces the world ex nihilo, in Ibn S""mli's philosophy we find the explicit assertion that the Necessary Existent does not produce the world in such a manner, but that the flTSt intelligence ernanates from it (padit iïmadan). Consequently, the view that Ibn S""ma upholds the creation theory is open to serious objection." Parviz Morewedge, The Metaphysica ofAvicenna Qbn Sina>: Thecritical translation-eommentarv and analysis ofthe fondamental argument in Avicenna's Metaphysica in the DanTsh Nama-i •Alli"ï (the Book of Scientific Knowledge> (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973),272.

IISayyed Hossein Nasr, An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines: Conception of Nature and Methods Used for Its Study by lkhwan al-Safi. al-Biruni, and Ibn S""mà. 163-164.

12For Netton, the problem deriving from a conception ofGod emanating the FlTSt Intellect is the contradiction that a Being as utterly transcendent with respect te all other beings should use the device of ernanation from that Being te account for the universe and its phenomena. Nenon seems to solve the problem in two ways, i.e, on • 34 knowledge of itself as only a possible existent13 This process then continues until

the Tenth Intellect and the ninth h.:aven are generated. From the Tenth Intellect, the

world of generation and corruption appears. Nenon believes that "the aet of

intellection of this last, which now lacks enough energy to produce yet another triad

of intellect, soul and heaven, splinters into a multitude of soul, our human souls, at

the same time giving origin to elementary matter.,,·4 Ibn S"mà's emanationist

hierarchy is then obvious after the process of production is explained.

It is in the world of generation and corruption that human beings have their

:m ontologica1 scheme, where God's Being is 'beyond' being, and a cosmologica1 scheme where aIl things emanate from Him. See lan Richard Nenon, Allah Transcendent. 167.

'3Ibid., 163-164. Cf. Nasr: "From the One Necessary Being who is the source of aIl things a single being is brought forth in accordance with the foregoing principle-a being whom Avicenna ca11s the F1I'st intellect and who is made to correspond to the supreme archangel. This IIitellect then contemplates the Necessary Being as necessary, its own essence as necessary by virtue of the Necessary Being, and its own essence as possible being. It has thus three dimensions ofknowledge which give the rise to the Second Intellect, the Soul of the first heaven and the body of the first heaven, respectively. The Second Intellect generated in this manner contemplates in a similar way the F1I'st Intellect, generating thereby the Third Intellect, the Soul of the Second heaven and its body. This process continues until the Tenth Intellect and the ninth heaven, which is that of the moon, are generated. From here on the 'substance' of the Universe has no longer sufficient purity to generate another heaven. Therefore, from the remaining 'cosmic possibilities' the world ofgeneration and corruption cornes inta being," Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Three Muslim Sages. 29-30. Sec aIso Ibid., 140.

14Netton, A11ah Transcendent. 164. • 35 place.'s This kind of world is characterized by Ibn Sina as the reality of God's

manifestation. As God's manifestation, human beings must be able to reach goodness

or the truth.16 Nasr relates God's manifestation to the notion of man, the vice-gerent

of God on earth,t7 a characterization also used by many other writers to explain the

position of Man.'s

ln the light of Ib!l S"ma's theory of emanation, it may be concluded that the

1SIn Ibn S"ma's theory of emanation, the world of generation and corruption cornes into existence after the Tenth Intellect. Al-F"arabï, in his conception of emanation, makes a clear statement that under the Tenth Intellect is man who consists of the human intellect, form and matter. See Ibid., 116.

'"This is because God is believed to be the good and the truth. See the interpretation of the light-verse by Ibn S"ma in his Ithbat an-Nubuwwdt and by al­ Ghazjjli in his Mishkat al-Anwar.

171n his book entitled Sufi Essays, Seyyed Hossein Nasr points out that "Man, being the vice-gerent of God on earth [khalifah] and the theatre wherein the Divine Narnes and Qualities are reflected, can reach felicity only by remaining faithful to this nature or by being truly himself. And this in tum implies that he must become integrated. God is one and 50 man must become whole in order to become one." Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Sufi Essays (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1973),43.

'SJame Idlernan Smith and YvoMe Yazbeek Haddad in their book The Islarnic Understanding of Death and Resurrection cite verses from the Qur'an to the effect that man is God's vice-gerent, and observe: "In the first place man has been placed on the earth to be the vicegerent ofGod, both in the singular references to Adam [Q. 2:30], and the plural suggestion that aU ofhumanity are the inheritors ofthe earth [Q. 6:165]." See Jarne Idlernan Smith and YvoMe Yazbeek Haddad, The Islarnic Understanding of Death and Resurrection ( Albany: State University of New York Press, 1981),7. 36

l existence of man owes itself 10 the existence of Gad as the FlISt Cause. • Moreover,

because human beings are a manifestation of Gad, they must have the ability to understand other forms of creation which are aIso God's manifestation.2O The latter point needs explanation which will be offered in due course.

B. Tbe e1ements of buman beings

It is clear from Ibn S-ma's idea ofemanation that human beings are part ofthe world of generation and corruption which emanates from the Tenth Intellect. Thus, the human being is part of creation and a "possible" being.

The human being consists, according 10 Ibn S-ma, of two elements, the body and the soul. In the words of Fazlur Rahman, "the soul is 10 the body as the pilot is to the ship.'a'

The discussion of the two elements of the human being in this part will be followed by a discussion ofthe power possessed by human beings to reach a position

I·Soheil M. Afnan in his book Avicenna: His Life and Works (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1958), understands Ibn S-mli to mean that "between the Necessary Being and aIl possible beings there was a stage and a process involved. That is what is caIled creation" [p. 126]. "••.Ifmatter is eternaI then creation can no more be ex-nihilo. But what exactly is meant by creation? creation means nothing except existence after non-existence" [p. 128].

20Back 10 the idea ofemanation, human being possesses the intellect as the form 10 grasp the knowledge.

21Fazlur Rahman. Avicenna's PsycholoGY (London: Oxford University Press, 1952),6. • 37 of perfection.

1. Body

Ibn S"ma's view on the body may be studied with reference to his Metaphysics

where he talks at length about the body in general. He also discusses the body,

specifically that of the human being, in his discussion of psychology. The latter

discussion will form part of the section on the sou!.

Ibn S"ma's basic view of the body is the following:

Substance which is body Uism), is a composite [murakkab) ofmatter [nuidda) and form [~ara). Accordingly, body is that substance Uauhar) into which one cao place [numüdan) a first longitude [i.e., a straight line) and another longitude in the figure ofa cross [khalipa)l;uch that the second intersect with the flISt without being inclined in a horizontal direction.n

...Thus, a body is suc~ an entity that, if one posits a longitude on it, another longitude will be found intersecting it at a right angle, and a t.lürd longitude

nparviz Morewedge, The Metaphysica of Avicenna Qbn Sinli), 16. ln the commentary on Ibn S"ma's Metaphysica, it is said that "Ibn S"ma's theory of bodies (materiai substance) has the following basic features: 1. ln its intention, bis sense of a body is used similarly to the Aristotelian notion of what a 'bodily substance is supposed to be', i.e, it is a èomposite of matter and of form (of materiality); 2. Extensionality is a feature, but not the essence of body; thus, his views are non­ Cartesian in this respect; 3. Fmally, his views on what kinds of bodies there are (i.e., on the extension of material substance) are generally Aristotelian; like Aristotle, he makes a distinction between bodies that are fixed to their forms and bodies mat are capable of generation and of corruption." Ibid., 195. Ibn S"lIIi elucidates that "substance has four aspects: 1. one simple matter [hayü1ti), such as the principle that the nature of fire is contained within it [andar wall; 2. one form [sara], such as a fiery reality [J.uiqiqa] and a fiery nature [!abi"a]; 3. a composite [murakkab], such as a fiery body [tan]; 4. an entity either like the sou! Udn] which stands [i.e, subsists) independently of the body Uudü isttida) or like intelligence ['aql)." Ibid., 16. 38

of these !wo lengths will stand as a perpendicular on the point of the previous intersection. Whatever can be placed under these three magnitudes in the aforesaid manner and is aIso a substance is caIled a body.23

This basic conception ofthe body holds for kinds ofbody without any differentiation, given that the difference of bodies is based on form, not matter, and body itself is matter.

The human body, according to Ibn S-1Ila, plays the role of matter for the soul.

Under the influence of Aristotle,ZA Ibn S-lIla is aIso attraeted to Plato's notion of the body as the prison of the soul.25 Ibn S-lIla holds that the study of man belongs. fll"st

23"The three magnitudes are caIIed longitude, width, and depth. These three exist at aIl times potentiaIly and at times actuaIIy in a body. And a body is a body because one can show these three dimensions in it by means of indicating and hypothesizing as to whether it is a unity having no part." Ibid., 17. See aIso, Abu Bakr Ibn Tufail, The Historv of Havv Ibn Yagzan. tr. Simon Okley, revised with an introduction by A.S. Fulton (New York: Fraderik A. Stokes Company, 1929).

