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The Arabic Commentary on the Golden Verses Attributed to Proclus, and Its Neoplatonic Context

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4 The Arabic Commentary on the Golden Verses Attributed to Proclus, and Its abSTRACT The modern edition of the Arabic commentary to a Greek Pythagorean Neoplatonic poem known as the Golden Verses, attributed to Proclus, was first Context published in 1984, more than a quarter century ago. Despite the fact that this Graeco-Arabic text is an interesting ANNA IZDEBSKA example of a late antique Neoplatonic Max Planck Institute for the History of Science philosophical commentary and Berlin, Germany it offers a Neoplatonic interpretation of various elements of the Pythagorean Institute for Religious Studies tradition, it has hardly been studied Jagiellonian University in Krakow as such at all. In this article I argue Poland that there exist enough arguments to conclude that this text contains [email protected] a number of genuine Neoplatonic elements and should be studied along with the other late antique texts from this tradition. Moreover, I demonstrate that in all probability this text actually comes from the inner circle of Proclus Diado chus’ students, or from the philosopher himself. INTERNATIONAL ISSUE NO. 6/2019 ANNA IZDEBSKA 5 The Arabic COMMENTARY ON THE GOLDEN VERSES attributed to Proclus, and its Neoplatonic conteXT The Arabic commentary to the Golden Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques, as Verses1 that is attributed to Proclus the last item on a list of “falsely attrib- has been classified by Concetta Luna uted writings” (“ouvrages faussement at- and Alain-Philippe Segonds, the au- tribués”) of Proclus.2 According to them, thors of the entry about Proclus in the the “attribution of this text to Proclus, which without doubt utilises a Greek and 1 It is a philosophical poem (71 verses) in hexameter, and attributed to Pythagoras Neoplatonic model, is very controver- or generally seen as originating in sial”, and “there is nothing specifically the circle of the first Pythagoreans. In fact it was probably composed in the Proclean in the text that could support Hellenistic or Early Roman period. It its attribution to Proclus Diadochus”.3 consists of admonitions from a teacher Obviously, a text that has been la- (Pythagoras) to his students, mainly about the proper philosophical way of belled as an Arabic translation of some- life, with some elements of metaphysics thing “falsely attributed” to Proclus and theology. It became very popular as does not sound particularly attractive a source of Pythagorean wisdom in the Late Roman period and was treated as a classical Pythagorean text by late an- 2 Luna & Segonds 2012, pp. 1652–53. tique authors such as Iamblichus (who 3 This entry is followed in turn by an entry commented on the last verses of the devoted to Proclus’ writings preserved in poem in his Protrepticus) and Hierocles Arabic where both the Arabic commen- (who wrote the commentary to this poem tary to the Golden Verses and the dis- which is fully preserved). Thom 1995; van cussion about its authorship are briefly der Horst 1932. summarised. Endress 2012, pp. 1673–74. INTERNATIONAL ISSUE NO. 6/2019 6 or worthy of study. Unsurprisingly, de- a Syriac bishop and church official, phi- spite the fact this text is an interesting losopher, physician and theologian. Ibn example of a late antique Neoplatonic al- ayyib was a prolific author of biblical philosophical commentary and it offers commentaries, but he also commented a Neoplatonic interpretation of various on a huge amount of works of Aristotle, elements of the Pythagorean tradition, Galen and Hippocrates.6 The most fa- it has hardly been studied as such at all.4 mous and influential of those works In this paper, therefore, I will argue that were his commentaries on Porphyry’s there exist enough arguments to con- Isagoge and Aristotle’s Categories.7 His clude that this text contains a number knowledge of Greek philosophy was pro- of genuine Neoplatonic elements and found, which is visible in the manuscript should be studied along with the other Escorial Arab. 888, which contains his late antique texts from this tradition. collection of translations, summaries Moreover, I will demonstrate that in all and abridgements of various Greek and probability this text actually comes from Arabic works. the inner circle of Proclus Diadochus’ The text that is the object of this students, or from the philosopher study is also presented as an abridge- himself. ment made by Ibn al- ayyib. The exact title at the beginning of the text is: The PROCLUS DiadOCHUS essentials of the treatise of Pythagoras Of LYCia OR PROCLUS PROCLEIUS known as the Golden Proclus’ commentary OF LaODICEA? (Istithmār muqāla fithāghūras maʽarūfa The commentary is