Kindi, Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-
Kindi, Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al- (Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi) (Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi)(Alkindus) (c.801-873). Arab scholar and philosopher. He was a companion of the ‘Abbasid Caliphs al-Ma’mun and al-Mu‘tasim, and probably had a tendency towards Mu‘tazilism. He is known as “the philosopher of the Arabs,” and has survived as a universal scholar and as an astrologer. He is among a small number of Muslim scientists who made original contributions in many various fields. Al-Kindi was a philosopher, astronomer, physician, mathematician, physicist, and geographer. He also was an expert in music.
Al-Kindi was born Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi in Basra [Kufa?] in what is today Iraq. His father worked for Khalifah (Caliph) Harun al-Rashid. He was educated in Baghdad. It was in the latter city that he spent his life and died. Acclaimed “philosopher of the Arabs,” he is said by one famous medieval biographer to have been renowned for his excursions into Greek, Persian, and Indian wisdom and for his detailed knowledge of astronomy. Another medieval biographer claims that al-Kindi was exceedingly knowledgeable in medicine, philosophy, arithmetic, logic, and geometry, in addition to being skilled as a translator and editor of Greek philosophical works. Moreover, in a famous medieval collection of wisdom literature, it is reported that al-Kindi served in the Abbasid court under the caliphs al-Ma’mun (r. 813-833) and al-Mu‘tasim (r. 833-842) as a tutor and was pre-eminent as an astrologer. The list of his books is extensive and, although he is not known to have been schooled in the traditional Islamic sciences, includes works that focus on subjects of a theological and jurisprudential character.
Al-Kindi was the first physician who systematically determined the dosage for most drugs. It greatly helped in the development of dosage standards (prescriptions) for patients. In the field of Chemistry, al-Kindi argued that base metals cannot be converted to precious metals and that chemical reactions cannot produce transformation of basic elements. He made important contributions to the Arabic system of numerals. In addition, he contributed to spherical geometry while assisting al-Khwarizmi in astronomical studies. Al-Kindi’s original work provided the foundation for modern arithmetic. He also made original contributions to geometrical optics, a special field of physics, and wrote a book on it. Several centuries later, al-Kindi’s work inspired Roger Bacon.
Al-Kindi researched on the scientific aspects of music. He stated that the various notes that combine to produce harmony have a specific pitch, and the degree of harmony depends on the frequency of notes. Further, he provided a method for the determination of pitch. Al-Kindi stated that when a sound is produced it generates waves in the air, which strike the eardrum.
Al-Kindi wrote more than two hundred forty books. Among them are sixteen books on astronomy, twenty-two each on medicine and philosophy, twelve on physics, thirty-two on geometry, eleven on arithmetic, nine on logic, four on the number system, seven on music and five on psychology. In addition, he wrote monographs on astronomical instruments, tides, rocks and precious stones.
Gerard of Cremona translated many of his scientific books into Latin. These books include Ikhtiyarat al-Ayyam, al-Mosiqa, Risalah dar Tanjim, Ilahyat-e Aristu, Mad-o-Jazr and Adviyah Murakkaba. Al-Kindi’s influence on the development of physics, mathematics, medicine, philosophy and music lasted for several centuries.
Although he is credited with over 200 works, less than a tenth have come down to the present. Today, al-Kindi is remembered primarily as the author of a treatise on metaphysics, Fi al-Falsafat al-Ula (On First Philosophy). However, it is his Treatise on the Utterances of Socrates -- his Risala fi Alfaz Suqrat -- which is all but ignored, that contains the seminal foundation of Islamic political thought.
The Risala fi Alfaz Suqrat can be characterized as a turning back from the apparent assuredness of Aristotle to the tentative probing of Socrates. Differently stated, al-Kindi’s reflections on Plato and Aristotle led him to praise the life of Socrates, the Socrates who had renounced physical and metaphysical speculation in order to concentrate on the day-to-day speech and actions of his fellow citizens. This choice allowed al-Kindi to provide for a limited kind of philosophical inquiry and at the same time to vouchsafe the claims of revelation. Al-Kindi’s observations about Aristotle and Socrates may have influenced al-Razi’s later portrait of Socrates in the justly famous Kitab al-Sira al-Falsafiyya (Book on the Philosophic Life), thereby setting in motion the series of reflections that lead to al-Farabi’s founding of Islamic political philosophy.
In the Risala fi Kammiyyat Kutub Aristutalis wa ma yuhtaj ilaih fi Tahsil al-Falsafa (Treatise on the Number of Aristotle’s Books and What Is Needed to Attain Philosophy), al-Kindi admits his inability to provide a rational account of human existence or its end and thus to ground political inquiry. Even his Risala fi al-Hila li-Daf’ al-Ahzan (Treatise on the Device for Driving Away Sorrows), with its allegory of human existence, ends in a similar admission.