ZAIt is we1l known that Aristotle was the first teacher of Ibn S-1Ila. JamaIphur urges the readers of bis dissertation to rule out the common mistake of considering Ibn S-lIlli simply as a commentator ofAristotle and to keep in mind that Ibn S-lIla was greatly influenced by Aristotle and for the most part Ibn S-lIla affirmed what Aristotle cIaimed.

25Bahran JarnaIphur, "God and Man: A Historica1 and Critical Comparison ofIbn S-lIlli and Molavi within the Esoteric Iranian Tradition oflslamic Philosophy," (ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, Notre Darne, 1970), 157: 'There are a number of ways that Ibn S-lIlli's open system ofphilosophy may define man. As a Mus1im, he deaIs with the definition of man as the image of God. Under the influence of Aristotle, he deais with the definition of man in terms of!Wo factors: the soul and the body. Yet being Mus1im, in the Aristotelian manner, he finds no difficulty in proving the immateriality of the hurnan soul through the doctrine of inte1lection. Yet ~g Mus1im, he needs to prove the individuai hurnan soul and, knowing the difficulty of such a proof once soul is defined merely as the • 39 of ail, to the science of nature, since man's body as a living bcing is a natura!

phenomenon which is the object of this science.~· To Ibn Sïna. "the sole principle

ofindividual existence is God--the Giver of existence: matter is the occasional cause

of existence, supplying external attributes of multiplicity."~7

2. The soul

It is proclaimed by B.C. Law in his writing "Avicenna and His Theory ofthe

Sauf',

According to Avicenna the soul has come down upon human Iife. It is radiant in its beauty and liveliness, although it is invisible. As it resides in human body, it is tormented by griefs. The soul formally dwelt freely in the high abode, till at last it is encaged in human body. It seems that its coming down was a necessary woe. God brought it low with a wise purpose unknown to • men. A1though human body retarded its onward movemcnt and entangled it in the narrow cage of the body, after ail it was a lightning-flash that brightly glowed upon human beings for a moment and then it was hidden, leaving no trace behind.~8

form ofthe body, he finds himselfmost attracted to Plato's notion of man as a soul in the prison body."

26lbid. This:.and ofthought is proved also from the fact that Ibn Sim dealt with medicine. He said that studying medicine is casier than studying metaphysics sincc it is in relation to the body.

27Fazlur Rahman, "IbnS-ma, " A Historv ofMuslim Philosophy, ed. M.M. Sharif (Karachi: Royal Book Company, 1963),486.

~8B.C. Law, "Avicenna and his Theory of the SouI", Avicenna Commemoration Volume, 180. Sec also, Avicenna on Theology. tr. Arberry, 77-78. This is also in line with the Qur'3nic verse stating that soul is God's affair, in other words, the human being is unable to create the soul. What the human being is able • to do is merely to understand or to analyze. Sec aI-Qur'an, XVII:8S: "And they will • 40 The above quotation shows that there is a close relationship between the

existence of the body and the existence of the soul. Further, the human being can be

called 'a1ive' when the soul cornes dowr. to the world and resides in the body. The

soul itself is defined by Ibn Sïna as "the entelechy of a natural body possessing

organs."19 He a1so states that "the soul is not a mere mixture or harmony of the

elements but something over and above it"lO

Ibn Sïna further asserts: 1. that soul is form in relation to body, which is

ask thee about [the nature of] the soul [sorne translate "nlIJ" with divine inspiration]. Say the sou! [this inspiration] cornes at my sustainer's behest; and [you cannot understand its nature, 0 men, sinee] you have been granted very lime of [real] knowledge." "Sorne commentators are of the opinion that the term 'nlIJ' refers here specifically to the revelation of the Qur'an; others understand by it the 'soul', in particular the soul of the man..."; see The Message of the Our'an, tr. Mu~ammad Asad (Gibraltar: Dar a1-Andalus, 1984), 432. There is a tradition of the prophet according to wbich the hurnan soul joins the body in the fourth month of pregnancy; Sahih Muslim, Vol. n (Semarang: Maktabah Usaha Keluarga, n.d.) 541. See a1so Harun Nasution, Islam dan Pendidikan Nasional (Jakarta: Lembaga Penelitian IAIN Jakarta, 1983),61.

~is definition is taken from Aristotle, sinee it is said that Ibn S"lOa accepts the Aristotelian definition of the 'Soul. See Fazlur Rahman, Avieenna's Psychology. 2. Mu'tazid Waliur Rahman in bis article ''The Psychology of Ibn S"lOà" states that, according to Ibn S"1Oii,"the soul is the first entelechy oforganisOO physical bodies that are potentially anirnate, that is to say it is the potential source of animal action"; Mu'tazid Waliur Rahman, ''The Psychology of Ibn S"1Oii," IsIarnic Culture: The Hyderabad Ouarterly Review, 00. Marmaduke Pickthall, Vol. IX (New York & London: Johnson Reprint Corporation & Johnson Reprint Company Ltd., 1935),339. Mu'tazid Waliur-Rahman's definition, however, is not as complete as the definition given by Fazlur Rahman. .

~azlur Rahman, Avieenna's Psvchology, 2. • 41 matter," 2. that soul is a substance in the sense that it is immortal. As forro, the

soul is the perfection of the body,J: whereas the latter point signifies that there is

no relation between the soul and the body.33

ln characterizing the soul as the perfection of the human body, Ibn Sina

describes severa! kinds of soul:

[A] First, the vegetative soul is the first perfection of the organic natural body insofar as it reproduces. grows. and is nourished; [B] Second, the animal soul, which is the fust perfection of the organic natural body insofar as it perceives particulars and moves into its body according to the will; [C] Third, the human soul which is the first perfection of the organic natural body insofar as it commits acts of rational choice, deduction through opinion, and insofar as it invents an [industry] and perceives universal rational ideas."

"Ibn S-ma says that "what is called soul may be called forro. It is called forro perhaps because matter cornes into existence with aets by means of the soul." Cited in Jamalpur, God and Man, 161, from Ibn S-ma, The Essay on the Soul, 9.

nne following explanation clearly shows the relationship between forro, body, a.,d soul as perfection of the body: "forro is used because the body plays the role of matter for the soul, which not only can be confused with the material forro of the body but even implies a kind of dependence, which is unacceptable. Therefore, 'soul', according to Ibn S-ma, is defhed in terros ofperfection. It is called perfection perhaps because the meaning of genus becomes species with the existence of the soul." Jarnalpur, God and Man, 161. Dr. B.C. Law, in his "Avicenna and His Theory of the Soul," says that "the human soul is a single substance which is related to the higher and the 10wer planes." B.e. Law, "Avicenna and His Theory of the Soul," Avicenna Commemoration Volume. 182.

J3Bahran Jarna\pur, God and Man: A Historical and Critical Comparison of Ibn Sina and Molavi within the Esoteric lranian Tradition of Islamic Philosophy, 160­ 166.

34lbn S-ma, Kitab al-Najat; ed. Kurdi (Cairo, 1938), 258. It is also pointed out by Majid Fakhry that according to Ibn S-ma, "the general definition of the soul is the first perfection of an organic body, either in so far as it is generated, grows, and is • 42 According to Jamalpur, the third kind [i.e., "the human sou! which is the fust

perfection of the organic natural body insofar as it corrunits aets ofrational choice..."]

refers ta what is meant by the soul as a substance. This is the human sou! as the

lmmaterial, Intellectual, Individual substance which is the fust perfection of the

human body, yet is independent of the body.3s

Ibn S-ma asserts that each sou! possesses severa! powers or faculties which

become th.: basis of differentiation between the three kinds of souI, i.e., the

vegetative souI, the animal souI, and the rational souI.36 The following divisions will

explain these faculties of the sou!.

i) The vegetative soul

The vegetative soul is the first perfection of the organic natural body insofar

as it reproduces, growS, and is nourished.

nourished (as in the case of the vegetable souI), or in so far as it apprehends particulars and is moved by will (as in the case of the anirnal souI), or in 50 far as it apprehends universals and aets by deliberation (as in the case of the human souI)." Majid Fakhry, A History of Islamic Philosophy (New York & London: Columbia University Press, 1970), 159.

35See Jamalpur, God and Man, 168.