preserved in a single bi-l-dhahabiya tafsīr bruqlus). The prov- manuscript, Escorial Arab. 888, which enance of this extract (thamarat) from contains a collection of various texts the commentary of Proclus is again and summaries translated from Greek emphasised at the very end of the text. and Syriac into Arabic, entitled Kitāb Istithmār means literally “extracting the an-nukat wa- - imār a - ibbīya wa-l-fal- fruit” and thamarat “a fruit”. According safīya (Book of Medical and Philosoph- to F. Rosenthal, it was Ibn al- ayyib’s “fa- ical Gifts and Fruits) (it is the 14th of vourite word for the numerous brief the 18 sections, on fols. 91a–114a).5 The summaries of the contents of Greek author of this collection is Abū-l-Farağ works prepared by him”.8 Rosenthal Abdallāh Ibn al- ayyib (d. AD 1043), compared another istithmār from this manuscript, an excerpt from the Arabic 4 Although this avenue of research has been suggested by the current author in synopsis of Plato’s Laws, with the same her earlier work: Izdebska 2011; Izdebska text preserved elsewhere and attributed 2016. to al-Fārābī, and he concluded that “it is 5 An incomplete list of the contents of this manuscript is available in Brockelmann 1943–49, I 635, and Brockelmann 1937–42, 6 Faultless 2010, p. 668. I 884. More on this manuscript: Daiber 1995, p. 630, n. 8; Wakelnig 2013, p. 39 7 Gyekye 1975; Gyekye 1979; Ferrari 2006. n. 108; Ferrari 2006, p. 28. 8 Rosenthal 1990, p. 274. INTERNATIONAL ISSUE NO. 6/2019 ANNA IZDEBSKA 7 THE ARABIC COMMENTARY ON THE GOLDEN VERSES attRIBUTED TO PROCLUS, AND ITS NEOPLatONIC CONTEXT a true abridgement, often using the same al- ayyib had access to a commentary by words”9 and “using the abridgement Proclus on the Χρυσᾶ ἔπη and made use of the Laws as the basis of judgment, of it as a basis for his own work.”14 it can be said that Ibn al- ayyib’s work In the Arabic tradition the existence as an abbreviator was quite skilful, if of a commentary to the Golden Verses at- thoroughly prosaic and uninspired”.10 tributed to Proclus which Ibn al- ayyib The text was edited and translated would have read and abbreviated is at- into English by N. Linley,11 who unfor- tested by a famous scholar and bibli- tunately died tragically before finish- ographer Ibn al-Nadīm (10th c.) in his ing his edition and only expressed his Catalogue (Fihrist, 264, ed. G. Flügel). initial thoughts about the authorship He listed it among other works of Proclus of this text in a short introduction. He Diadochus: rejected12 R. Walzer’s hypothesis13 that it could have been a summary based on Commentary on the Golden testaments the preserved Commentary on the Golden of Pythagoras – it is about one hundred Verses of Hierocles (Walzer based his leaves and extant in Syriac. He wrote it hypothesis on the fact that the names for his daughter. Thabit translated three Proclus and Hierocles look almost the of its leaves, but [then] died, so that he same in Arabic). The two texts have al- did not complete it. (p. 608, tr. B. Dodge, most nothing in common, so this hy- The Fihrist of al-Nadīm: A Tenth-Century pothesis can indeed be easily rejected. Survey of Islamic Culture, vol. 2, New York However, Linley was still sceptical 1970) about the Proclean authorship of the text that served as the basis for Ibn Therefore, there probably existed al- ayyib’s summary: “there is no posi- a Greek text of a commentary to the tive ground to support the view that Ibn Golden Verses attributed to Proclus that was already translated into Syriac in 9 Rosenthal 1990, p. 276. The fact that Ibn the times of Ibn al-Nadīm. It was this al-Tayyib was a scrutinous translator text that Ibn al- ayyib abbreviated and compilator was also pointed out by Daiber in his review of Linley’s edi- from a Greek, Syriac or Arabic version. tion of the Commentary (1988, p. 135). The information that Proclus wrote it However, E. Wakelnig remarked that for his daughter is suspicious since we this manuscript containing Ibn al-Tayy- ib’s collection “has not been properly know that he had neither a wife nor any studied yet” (Wakelnig 2013, p. 39). children.15 10 Rosenthal 1990, pp. 276–77. Also H. Daiber The other trace of the existence in his review of the Linley’s edition of the Commentary points out the fact that Ibn of this text and of its translation into al-Tayyib was a scrutinous translator and Arabic is a fragment of it that survives compilator (Daiber 1988, p. 135). 11 Linley 1984. 14 Linley 1984, x. 12 Linley 1984, p. vi. 15 Marinus, Proclus (17); Damascius, 13 R. Walzer, Encyclopaedia of Islam, I (New Philosophical history / Life of Isidore 56 Edition, Leiden, 1960), s.v. Buruklus. (ed. Athanassiadi, p. 159). INTERNATIONAL ISSUE NO. 6/2019 8 in the manuscript Oxford Marsh 539, authored by this Neoplatonic philoso- edited and translated by E.
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