The allegory of the ship in al-Kindi’s Treatise on the Device for Driving Away Sorrows makes the broad point that all possessions, not merely superfluous ones, cause sorrow and threaten to harm us. Our passage through this world of destruction, al-Kindi says, is like that of people embarked upon a ship “to a goal, their own resting place, that they are intent upon.” When the ship stops so that the passengers may attend to their needs, some do so quickly and return to wide, commodious seats. Others -- who also tend quickly to their needs but pause to gaze upon the beautiful surrounding sights and enjoy the delightful aromas -- return to narrower, less comfortable seats. Yet others -- who tend to their needs but collect various objects along the way -- find oly cramped seating and are greatly discomforted by the objects they have gathered. Finally, others wander far off from the ship, so immersed in the surrounding natural beauty and the objects to be collected that they forget their present need and even the purpose of the voyage. Of these, those who hear the ship’s captain call and return before it sails, find terribly uncomfortable quarters. Others wander so far away that they never hear the captain’s call and, left behind, perish in horrible ways. Those who return to the ship burdened with objects suffer so, due to their cramped quarters, the stench of their decaying possessions, and the effort they expend in caring for them, that most become sick and some even die. Only the first two groups arrive safely, though those in the second group are somewhat ill at ease due to their more narrow seats.
For al-Kindi, those passengers who endanger themselves and others by their quest for possessions are like the unjust we encounter in daily life. Conversely, the just must be those who attend to their needs or business quickly and do not permit themselves to become burdened with acquisitions or even to be side-tracked into momentary pleasures. The passengers are all bound for their homeland, but it is not clear where they are heading. At one point, al-Kindi claims that we are going to “the true world” and at another that the ship is supposed to bring us to “our true homelands.” There is no doubt, however, that whether the destination be one or many, it can be reached only by acquiring the habits that eschew material possessions.
The allegory emphasizes the voyage and the conduct of the passengers. But the vessel is no ship of state nor the captain its governor. The ship is merely a vehicle of transport here, and the captain evinces no desire to police the passengers. Nor is anything said about the route followed by the ship. As one who calls to the passengers, however, the captain may be compared to a prophet. Like a prophet, he calls only once. Those who do not heed the call are left to their misery, even to their perdition. Yet the content of the call is empty; it merely warns about the imminent departure of the ship. The captain offers no guidance about what to bring or leave. He merely calls.
The compilation of sayings ascribed to al-Kindi in the Muntakhab Siwan al-Hikma and those he sets down in his Risala fi Alfaz Suqrat (Treatise on the Utterances of Socrates) also encourage the pursuit of the ascetic life. In this work, al-Kindi and Socrates are portrayed as men aloof from the worldly concerns of most people. As men who have learned to turn their thoughts away from possession and to think about how to live a truly free human life. Each account consists of anecdotes and pithy statements attributed to Socrates and to al-Kindi respectively, some of which reinforce things said in the treatise about Aristotle’s philosophy and in the treatise about the avoidance of sorrows.
Abu Yusuf Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi see Kindi, Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-
Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi see Kindi, Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-
Alkindus see Kindi, Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-
The Philosopher of the Arabs see Kindi, Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-
Al-Kindi was born Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi in Basra [Kufa?] in what is today Iraq. His father worked for Khalifah (Caliph) Harun al-Rashid. He was educated in Baghdad. It was in the latter city that he spent his life and died. Acclaimed “philosopher of the Arabs,” he is said by one famous medieval biographer to have been renowned for his excursions into Greek, Persian, and Indian wisdom and for his detailed knowledge of astronomy. Another medieval biographer claims that al-Kindi was exceedingly knowledgeable in medicine, philosophy, arithmetic, logic, and geometry, in addition to being skilled as a translator and editor of Greek philosophical works. Moreover, in a famous medieval collection of wisdom literature, it is reported that al-Kindi served in the Abbasid court under the caliphs al-Ma’mun (r. 813-833) and al-Mu‘tasim (r. 833-842) as a tutor and was pre-eminent as an astrologer. The list of his books is extensive and, although he is not known to have been schooled in the traditional Islamic sciences, includes works that focus on subjects of a theological and jurisprudential character.
Al-Kindi was the first physician who systematically determined the dosage for most drugs. It greatly helped in the development of dosage standards (prescriptions) for patients. In the field of Chemistry, al-Kindi argued that base metals cannot be converted to precious metals and that chemical reactions cannot produce transformation of basic elements. He made important contributions to the Arabic system of numerals. In addition, he contributed to spherical geometry while assisting al-Khwarizmi in astronomical studies. Al-Kindi’s original work provided the foundation for modern arithmetic. He also made original contributions to geometrical optics, a special field of physics, and wrote a book on it. Several centuries later, al-Kindi’s work inspired Roger Bacon.
Al-Kindi researched on the scientific aspects of music. He stated that the various notes that combine to produce harmony have a specific pitch, and the degree of harmony depends on the frequency of notes. Further, he provided a method for the determination of pitch. Al-Kindi stated that when a sound is produced it generates waves in the air, which strike the eardrum.
Al-Kindi wrote more than two hundred forty books. Among them are sixteen books on astronomy, twenty-two each on medicine and philosophy, twelve on physics, thirty-two on geometry, eleven on arithmetic, nine on logic, four on the number system, seven on music and five on psychology. In addition, he wrote monographs on astronomical instruments, tides, rocks and precious stones.