36See Fazlur Rahman, Avicenna's Psychology, 24-32. See also, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Three Muslirn Sages. 38-40. See also, M~ammad Khayr I:iassan 'IrqsüsÏ, Ibn Sina wa-al-Nafs al-Insanivah (Beirut: Mu'assasah al-RîsaIah, n.d.), 122-129. It is stated that "soul as a single genus can be divided into three species: vegetative, anirnal, and human"; Ibn S-ma, Kitiib al-Najat. 258. • 43 In the view of Ibn Sina, the vegetative soul possesses three faculties, Le., the

faculty of reproduction, the faculty of nutrition, and the faculty of growth.37 The

faculty of nutrition transnùts food and replaces what has been dissolved with il. The

faculty of growth increases the substance of the main structural organs in length,

breadth, and depth, not haphazardly but in such a way that they can reach the utmost

perfection of growth. The faculty of reproduction or the reproductive faculty takes

from the body in which it resides a part which is potentially sinùlar to bodies as

such, generating and mixing it 50 as to render that part actually sinùlar to the body

[to which aetually it had been only potentially similar).38

Mu'tazid Waliur-Rahman, in his article ''The Psychology of Ibn Sina,"

suggests an allegoricaI illustration of the relation among these three faculties. He

states that "the faculty ofgeneration (the faculty ofreproduction) is a master without

slave, the faculty of nutrition is a slave withOt;i a master, while the faculty of growth

is a master in one respect and slave in another."39 He bases this allegoricai relation

on the view of Ibn S"ma thàt the faculty of growth is consequent upon that of

nutrition, and the faculty of generation (reproduction) upon that of growth.

Ibn S"mii called the vegetat\ve soul the first perfection oforganic natural body,

37FazIur Rahman, Avicenna's Psvchology, 24.

38Ibid,

~u'tazid Waliur-Rahman, "The Psychology ofIbn S"ma," Islamic Culture, 342. • 44 since its three faculties exist in plants as weil as in animaIs and in human beings.40

ii) The animal soul

The animal soul is "the flISt entelechy of a natural body possessing organs in

so far as it perceives individuaIs and moves by volition.'''l

The animaI soul, Ibn S""mli saYS, has two chieffaculties: 1. the motive faculty,

and 2. the cognitive faculty.42

The motive faculty is .of two kinds: the stimulative faculty and the efficient

faculty.4J The stimulative faculty is motive in so far as it gives an impulse. This

faculty has two subdivisions: the faculty of desire and the faculty of anger. The

faculty of desire provokes a movement (of the organ) that brings one near to things

imagined to be necessary or useful in the search for pleasure. The faculty of anger

impels the subject to a movement of the.limbs in order to repulse things imagined

to be harmful or destructive, and thus to overcome them. The efficient faculty is

~azlur Rahman, Avicem;a's Psychology, 24.

411bid,

~.C. Law, "Avicenna and His Theory of soul," Avicenna Commemoration Volume, 182.

43Mu'tazid Waliur-Rahman, ''The Psychology of Ibn S-mli," 324. • 45 motive in so far as it is active. It is a power which is distributed through the nerves

and muscles, and its function is to contract the muscles and to pull the tendons and

ligaments toward the Starting-point of the movement, or to relax them or stretch them

so that they move away from the starting-point"

The cognitive faculty (a1so called the perceptive faculty), can be divided into

the external sense and the internai sense.45 The external senses, Ibn Sïna says. are

five or eight, though he lists only five. Nor do scholars writing on Ibn Sïna explain

what he might mean by eight" senses. The five senses are, of course, sight, hearing,

smell, taste, and touch.

Ibn Sïna explains these five by saying that (a) the sense of sight is "a faculty

located in the concave nerve. It perceives the image of the forms of coloured bodies

imprinted on the vitreous humor. These forms are transmitted through actually

transparent media to a polished surface.'046 (b) The sense of hearing is "a faculty

located in the nerves distributed over the surface of the car-hole. It perceives the

form of what is transmitted to it by vibration of the air which is compressed between

two objectS, one striking and the other being struck, the latter offering it resistance

"Ibid. See a1so, FazIur Rahman, Avicenna's Psychology. 25-26.

45MuJ:tammad Khoir l;Iasan 'Irqsüsï, Ibn Sïna wa a1-Nafs a1-Insliniyah. 123. See a1so Ibn S""mli, Kitlib a1-Najat, 291.

~azIur Rahman, Aviœnna's Psychology. 26. 46 so as to set up vibrations in the air which produce the sound. This vibration of the air outside reaches the air which is motionless and compressed in the cavity of the ear, moving it in a way similar to that in which it is itself moved. Its wavcs touch that nerve, and so it is heard."47 (c) The sense of smell is "a faculty located in the

IWO protuberances of the front part of the brain which rcsemble the IWO nipples of the breasts. It perceives the odour conveyed to itby inhaled air, which is mixed with the vapour in the air or is imprinted on it through qualitative change in the air produced by an odorous body..... (d) The fourth sense, that of taste, is "a faculty located in the nerves distributed over the tongue, which perceives taste dissolved from bodies touching it and mingling with the saliva it contains. thus producing a qualitative change in the lOngue itself....9 (e) The fifth sense, the sense of touch, is "a faculty which is distribÎlted over the entire skin and flesh of the body. The nerves perceive what touches them and are affected when it is opposed to them in quality, and changes are then wrought in their constitution or structure.,,50

The last-mentioned, viz. the sense of touch, is probably a genus. not one species, and includes four faculties which are distributed throughout the skin. These

"'Ibid.

"Ibid.

'''Ibid.

'IOJbid. • 47 four respectively differentiate between hot and cold, dry and moist. hard and soft. and

rough and smooth. Even though they are four, their coexistence in the sa.-ne organ

gives the faIse impression that they are essentiaIly one.SI

Ibn S-ma's reference to eight senses is probably to be explained by assuming

that he has in mind the four senses to the exclusion of touch, and that he considers

the latter as four rather than one.

Of these senses, there is a difference of opinion about vision. According to

the Platonic theory, in vision something cornes out of the eye, meets the seen object.

and takes its form extemally. Waliur-Rahman says that scholars, on the other band,

are of the opinion that "when an actuaIly transparant and colourless medium is

aetually present between the eye and the seen object. the image of the coloured

object (on which the Iight falIs) reaches the eye, and the eye perceives i.. This is as

if a ray of Iight is reflected from a coloured object, and colours any other object on

which it falls. "52 The difference between the two views concems the problem the

image. The Platonic theory is dismissed by Ibn S-ma"as untenabie from the commlln

sense point of view; he "regards the latter view as the view of the true

S'Ibid.

52Mu'tazid Waliur-Rahman, "Psychology of Ibn S-mli," 349. • 48 philosophers.s3

As for the internal sense, it consists of five faculties: the faculty of fantasy

(sensus communis), the faculty ofrepresentation, the faculty of sensitive imagination,

the faculty of estimation, and the retentive and collective faculty.

The faculty of fantasy is located "in forepart of the front ventricle of the

brain. It receives ail the forros which are imprinted on the five senses and transmined

to it ,from them.,,54 The faculty of representation is located in the rear part of the

front ventricle of the brain; it preserves what the sensus communis has received from

the individual five senses even in the absence of the sensed object. The faculty of

sensitive imagination is "Iocated in the rniddle ventric!e of the brain near to the

verrniform process."ss This faculty has two fonctions, viz., to combine certain things

with others in the faculty ofrepresentation, and ta separate certain things from others

as it chooses. The next faculty, the estimative, is "Iocated in th~ far end ofthe rnidclle

ventricle of the brain. It perceives the non-sensible intentions that exist in the

individual sensible objectS, like the faculty which judges that the wolf is ta be

avoided and the child is ta be'loved."S6 Fmally, the retentive and recollective faculty

S3Fazlur Rahman, Psychology of Ibn Sïnii, 27.

54Ibid., 31.

sSlbid. It is also caIled thè formative faculty and idea.

S6lbid. The estimative faculty is also caIled the imaginative faculty. • 49 is locateè in the rear ventricle of the brain. It retains what the estimative faculty

pcrceives of non-sensible intentions existing in individual sensible objects.57 Thus.

the relation of the retentive and recollective faculty to the estimative faculty is the

same as the relation of the faculty of representation to the faculty of fantasy or

sensus ccmmunis. It is pointed out that the relation of the retentive faculty to the

intention is the same as the relation of representation to sensed forms.sa

Ibn S"1Oa. just like AristotIe, bCIieves that the hean is the seat of all these

faculties, even though they function through t.lle different parts of the brain. The

faculties possessed by the animaI soul are dependent on another power, that is, the

rational power.

iii) The rational soul or the human rational soul

The human rational soul is "the flfSt entelechy of a natural body possessing

organs insofar as it aets by rational choice and rational deduction and insofar as it

perceives universals."S9 The human rational soul is of two kinds: a practical faculty

.and a theoretical faculty in which bath of these are equivocalIy caIIed intelligence."

57Ibid. It is also caIIed the faculty of memory and reminiscence.

S8Ibid.

"Fazlur Rahman, Avicenna's Psychology, 25.

