Ibn Bajja, or Ibn Bajjah (Latin: Avempace), in full Abu Bakr Muḥammad ibn Yaḥya ibn al-Sayigh al-Tujibi al-Andalusi al-Saraqusti, (b. c. 1095, Zaragoza, Taifa of Zaragoza, Al-Andalus [present day Aragon, Zaragoza (province), Spain] — d. 1138, Fes, Almoravid Empire [present day Fes, Morocco]), was earliest known representative in Spain (Andalus) of the Arabic Aristotelian–Neoplatonic philosophical tradition initiated by al-Farabi and was a forerunner of the polymath scholar Ibn Tufayl and of the philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes). Abu Bakr Muḥammad ibn Yaḥya ibn aṣ-Ṣa’igh at-Tujibi ibn Bajja (Latin: Avempace) was an Arab Andalusian polymath, whose writings include works regarding astronomy, physics, and music, as well as philosophy, medicine, botany, and poetry.
Ibn Bajja was born in Zaragoza, in what is today Aragon, Spain, around 1085 and died in Fes, Morocco, in 1138. Rulers of Zaragoza shifted constantly throughout Ibn Bajja's young life. However, in 1114, a new Almoravid governor of Zaragoza was appointed: Abu Bakr 'Ali ibn Ibrahim as-Sahrawi, also known as Ibn Tifilwit. A close relationship developed between Ibn Bajja and Ibn Tifilwit. Ibn Bajja enjoyed music and wine with the governor and also composed panegyrics and muwashshahat to publicly praise Ibn Tifilwit, who rewarded Ibn Bajja by nominating him as his vizier. In a diplomatic mission to meet the overthrown Imad ad-Dawla Ibn Hud, Ibn Bajja was placed in jail for some months for reasons unknown. Ibn Tifilwit was killed during a quest against the Christians in 1116, ending his short reign and inspiring Ibn Bajja to compose mournful elegies in Ibn Tifilwit's honor. Ibn Bajja also had a talent for singing and composition in music. In the beginning of his career, he wrote the manuscript Risalah fi l-alḥan (Tract on Melodies) and incorporated his commentary on al-Farabi’s treatise based on music. He determined the correlations between different melodies and temperament.
After the fall of Zaragoza in 1118 at the hands of King Alfonso The Battler, Ibn Bajja looked for shelter under Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Yusuf Ibn Tashfin, another brother of the Almoravid Sultan in Xatiba. Ibn Bajja worked, for some twenty years, as the vizier of Yusuf Ibn Tashfin. Throughout these decades, it is clear that Ibn Bajja was not as agreeable with those close to the ruler, Ibn Tashfin, as he was during the previous reign of Ibn Tifilwit. Writings by Ahmad al-Maqqari gives us insight into the hostility and disagreements between Ibn Bajja and the father of a famous physician respected by Ibn Tashfin, Abd al-Malik. A poetry anthology, Qala’id al-iqya (Necklace of Rubies), was also created by a courtier of Ibn Tashfin, Abu Nasr al-Fath ibn Muhammad ibn Khaqan, which condescendingly placed Ibn Bajja in last place.
Under Ibn Tashfin, Ibn Bajja was imprisoned twice. The details of the imprisonment are not well understood but do indicate that Ibn Bajja occasionally fell out of favor with the Sultan. Despite being disrespected, Ibn Bajja remained with the Almoravid empire for the rest of his life, until his death in 1138.
Ibn Bajja’s chief philosophical tenets seem to have included belief in the possibility that the human soul could become united with the Divine. This union was conceived as the final stage in an intellectual ascent beginning with the impressions of sense objects that consist of form and matter and rising through a hierarchy of spiritual forms (i.e., forms containing less and less matter) to the Active Intellect, which is an emanation of the deity.
Ibn Bajja is the author of the Kitab an-Nabat ("The Book of Plants"), a popular work on botany, which defined the sex of plants. His philosophical theories influenced the work of Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and Albertus Magnus. Most of his writings and books were not completed (or well-organized) due to his early death. He had a vast knowledge of medicine, mathematics, and astronomy. His main contribution to Islamic philosophy was his idea on soul phenomenology, which was never completed.
Ibn Bajja was, in his time, not only a prominent figure of philosophy but also of music and poetry. His diwan -- his collection of poetry -- was rediscovered in 1951. Though many of his works have not survived, his theories in astronomy and physics were preserved by Ibn Maymun (Moses Maimonides) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes) respectively, and influenced later astronomers and physicists in the Islamic civilization and Renaissance Europe, including Galileo Galilei.
Ibn Bajja wrote one of the first (argued by some to be the first) commentaries on Aristotle in the western world. While his work on projectile motion was never translated from Arabic to Latin, his views became well known around the western world and to western philosophers, astronomers, and scientists of many disciplines. His works impacted contemporary medieval thought, and later influenced Galileo and his work.
In his commentary on Aristotle's Meteorology, Ibn Bajja presented his own theory on the Milky Way galaxy. Aristotle believed the Milky Way to be caused by the ignition of the fiery exhalation of some stars which were large, numerous and close together and that the ignition takes place in the upper part of the atmosphere, in the region of the world which is continuous with the heavenly motions. On the other hand, Aristotle's Arabic commentator Ibn al-Bitriq considered the Milky Way to be a phenomenon exclusively of the heavenly spheres, not of the upper part of the atmosphere and that the light of those stars makes a visible patch because they are so close. Ibn Bajja's view differed from both, as he considered the Milky Way to be a phenomenon both of the spheres above the moon and of the sublunar region.
Ibn Bajja proposed that for every force there is always a reaction force. While he did not specify that these forces be equal, it is considered an early version of the third law of motion which states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
In recognition of Ibn Bajja's early contributions to astronomy and physics, in 2009, a crater 62 miles from the South Pole of the Moon was designated "The Ibn Bajja" crater by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Adamec, Ludwig W. (2009), Historical Dictionary of Islam; Scarecrow Press.
Esposito, John L. (1998). The Oxford History of Islam; Oxford University Press.
Meri, Josef W. (2005); Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia; New York, Routledge.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Avempace
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