Gerard of Cremona translated many of his scientific books into Latin. These books include Ikhtiyarat al-Ayyam, al-Mosiqa, Risalah dar Tanjim, Ilahyat-e Aristu, Mad-o-Jazr and Adviyah Murakkaba. Al-Kindi’s influence on the development of physics, mathematics, medicine, philosophy and music lasted for several centuries.
Although he is credited with over 200 works, less than a tenth have come down to the present. Today, al-Kindi is remembered primarily as the author of a treatise on metaphysics, Fi al-Falsafat al-Ula (On First Philosophy). However, it is his Treatise on the Utterances of Socrates -- his Risala fi Alfaz Suqrat -- which is all but ignored, that contains the seminal foundation of Islamic political thought.
The Risala fi Alfaz Suqrat can be characterized as a turning back from the apparent assuredness of Aristotle to the tentative probing of Socrates. Differently stated, al-Kindi’s reflections on Plato and Aristotle led him to praise the life of Socrates, the Socrates who had renounced physical and metaphysical speculation in order to concentrate on the day-to-day speech and actions of his fellow citizens. This choice allowed al-Kindi to provide for a limited kind of philosophical inquiry and at the same time to vouchsafe the claims of revelation. Al-Kindi’s observations about Aristotle and Socrates may have influenced al-Razi’s later portrait of Socrates in the justly famous Kitab al-Sira al-Falsafiyya (Book on the Philosophic Life), thereby setting in motion the series of reflections that lead to al-Farabi’s founding of Islamic political philosophy.
In the Risala fi Kammiyyat Kutub Aristutalis wa ma yuhtaj ilaih fi Tahsil al-Falsafa (Treatise on the Number of Aristotle’s Books and What Is Needed to Attain Philosophy), al-Kindi admits his inability to provide a rational account of human existence or its end and thus to ground political inquiry. Even his Risala fi al-Hila li-Daf’ al-Ahzan (Treatise on the Device for Driving Away Sorrows), with its allegory of human existence, ends in a similar admission.
The allegory of the ship in al-Kindi’s Treatise on the Device for Driving Away Sorrows makes the broad point that all possessions, not merely superfluous ones, cause sorrow and threaten to harm us. Our passage through this world of destruction, al-Kindi says, is like that of people embarked upon a ship “to a goal, their own resting place, that they are intent upon.” When the ship stops so that the passengers may attend to their needs, some do so quickly and return to wide, commodious seats. Others -- who also tend quickly to their needs but pause to gaze upon the beautiful surrounding sights and enjoy the delightful aromas -- return to narrower, less comfortable seats. Yet others -- who tend to their needs but collect various objects along the way -- find oly cramped seating and are greatly discomforted by the objects they have gathered. Finally, others wander far off from the ship, so immersed in the surrounding natural beauty and the objects to be collected that they forget their present need and even the purpose of the voyage. Of these, those who hear the ship’s captain call and return before it sails, find terribly uncomfortable quarters. Others wander so far away that they never hear the captain’s call and, left behind, perish in horrible ways. Those who return to the ship burdened with objects suffer so, due to their cramped quarters, the stench of their decaying possessions, and the effort they expend in caring for them, that most become sick and some even die. Only the first two groups arrive safely, though those in the second group are somewhat ill at ease due to their more narrow seats.
For al-Kindi, those passengers who endanger themselves and others by their quest for possessions are like the unjust we encounter in daily life. Conversely, the just must be those who attend to their needs or business quickly and do not permit themselves to become burdened with acquisitions or even to be side-tracked into momentary pleasures. The passengers are all bound for their homeland, but it is not clear where they are heading. At one point, al-Kindi claims that we are going to “the true world” and at another that the ship is supposed to bring us to “our true homelands.” There is no doubt, however, that whether the destination be one or many, it can be reached only by acquiring the habits that eschew material possessions.
The allegory emphasizes the voyage and the conduct of the passengers. But the vessel is no ship of state nor the captain its governor. The ship is merely a vehicle of transport here, and the captain evinces no desire to police the passengers. Nor is anything said about the route followed by the ship. As one who calls to the passengers, however, the captain may be compared to a prophet. Like a prophet, he calls only once. Those who do not heed the call are left to their misery, even to their perdition. Yet the content of the call is empty; it merely warns about the imminent departure of the ship. The captain offers no guidance about what to bring or leave. He merely calls.
The compilation of sayings ascribed to al-Kindi in the Muntakhab Siwan al-Hikma and those he sets down in his Risala fi Alfaz Suqrat (Treatise on the Utterances of Socrates) also encourage the pursuit of the ascetic life. In this work, al-Kindi and Socrates are portrayed as men aloof from the worldly concerns of most people. As men who have learned to turn their thoughts away from possession and to think about how to live a truly free human life. Each account consists of anecdotes and pithy statements attributed to Socrates and to al-Kindi respectively, some of which reinforce things said in the treatise about Aristotle’s philosophy and in the treatise about the avoidance of sorrows.
Abu Yusuf Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi see Kindi, Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-
Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi see Kindi, Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-
Alkindus see Kindi, Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-
The Philosopher of the Arabs see Kindi, Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-
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