~enry Corbin, Avicenna and the Visionarv Recital, tr. from French by Williard R. Trask (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 19(8),350. • 50 The practical faculty has a certain correspondence with faculties of

stimulation. imagination. and estimation possessed by animals. The function of this

faculty is "as the principle of muvement of the human body, which urges it to

individual actions characterized by deliberation and in accordance with the purposive

consideration."61

The relation of this faculty to the animal faculty of stimulation is that "certain

states arise in itpeculiar to man by which it is disposed to quick actions and passions

such as shame, laughter, and weeping.'062 Next, its relation to the animal faculty of

imagination ar.d estimation is that "it uses that faculty to deduce plans conceming

transitory things and to deduce human arts.'063

The practical faculty has a dual character: with the help of the theoretical

intelligence it forros the ordinary and commonly accepted opinions conceming

actions, as, for instance, that lies and tyranny are evil, trustworthiness and justice are

good, and other similar premises.64

Briefly, the practical faculty is possessed by the human soul in relation to the

lower plane (body],i.e., for its'control and management. Further, it govems the other

61Fazlur Rahman, Avicenna's Psvchology. 32.

62lbid.

63Ibn S"ma, al-Najat, 164•.

6&Fazlur Rahman, Avicenna's Psvchology. 32. • 51 bodily faculties which produce passive dispositions called bad morals. The result of

the practical faculty's function is the creation of excellent morals.6S

The theoretical faculty is possessed by the human soul in relation to the

higher plane. The function of this faculty is to receive the impressions of the

universal forms abstracted from matter." This faculty is characterized as the

distinguishing feature of man.

67 Ibn Sina divides this theoretical faculty inta four levels : the intellectus

materialis, intellectus in habitu. intellectus in actu. and. finally, intellecrus adeptus

or acquisitus.

The intellectus materialis -as the lowest level--is the given hieratic virtuality

and potentiality to acquire knowledge, and is possessed by all men. It is also called

the potential intellect which is although it cornes into existence as something personal

to each individual, is, nevertheless, an immaterial and immottal substance." Man

reaches the state of intellectus in habitu when he leams the basic principles of

knowledge and correct thinking. This level is the actualization of the potential

6Slbid., 33.

66Ibid.

6'Nasr, Three Muslim Sages. 39.

68Fazlur Rahman, Prophecv in Islam: Philosophy and Onodoxy (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1958), 14. • 52 intellect wbich begins when man conceives the prirnary general truths which are the

basis of aIl demonstration.69 ne reaches the level of intellectus in actu if he

progresses a step funher and becomes able to arrive at knowledge by himself and to

generate bis own intellectual activity. FmaIly, intellectus adeptus or acquisitus is the

bighest stage open to man, excluding the prophets who enjoy a special state because

of the total perfection of their nature. Above these levels of the intellect stands the

Universal, or Active Intellect, through whom aIl knowledge is received by

illumination and with whom the human intellect at its most exalted level becomes

united.70

The preceding detailed discussion of the human soul gives a c1ear view ofail

the faculties of the soul. Those faculties are important in the life of the human

beings, since every faculty contributes uniquely to the life experience. In order to see

the role of faculties of the soul in human life, we should move to the next chapter.

It is important to note that Ibn S-mli's conception of the soul is parallel to al-

rarlibI's.71 This similarity is quite easy to understand since al-rarlibï was bis second

""Ibid.

"Thid.

71See Fuad Said Haddad, Alfarabi's theory of Communication (Beirut: The American University of Beirut, 1989), 171-176. Sec also Richard Walzer, Al-Farabi on the perfect State. transIated from Abü N~ al-rarlibI's Mabadi' Ara' Ahl al­ Madina al-Fadila (New York: Oxford University Press, 1985), 165-173. • 53 !Cacher after Aristotle. Ibn S"ma's treattnent of the rational soul shows the influence.

besides al-rar;ibï, of al-Kindi, the fust famous Muslim philosopher."

72See Nasr, Three Muslim sages. 39. See also Redmond G. Fitzmauriee. Al-Kindi on Psychology ( Montreal: MA Thesis, Institute of Isianüc Studies, McGilI University, 1971), 67-102. • CHAPTER III mN sÏNÂ'S CONCEPT OF THE PERFECT MAN

This chapter will elaborate two themes: the idea of the Perfect Man and the

role of the faculties of the soul in attaining the level of perfection. This chapter

builds upon the discussion in the second chapter where the powers of the soul have

been elaborated at length.

A. The idea of the Perfect Man

The discussion of the idea of the Perfect Man is presented in order to lay the

ground for further discussion of the raie of L'te faculties of the soul in attaining the

level of perfection. This secticn is quite important, since the fmal analysis will

depend on the idea of who the Perfeet Man is.

Ibn Sina's concept on'the Perfect Man may be approached through: [1] bis

idea of the soul. [2] bis views on Sufism. and [3] bis idea ofprophecy: AlI three are

in fact related to each other.

To begin with the idea ofthe soul. the Perfect Man must have ail the faculties

of the soul. In other words, the Perfect Man must have the faculties of the vegetative

soul. ofthe animal soul. and ofthe rational soul. These faculties have been described

in the second chapter.

The aforementioned faculties are attained by a human being through various

54 • 55 stages. The stage of the "acquired intellect" is reached after other stages-potential

intellect, intellect in habitu, and intellect in actu--have been reached. Ibn S'ma

explains the stages as follows:

When existence commences from the flI'St, it proceeds in such a way that every successive existent is inferior in rank to that which proceeds il; the existents continue to diminish in the order of rank. The flI'St of these is the order of spiritual immaterial angels termed "intelligences." It is followed by the ranks ofspiritual angels termed "souI", which are the active angels. These are then followed by the ranks of the celestial bodies, of which sorne are more noble than others, unti1 the Jast of these is reached. Thereafter begins the existence of matter that can receive those forms which are subject to generation and corruption. It takes on flI'St the forms of the elements and then' proceeds by very gradual degrees in such a way that the fust existent is always on a level more degraded than the succeeding one and inferior to it. Hence the bases of existents is matter. After it come the elements, then minerai deposits, then living things. The noblest of living things is man, below him the animals, then the plants. The best of men is one whose souI is perfected by becoming an intellect L'l act, and who has acquired the moraIs that constitute the practical virtues.1

ln light of the above quotation, it shouId be noted that Ibn Sina's statement,

"the noblest of living things is man, below him the animals, then the plants," is

parallel to one of Ibn 'Arabi's ideas as regards the Perfect Man. The Perfect Man as

a man in general, according to Ibn 'Arabi, is symbolized by Adam who was created

in the image of God. Ibn 'Arabi saYS,

When God wanted the perfection of human constitution (al-nash'a al-

IIbn S"ma, Fi Ithblit al-Nubüwat, edited with introduction and notes by Michael Marmura (Beirut Dar al-Nahar, 1968), xü, tr'..nslated by Michael Marmura from Ibn S"ma, a!-IIahIyM. n, 435. • 56 / nsiinijlii) He combined it, with His two hands, to all the realities of the universe, and gave them to it, and He manifested Himself to it in all His names. Thus, man attained bath the divine image (al-SÜTa al-/liihiya) and creaturely image (al-$ÜTa al-Kawniya). He made all the species (~naf) of the universe vis-a-vis man similar ta the member of the body vis-a-vis the spirit which governs them. If this man leaves the universe, the universe dies.... Now, since man possesses this Divine name "the Combiner", he thereby corresponds these two presences, i.e. divine and creaturely, by his very essence. Therefore, he became the true vicegerent and manager of the universe and its details. Ifa man does not reach the rank of perfection, then, he is an animal whose outer shape resembles the shape of man. Here we are concerned with the Perfect Man. At first, God did not create of this species except the perfeet one...he is Adam. Thus God demonstrated the Tank of perfection for this species. Whoever attains this stage possesses humanity in proportion to where he is.2

Ibn S-ma's statement "the best of men is one whose soul is perfected by

becoming an intellect in act, and who has acquired moraIs that constitute the practical

virtues," for its part, is similar to Yahya ibn 'Adi's idea of the Perfect Man.

According ta Yahya Ibn 'Adi, a student of al-rarabï, the Perfect Man is he who has

every virtue and is without vice. The virtues which are meant here are temperance,

contentment, preservation of one's reputation, clemency, dignified and modest

behaviour, affection, compassion and mercy, loyalty, trustworthiness, keeping of

secrets, modesty, cheerfulness' truthfulneSS, good will and sincerity.3

2 Ibn'Arabi, al-Futühat al-Makkïya. 4 vols. (Cairo: Dar al-Kutub al-'Arabïya al­ Kubrd, A.H. 1329), fi, 464. Translation as in Masataka Yakeshita, Ibn 'Arabi's Theory of the Perfect Man and Its Place in the Historv of Islarnic Thought (Tokyo, 1987), 109_

3Nanji al-Takriti, Yahva Ibn 'Adi: A Critica1 Edition and Study of His Tahdhib a1-Akh1ag (Beirut-Paris: Editions Ouridat, 1978), 164-167. • 57 So far as the faculties of the soul are concemed. we may conclude that. for

Ibn S-1IIa, a person who reaches the highest 1evel of intellect is to be called the

Perfect Man.

In bis discussion of Sufism. Ibn Sîna characterizes the 'arifas the best man.

He makes a distinction between the zuhid [ascetic]. the 'ubid [worshiper]. and the

'urif[sage].

The Ziihid, according to Ibn Sîna, is one who avoids the p1easures of the

wor1d. The 'Abid is he who maintains ritual worship. such as fasting and oùdnight

praying. The 'Arifis the one who simply thinks of the purity of God's oùght [qudsi

al-jabarüt]. continously secking illuoùnation by the light of the truth.·

Asceticism, according to the non-'Àrif, simply means avoiding the pleasures

of the world in order to gain the, p1easures of the here·after. However, to the 'Àrif,

asceticism means everything that cao prevent him/her from knowing the secret of the

truth, or the truth itself. The worsbip of the non-'Àrifis for reward in the hereafter.

To the 'Àrif, however, worship signifies the training to know the truth or to sec the

manifestation of the truth. Thus, it is c1ear that the 'Àrif is a Ziihid as weil as an

'Ibn S-ma, Isharat wa-al-TanbThat. edited by N~irudcrm al-Tüsi. 4 vols. (Caire: Dar al-Ma'arif, 1958), 800. Sec aIso JJ. Houben, S.1., "Avicenna and Mysticism." Avicenna Commemoration Volume (Calcutta: Avicenna Celebration, 1956),217. Ibn S-ma says that the ascetic is one who renounces aIl earthly goods, a worshiper is he who practices the prescribed duties of bis religion, and a sage is a man who tends towards the flISt truth for its own good and not for any personal motive. • 58 'Abid.S

Ibn Sina says also that the 'Arif is the one who has aIready reached the

highest perfection. He explains that there are four levels of perfection: [1] mastery

of appetite [shahwah] which is derived from matter [nuïddah], [2] mastery of the

faculty of anger [al-quwwah al-ghatfablyah] which is achieved through domination

[ghalabah], [3] mastery of the. imagination [wahm] that is the presence of expectation

[bi hay'ati mil yarjithu] or the presence of things imagined, and [4] the perfection

ofthe rational substance [al-jauhar al-'aqil]. The perfection of the I71tional substance

is the manifestation of the truth above the flrst truth, which belongs to the intellect

in habitu, the manifestation of the immaterial heavenly truth which belongs to the

intellect in accu, and the manifestation of the essence which belongs to the acquired

inteliecL"

The ':trif has to pass through severa! stages to reach the highest perfection.

[1] The fust Step for the gnostic is called will [irc1da] whkh means certainty as to the way. Through this, the mystic will discipline his soul, through his faith and will direct it toward God, so that he may attain the joy of union. [2] The second stage is that ofself-discipline [riyc1da], which is directed towards three things: [a] removing aIl but God from the gnostic's choice, lb] subduing his camai soul to his rational soul, [c] so that the imagination and the intellect shall be attracted to the higher things, not the lower, and making the

SIbn S-ma, Isharat wa-al-TanbThàL 801.

"Ibid., 762-764. • 59 conscience mindfuI of admonition.7

ln his book al-Ishiiriit wa-a/-Tanb!1ùit. Ibn Sïnli iIlustrates the position oi the

'Arif through the story of Slilaman and AbsaI. AbsaI has reached the position of

'Arif. Ibn Sïnli's recital of Salamlin and AbsaI, according to N~ir aI-Oïn Tusi, is

as follows:

Salaman and AbsaI were half 1:'rothers on the mother's side. AbsaI was the younger; he had been brought up in his brother's presence, and the more he grew, the more marked his beauty and intelligence became. He was weil instructed in leners and the sciences, he was chaste and brave. So it came about that Salaman's wife fell passionately in love with him. She said to Salaman: "Bid hirn frequent your family, so that your children may learn from his example." And Salaman asked hirn to do so, but AbsaI absolutely refused to associate with women. Then Salaman said: "For you, my wife holds the rank of a mother." So AbsaI came to his brother's house. The young woman showered him with attentions, and after a time privately told him ofher passion for him. AbsaI showed distress, and she realized that he would not yield to her. Then she said to SliIaman: "Marry your brother to my sister." Salaman gave him her sister to wife. But meanwhile Salaman's wife said to her sister: "1 did not marry you to AbsaI in order that he should belong to you alone, to my injury; 1 intend to share him with you." Fmally, she said to Abslil: "my sister is a maiden of great modesty. Do not go to her during the day, and do not speak to her until after she has become accustomed to you." On the wedding night, SaIamlin's wife slipped into her sister's bed and AbsaI came in to her. Then she could no longer contain herself, and hastened to press her breast against AbsaI's. AbsaI became suspicious, and 'iaÏd to himself: "Modest maidens do not behave in this fashion." At that moment the heavens became covered by dense clouds. A flash of lightning shot through them, its brilliant light disclosing the woman's face. Then AbsaI pushed her violently away, left the room, and

7JJ. Houben, SJ., "Avicenna and Mysticism," Avicenna Commemoration Volume. 217.

81bn S-ma, al-Ishamt wa-al-TanbIhlit, 790-798. • 60 resolved to flee. He said to Salaman: "1 wish to conquer all countries for you, tor 1 have the strength to do it." He took a troop w,th him, waged war on severa! peoples, and, without incurring a reproach, conquered countries for his brother on land and sea, in East and West. Long before Alexander, he was master of earth's entire surface.. When he returned to his country, thinking that the woman had forgonen him, she relapsed into her old passion and tried to embrace him; but he refused and repuised her. An enemy having appeared, Salaman sent AbsaI and his troop to meet him. Then Salaman'5 wife distributed great sums to the leaders of the army 50 that they wouid abando:l AbsaI on the battiefieid. And 50 they did. The enemies were vietorious over him; after wounding him, they left him lying in his blood, believing him dead. But a wiId beast that was nursing young came to him and gave·him milk from her teats. Thus he was fed until he was perfeetIy recovered and healed. Thereupon he sought out Salaman, whose enemies were then besieging and humiIiating him, while he bewailed his brother'5 disappearance. AbsaI found him, took the army with its stores, and once again attacked his enemies; he routed them, took the greater part of them prisoners. and made his brother king. Then Salaman's wife came to terms with a cook and a major-domo: she gave each of them a large suffi, so that they served AbsaI a poisoned drink. and he died. Ho:: was a faithfuI friend, a being great in Iineage and in desen, in knowledge and in act. His brother was in great grief over his death. He renounced the kingship and conferred it on one of his allies. Then he went into seclusion in secret conversations with his lord. The lord revealed to him the truth of what had taken place. Salaman made his wife, the cook, and the major-domo drink the poison that they had given AbsaI to drink. and they ail three died.9

This story illustrates Ibn S"mii's ideas to the effeet that the sage [1] is not

ruIed by his emotion, [2] does not become angry.on becoming aware of observing

evii [al-Munkar], [3] urges peoiJle to do the good in a pleasing manner ['a/a saM

a/-hikmah], [4] is brave, [5] always turns away from sin, [6] and does not have

"Ibn S"ma, lll-Ishlirlit wa.al-TanbThiit, commented by N~ir al-Dm al-Tüsï, 796­ 799. Translation a'" in Henr.1 "::orbin, Avicenr.a and the Visionarv Recitai. 224-226. • 61 hatred for others.'·

In Ibn Sïna's view of prophecy, the prophet is a person who has already

reached the stage of the acquired intellect, which is also tL position of the 'arif.

Howeve!', the prophet has another specific position which other people do not have,

that is, he is aIso a law giver."

In order to get a clear understanding of the prophet as a person having the

highest position-for he has already attained the stage of acquired intellect, and is a

law-giver-it is important to observe Ibn S"mïi's concept of prophethood or the idea

of a prophet itseIf.

Following aI-F"arabï, Ibn Sïna views a prophet as a person of extraordinary

intellectual endowment, and by means of which he is able to know aIl things by

himselfwithout instruction from an external source. This situation cannot come about

unIess the person conc::med has reached t.l:le stage of the acquired intellect. When

somebody attains to the acquired intellect, there is no barrier between him and the

Truth or God, so that it becomes possible to receive God's inspiration [illuim] or

God's revelation [W~YU].12

l"Ibn S"ma, al-Isharat wa-aI-Tanbïhat, 846-848.

"See Fazlur Rahman, Prophcev ie Islam (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., ~ 958), 30-9I. .

12lbn S"mïi specifies the inspiration for the sage [either philosopher of sufi] and revelation for the prophet. See Ibn S"ma, al-Isharat wa aI-Tanbïhat, 898. • 62 Al-rarabï says:

The ab50lutely first chief [of the good state] is the one who is not directed by any other man in anything. On lÎle contrary, he has aetually attained all knowledge and gnosis [by himself] and he is not in need of anyone to direct hirn in any matter.... This happens only in the case of a man who is endowed with exceptionally great natura! capacities when his soul attains contact with the Active Intelligence. This stage is reached only after this man has first achieved the aetual intellect and then the acquired intellect. For it is by attainrnent of the acquired intellect that a contact with the Active Intelligellce is achieved. It is this man who is really the King according to the ancients and it is about hirn that it is said that revelation cornes to him. Revelation cornes to a man when he has reached this rank, i.e when no intermediary remains between hirn and the Active Intelligence. Thus, the aetuaI intellect is like matter and substratum unto the acquired intellect which itself is Iike matter and substratum unto the Active Intelligence.13

Ibn ~ma has modified and developed the rarabïan view in his own doctrine

of prophecy, which gives a fuller account of intellectuaI revelation. For hirn too the

prophetic mind does not need extemal insr:'cction, but he conceives of the prophetic

revelation as occurring not at the end of a noetic development but as 50mething

sudden, happening with a coup'"

Explaining Ibn Sina's doctrine, Fazlur Rahma., says:

since there are people who are aImost devoid of this power, while there are others who posses.<: it, again, sorne in greater, others in lesser degree, it follows that there may be a man naturaIly 50 gifted that he intuits all things at a s;roke or 'flares up' with an intuitive illumination. The active intelligence

IlAI-rarabi, Siyà'.at, 49. Translation as in Fazlur Rahman, Prophecy in Islam, 30­ 31.

"Fazlur Rahman, Prophecy in Islam. 31. • 63 deposits the forms of all things. past, present and future iOlto the prophet's soul and Avicenna adds that this deposition is not a mere irrational acceptance on the part of prophet but has a rational order of cause and effect 'for a mere acceptance [as of chance happenings, as it were] in the realm of things which are known only through their causes does not possess certainty and rationality.'s

So far as t.'le prophet's being law-giver is concemed, Ibn S'ma eIaborates this

idea in terms ofhis concept ofthe necessity ofprophethood. People need a law-giver

to fulfil their need to make their lives hannonious.

It is clear that man differs from other animals in that if he were alone. managing all his affairs by himself without someone else's cooperation in fulfilling his needs, his life will not be elegant.... Those who are unwise enough not ta establish cities with laws... only remotely resemble men.... This being clear, it is necessary for man to live incooperation: cooperation entails contraets and transactions... which themselves are impossible without a law­ giver and a deterrninatar ofjustice.'6

According ta Ibn S'ma. this law-giver and deterrninator ofjustice is a prophet.

The principal reason why the law-giver must be a prophet is that the law cornes from

Gad who is the cause of human existence. Gad gives the revelation to one who has

the ability to understand and interpret it [since revelation needs ta be perceived and

interpreted]. Since the prophet is an 'iirif, he is chosen by Gad ta receive revelation.

ISIbid.

'6Ibn S'ma. aI-lsharat wa-aI-Tanbïhat, 216-227. Translation as in Bahran Jamalpur, Gad and Man: A Historical a.ld Critical Comparison of Ibn Sina and Molavi within the Esoteric !ranian Tradition (If Islarnic philosophy ( Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, 1970), 186. See aIso Ibn S'ma. aI-Najat, ed. Kurdi (Callù, 1938),303-308. • 64 Thus, a prophet is the real Perfect Man since he is a thinker [having the stage of

acquired intellect], 'iirif, and a law-giver.

We may thus conclude that according to Ibn $ïnli, the Perfeet Man is both

an 'iirif or a prophet However, the prophet has a bigher position than one who is

only an 'iirif. This is because the 'iirif is not a law-giver, while a prophet is.

B. The role of the faculties of the soul in attaining the level of perfection

This part will discuss the role ofthe faculties of the soul in attaining the level

of perfe-."tÏon in Iight of the .idea of the Perfect Man as elaborated in the above

section. Since this discussion is based on the previous section, it is important to point

out briefly that the Perfect Man is he who has already reached the position of one

who perceives the outh. In the previous ~ection, it was mentioned that the Perfect

Man is he who: [1] 'UChes the position of acquired intellect, and [2] reaches the

position of rationa! substance. These two levels are reached by [1] a saint or sage,

or [2] a prophet The saint or sage is either philosopher [thinker] or mY~lÎc.

The outh mentioned above is symbolized as Iight in the Qur'an. Ibn S-mli

elaborates this idea in bis Ithbiit al-NubüwaL17

Ibn S-mli says that the word Iight [nar] means both goodness and the cause of

all goodness. God is good through His essence and He is the Cause of all goodness.

17Ibn S-ma, Ithblit al-Nubüwat. edited by Michael Marmura. 48-52. • 65 Ibn Sina then elaborates on the concept of the intellect which rcaches goodness and

the Cause of all goodness, i.e. God. This is elaborated from the light verse of the

Qur'an. The full verse is as follows:

God is the light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as there were a niche [mishkar] and within it a lamp: the lamp enclosed in glass; the glass as it were a brilliant star; lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the cast nor of the west, whose oil is well-nigh lurninous, though frre scarcely touched it; Light upon Light: God doth set forth Parables for men; and God doth know all thingS.'8

What Ibn S'ma'· mCaPs by the mishkiiE is al'aql al·hayülünf [material soul,

animal soul] and al-nafs al-nëltiqah [rational soul]. The relationship of the animal

soul to the acquired intellect is similar to that of the Niche to the Lamp. Funher, the

lamp is the symbol of al-'aql al·musrafàd bi al-fi'li [intellect in actu] for the light

reperesents the kamiil li al-mashaf [perfection of the rnaterial intellect]. The

relationship of the acquired intellect to the rnaterial intellect [animal soul] is sirnilar

to that of the lamp to the Niche. As for the rnirror, glass and tree, Ibn Sina suggests

that the rnirror is in a position be!Ween al-'aql al·hayü1üni and al-'aql al·musrafàd

[acquired intellect). The relationship of these !wo kinds of intellect to each other is

akin to the relationship of the manifestation and the lamp.

'"The Hoir Our'an, translation of Abdullah Yusuf Ali (New York: Tahrike Tarsile Qur'an, Ine., 1988), 907-908. Al-Qur'an: 24:35.

'9Jbn S'ma, Ithbat al-Nubüwat, 49. See also Fakhr al-ITm al-Razi, AI-Tafsir al­ Kabïr (Beirut Dar Ihya aI-Turath aI-'A..-abi. N.D.), vol. 23, 228-230. • 66 To make the idea of mirror clear, God use; the word glass. The tree, then, is

meant as the discursive intellect Ibn Sïnii's elaboration of the light verse puts

intellect in the very important position of reaching the goodness or the truth.:W

The process of attaining to the position of perfection, which in general is that

of attaining the stage of acquired intellect, may be elaborated frrst of aIl from the

hierarchy of the faculties. The hierarchy of the faculties according to Ibn S"ma is as

follows:

A. [1] The acquired intellect is the governor whom aIl the rest serve. And it is theultimate goaI. [2] The intellecrus ill habitu serves the intellecrus ill actu, and is in mm served by the materiaI intellect with aIl capacities. [3] The practicaI serves them aIl, for attachment to the body, as will shortly become clear, exists for the sake of the perfection and purification of the theoretica1 intellect, and the practica1 intellect governs this relationship. [4] It is served by the faculty of estimation which, in its mm, is served by two faculties: an anterior and a posterior. The posterior conserves what is brought to it by estimation, whiIe the anterior is the totaIity of animaI faculties.

20Jbn S"ma aIso makes the anaIogy of light as the human intellect attaining thought This is, as Davidson writes, "like the sun, which is "essentiaIly visible," the active intellect, he ,Ibn S"ma writes, is essentiaIly intelligible." In vision, a ray oflight from the sun "conjoins" with ':colors that are potentially visible" and with the human power of sight, which is aIso potentiaI. The former there upon "become aetually visible," and the latter "actuaIly sees." AnaIogously, a power emanates from the active intellect and trave1s ta the potentiaIly intelligible things in the imaginative faculty; in order to render them aetually intelligible and to render the potentiaI intellect aetuaI intellect," Herbert A. Davidson, Alfarabi, Avicenna, and Averroes on Intellect: Their Cosmologies and Theories of Human Intellect (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 86. • 67 [5] The faculty of representation is served by two faculties of different origins: the apperitive faculty serves it by obeying il. for the representative faculty impels the appetitive to movement. and the facu/ry of imagination serves it by accepting the combination and separation of its images. [6] In their turn those two are the govemors of two groups. The facu/ry of irr.aginarion is served by the fantasia or sensus communis. which is itself served by the five senses, while the appetirive faculty is served by desire and anger. [7] The last two are served by the motive faculty distributed through the muscles. Here the animal faculties come to an end.

B. [1] The animal faculties in their entirety are served by the vegetable faculties, of which the reproductive is the fltSt in rank and the highest one. [2] The faculty of growth serves the reproductive and the nutritive faculty serves them both. [3] The four 'natural' faculties--of digestion, retention, assimilation, and excretion-are subservient to ail these. The digestive faculty is served on the other hand by the retentive and assimilative. and the other by the excretive. [4] The four physical qualities serve these. with cold subservient to heat. while dryness and moisture serve them both. This is the last degree of the faculties.21

The above quotation c!early shows that the acquired intellect has the highest

position, which is caraeterized therefore as the govemor of ail other faculties. The

test of the faculties are the servants of the position of acquired intellect Further, to

attain the position of acquired intellect, the other faculties must be already achieved.

21Fazlur Rahman, Avicenna's Psvchology (London: Oxford University), 37-38. In comparisen to aI-Rrabï's idea of the hierarchy of the faculties of the soul, Ibn S-ma's elaboration is much clearer. According to a1-rarabi there are five kinds of faculty, where the former serve the latter. Those five are: [1] the nutritive faculty, [2] the faculty of the five senses, [3] the faculty of appetition. [4] the facu1ty of representation, [5] the rational faculty. Abü N~ aI-rarabi, Kitiib Ara' ahl a1-Madina a1-radila, edited by Albir N~ Nader (Beirut Dar el-Mashreq Publisher, 1973),87. Sec aIse Richard Walzer, al-Farabi on the Perfect State: Abu Nac;r a1-rarabi's Mabadi' Ahl a1-madina a1-radila (Oxford: Oarendon Press, 1985), 165-175. 68 ln addition to this Ibn S"ma says,

At [the level of] acquired intellect, the animal genus and human species are perfee:ed [tarnma], and the human [intellectual] faculty resembles the first principles of aIl being [that is, the incotporeal substances]. The state of acquired intellect is man's "perfection" [kamaL]; "acquired intellect", or rather holy intellect, is the head [faculty of the soul], which aIl oth~ [faculties] serve, and it is the ultimate end.:!:

There is a close relationship between the position of acquired intellect and the perceiving of intelligibles. At the level of acquired intellect -which alone is·an unqualified actuality-intelligible forms are aetuaIly present to the person, and helshe actuaIIy attends to them. As the servants of acquired intellect, other intellects -that are classified by Ibn Sina belong to the rational soul--perform the following roles:

[1] Material intellect as the wholly unqualified potentiality for thought which belongs to every member of the species is disposition inhering in the incotporeaI human soul from birth. [2] Intellect in habitu as the possible potentiality in which the human subject possesses the first inteIligible thoughts is the position of the theoretical proposition of the sort m!III affirms without being able 10 suppose that the thoughts might ever not be affirmed. [3] Actual intellect as a further stage of potentiality is the complete potentiality that is attained when both "second intelligibles" and "intelligible forms" have been added to the "first intelligibles" with the proviso that the human subject is not thinking the propositions and concepts.23

Further, each of the fo'ur degrees of human intellect is affeeted by the cause,

nsee in Davidson, AIfarabi. Avicenna. and Averroes on Intellect: Their Cosmologies and Theories of Ruman IntelIect, 86, quoted from Shita': De Anima. 50. • 69 that is, the Active Intellect.:I< Davidson explains causality in the view of Ibn S-Illa

by pointing out that Active Intellect provides the first principles of thought, and next

the stages which can be reached by man. In the words of Davidson,

To start, the Active Intellect emanates a human soul endowed with the potentiality for thought upon any receptive portion of sublunar matter. It is thereby the cause of existence of the human material intellect. Then, the Active Intellect is the factor bringing the material intellect to the stage of Actua1 Intellect, and the source of the aetual thought constituting acquired intellect, both when acquired intellect means an imperfectly developed intellect's aetual thought and when it means actual thought at the completion ofhuman intellectual development. In leading man from one level to the next, the Active Intellect provides him with the fll'st principles of thought, which are propositions. with abstract human concepts; and with certain other propositions.2S

Therefore, the role of the faculties of the soul in leading man to the position

of perfection is that they should be able to perceive the emanation from the Active

Intellect.

Moving from this general discussion we will now tum to the specific qualities

of the prophet. The most important issue here is how the prophet perceives

revelation.:zti

24lbid" 87.

2SIbid., Davidson refers to Ibn S-ma, al-Najlit (Cairo: 1938), 192-193.

:ztiIn contrast ta the sage, "the prophet is a person of extraordinary intellectua1 endowment such that, by means of it, he is able ta know all things by himself without the help ofinstruction by an extemal source." Fazlur Rahman, The Prophecv in Islam. 30. • 70 The raie of the faculties of the soul in leading man to the position of

perfection is that they should be able to perceive the emanation from the Active

Intellect in which the lower faculties a1ways serve the higher one.

To explain how a prophet reaches his prophecy, there are two kinds of

revelation that must be elaborated. These two are intellectual revelation and

imaginative revelation.

Following al-Farabi, Ibn Sïna maintains that upon intellectual revelation the

prophet has reached the position of Acquired Intellect According to al-Farabi. as

Fazlur Rahman says. "the prophet's intellect should go through the stages of

development through which an ordinary thinking mind passes; and only then the

revelatio.l cornes, the only difference between the prophetic and the ordinary person

being that the former is self taught,,27 Ibn S-ma, with his construction of a doctrine

of intuition, adds that the difference between the ordinary person and a prophet --in

which the former has the opportunity to reach the position of Acquired Intellect-- is

that the prophet has a strong power of intuition.28 Ibn Sina says:People differ in

27Ibid.

28"The acquisition of knowledge, whether from someone else or from within oneself, is of various degree. Sorne people who acquire knowledge come very ncar to immediate perception, since their potential intellect which precedes the capacity we have mentioned is the most powerful. If a person can acquire knowledge from within himself, this strong capacity is called 'intuition'. It is so strong in certain people that they do not need great effort, or instruction and aetua1ization, in order to make contact with the active intelligence. But the primary capacity of such a persan • 71 their power of intuition, i.e. hitting at a truth without consciously formulating a

syllogism in their lTÛnds and therefore without time".29 Further, such kind of

distinction is elabcrated through the knowledge of a prophet who knows ail things

about the past, present, and future without making syllogisms. For him, Ibn Sina,

says:

If a man could know ail the events in earth and in the heavens and their natures, he would know what happens in the future, and the rejection of the daims of astronomers. Now, just such an intuitive discerment of the total reality is envisaged in the Muslim Philosophers' doctrine of prophecy and therefore we see that there is no trace of sign-interpretation: the prophet cornes to grasp the whole reality.30

ThUs, Ibn S"ma believeS that at the level of the Acquired Intellect and through

intuition the prophet perceives the revelation of knowledge about past, present and

future. Out of intuition, it is said that at the intellectual level the prophet. the

philosopher, and the mystic are identical, i.e. they are already at the level of Acquired

Intellect.

In relation to the imaginative revelation, Ibn S"ma elaborates the idea of

for this is so powerful that he nùght also he said ta possess the second capacity; indeed, it seems as though he knows everything from within himself. This is the highest degree of this capaci!;!". Fazlur Rahman, Avicenna's Psvchology. 35.

2'lfazlur Rahman, Prophecv in Islam, ~ 1. e. 3OJbid., 67, quoted from a1-Najat, 302. 72 revelation [w~yu] and inspiration [illuim],J'in which t.lje former is perceived by the prophet, whereas the latter is perceived by the other people, like mystics. Either the prophet or the mystic has the power of strong imaginative faculty for figurizing and symbolizing the f<:v::lation or inspiration.Jl Ibn Sïna has taken over the doctrine of visual and acoustic symbolization by imagination which had been elaborated already by al-rarabï.

Al-rar;ïbï saYS,

...when the imaginative faculty is very strong and perfect in a man and neither the sensations coming from the external world, nor its services to the rational soul, overpower it to the point ofengaging it utterly-on the contrary, despite this engagement, it has a superfluity of strength which enables it to perforrn its proper function-its condition with aIl its engagement in waking life is like [other men's souls} condition when they are disengaged in s1eep. Under such circumstances, the imaginative soul figurizes the intelligibles bestowed upon it by the Active Intelligence in terms of perceptual symbols. These figurative images, in their turn, impress themselves on the perceptual faculty• ...It is not impossible that when a man's imaginative power reaches extreme perfection, so that he receives in his waking life from the Active Intelligence a knowledge of present and future facts or of their sensible symbols and also receives the symbols of immaterial intelligibles and of the higher irnrnaterial ex.Îstents and, indec.J, it is not impossible that he becomes a prophet giving news of the Divine Realm, this is the highest degree of

311t is said that "figurization and symbollzation is a function peculiar to the imaginative faculty. Every da~m, whether it is intellectual or sensible or emotional, imagination transforms into vivid and potent symbols capable of impelling action." Ibid., 36.

3lSee Ibn S'"ma, Ishamt wa al-TanbThat, edited by N~iruddinal-Tüsi, 886-887 and 889. • 73 perfection a man can reach with his imaginative power.))

In addition to this, Ibn S""ma in his Najat draws a distinction between the

prophecy of the prophets and the prophetie activity sometimes exercised by other

people, like mystics. This is identical with the elaboration above that the prophet

perceives revelation whereas the other people perceive inspiration.).I

There is a close relationship between revelation-which is received by prophet

through the imaginative faculty-and the position of prophet as a law giver. This

relation is such that in order to make harmony in society, through his imaginative

faculty the prophet oommunicates the revelation to the people in material symbols

and metaphors.

Further, the law for the people must be continuous to be effective after the

prophet's death. Fazlur Rahman, referring to Ibn Sina, says:

In order that the law continues to be effective after the prophet's death in the sense that the prophet's real intentions and his back ground meaning is not forgotten and so the law not reduced to a moribund formalism, it is necessaI)' that the law-giver estàblish certain definite religious institutions, serving as constant reminders of the real purpose of the law-and this only a prophet, a recipient ofreligious revelation-thanks to his strong imaginative faculty- can

33Ibid., 37-38, quoted and" translated by Fazlur Rahman from al-rarabï, Madina. 51-52.

).lIt is said that "sinee the masses cannot grasp the purely spiritual truth, the prophets communicate this truth 10 them in materialistic symbols and metaphors." e- Fazlur Rahman, Prophecv in Islam, 40. • 74 do.3S

To conc1ude tris last point, it is c1ear that the faculties of the soul play an

important role in attaining perfection. This perfection allows the ordinary person to

become a sage [either as mystic or philosopher], and the extTaordinary person to

become a propheL

3Slbid.• 54. from TI-f' S-ma. Naja;' 305. • Conclusion Ibn Sïna's discussion of the soul, which is influenced largely by Aristotle and

al-Fa.--abï, develops the concept of human perlection. Cenain facultics of the soul-­

wbich belong to the vegetative, the animal, and the rational soul--play an imponant

role in attaining perfection. Through the rational soul perfection is attained which,

according to Ibn Sïna, is the attainment the stage ofacquired intellect. Some faculties

under the acquired intellect have position of servants, while the acquired intellect has

the position of govemor of the rest of the facultics.

Thns, Ibn S-ma devc1op: bis concept of the Perfect Man from his view of the

role of the facUl:ies of the soul. This can be ~tudied in his primary work, a/-/shiiriit

wa a/-Tanbihiit, where he: discusses the soul, perfection, and the people who are able

to reach the position ofperfection at length. His specific ideas on the soul have been

aIso prest:nted by F"azlur Rahman in bis Avicenna's Psych%gy. In view of his

concept of the soul and what is related to the soul, the development of [Islamic)

philosophy and [Islamic) mysticism owes him a great debt.

In relation to bis idea of the Perfeet Man, it is the sage and the prophet who-­

according to Ibn S-ma-exemplify the Perfeet Man. These two figures are similar in

the sense that they have the ability to reach a position of perfection. The prophet,

however, is different from the sage insofar as the prophet has a stronger imaginative

75 • 76 power. Also he receives revelation [wa~yu] while the sage receives inspiration

[ilhiim]. Ibn S-ma also develops the idea that the prophet has a stronger intuition. This

intuition enables him to understand numerous things at one time, Le, revelation. This

thought is held up as an important element by Fazlur Rahman in his book Prophecy

in Islam: Philosophy and Orthodoxy. Further, Ibn S-ma makes the point that the

prophet is a law-giver while the sage is not. This position c1early gives the idea that

the prophet is needed by human Iife within the community.

His work on the prophet cao he studied through his primary works, al-Najat

and al-Isht1rat wa al-TanbiJuIt. Michael Marmura has contributed on introduction and

notes for Ibn Sïnâ's Ithbat al-Nubüwat •

Therefore, it is proper enough to say that development of Islanùc philosophy

and mysticism owes much to Ibn S-ma. His impact on subsequent thinkers was

immense. Even those who violently criticized him, such as al-GhaZâ li, still

recognized him as one of the greatest of Muslim philosophers.

·e • Appendix 1

The following is the syllabus ofthe curriculum of the study of Ibn Sinii. 'l'his curriculum is taken from Guta's book Avicenna and The Aristotelian Tradition: Introduction to reading Avicenna's Philosophical Works, 149-152.

A. Logic: Enables one to distinguish between truth and falsehood in the sciences that follow. Books by Aristotle: 1. Categories. Commentaries by 'I1ynws, Simplicius, Abü Bishr Mana ibn Yünus, FaraoL 2. De Interpretatione. Commentaries by 'I1ynws, Abü Bishr. Far.ibL 3. Prior Analyties (Killib al-Qiyas). Commentaries by 'I1ynws. Abü Bishr. Faraoï. 4. Posterior A.'la1yties (Kitlib al-BurJuin). Commentaries by Themistius, Abü Bishr. Faraoï. 5. Topies. Commentaries by Y~ya Ibn 'Adï. Investigari(ln of the Topoi by Themistius. 6. Rhetoric. Commentary by Faraoï. • 7. Sophisties. No commentaries are available. 8. Poeties.

B. Mathematies: Theoretical ['ilnul particular sciences. Propaedeutic to Physics and Metaphysies.

1. Geometry. The fundamentaI texts are those by Euclid. Archimedes. Apollonius. 2. Arithmetic. The fundamentaI texts are [Introduction to Arithmetic by Nicomachus of Gerasa]. the arithmetical parts in Euclid. books on Indian arithmetic and a1gebra. 3. Science of the stars: a] Astronomy. Ptolemy's Almagest. Commentary by Nayrizï. Books on mutawassirar. Books on ZlJ by l:Iabash, Battanï. Nayrizï. b] Astrology. Not being a demonstrative science. it does not belong among those enumerated here. but rather with interpretation of dreams. [bird] • 77 .- divination, physiognomy. 4. Music. Ptolemy's Harmonies, elaborated upon by Kindi. rarat,ï wrote an exhaustive book on subject. 5. Optics. Books by Ptolemy and Euclid.

C. Non-Mathematical: Applied [milvul mathematical particular sciences.

1. Mechanics. It is propedy an applied, rather than a theoretical science. 2. Medicine. Books by Galen. Medical handbooks [kunnâsJuit] by Paul [of Aegina], Ahrun, [Mas'iJ.t] ad Dimashqï, Ibn Sarabiyün, Rlizï's al-Jarni' al-Kabir fal-ffiiwi =Continensj. 3. Agriculture • 4. Alchemy

D. Physics: Books by Aristotle:

1. Physics. Commentaries by Alexander. 2. De Caelo. Commentary by ThemistiUs. 3. De Generatione et Corruptione. Commentaries by Alexander, PhilopOl.us. 4. Meteorology. Commentary by Alexander. 5. De Animalibus. No commentary available. 6. De Plantis. Not the book by Aristotle himself, but the epitome [m~ll.!"ar] made by Nicolaus [of Damascus] is the only one that is available. 7. De Anima. Commentary by Themistius. Alexander wrOte a large treatise on the subject. 8. De 5ensus et Sensato. It is attributed to Aristotle but does not seem like what he would say [wa-lay"sa yushbihu kaItimahu]. No commentary is available.

E. Metaphysics:

1. Metaphysies, by Aristotle. Commentary by Themitius on Book lAmbda. Kindi wrote a short exegesis for the entire book which he called The Inclusive Philosophy ( al-Falsafa ald-diikhila).

78 • 79

F. Ethics: These sciences should he both practiced and studied. As practiced. they precede the theoretical parts ofphilosophy just enumerated. As objects ofstudy. they follow them.

1. Ethics. Nichomachean Ethics by Aristotle. 2. Politics. Letters on Politics by Aristotle. Politics by Flate). 3. Oeconomics.

-e 80 • Appendix II The following scheme is cited from lan Richard Nenon, Allah Transcendent, 165.

The Avicenl'ian Scheme of Emanation

The Necessary Bcing

The F1rst Intellect [al-'Aql al-Awwal] = Supreme Archangel

Second Intellect/Archangel--+SouVAngel of Frrst Heaven....Body 1 of Frrst Heaven Third Intellect/Archangel-SouVAngel of Second Heaven....Body l of Second Heaven

Fourth Intellect/Archangel- SouVAngel of Third Heaven ~Body l of Third Heaven Fifth Intellect/Archangel ---.souVAngel of Fourth Heaven .....Body 1 of Fourth Heaven

Sixth Intellect/Archangel ~SouVAngel of F1fth Heaven -.Body l of F1fth Heaven Seventh Intellect/Archangel_SouVAngel of Sixth Heaven -Body l of Sixth Heaven Eighth Intellect/Archangel_SouVAngel of Seventh Heaven..Body l of Seventh Heaven Ninth Intellect/Archangel _SouVAngel of Eighth Heaven-Body l of Eighth Heaven Tenth Intellect (Wëihib ---.. SouVAngel of Ninth Heaven _Body $uwar)=Archangei Gabriel of Ninth Heaven L e- World of Generation and Corruption • Appendix III This following scheme shows the hierarchy of the faculties of the soul which the top is the highest stage and the lower faculties serve the highcr one.

The acquired intellect l The intellect in aclu l The intellect in habitu l The potential intellect l The facultiy of estimation l The faculty of representation l The appetitive faculty • l The faculty of imagination

The facultylOf fantasia or the sensus communis l The fa~ulty of reproduction l The faculty of the growth

The facultylOf nutrition

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