The Legacy of Greece, Alexandria, and the Orient
In the Early Islamic Science and Philosophy
(Summarized from Majid Fakhry's A History of Islamic Philosophy)

By 641 CE, the Arab conquest over Near East had been completed. Welcomed by most of the people there as the liberator, the Arab ruler did not interfere so much on various academies that had become the centers of studying theology, philosophy, and other subjects for centuries. During this Arab rule, therefore, studies centers such as Edessa, Qinnesrin, Harran and Jundishapur were still flourishing and continued their contribution in the development of theology, philosophy, and other scientific subjects of the time.

The expansion of administrative area, not surprisingly, brought new challenges to Arab ruler. One of the main challenges is practical problem such as how to keep the accounts and record of the state in which the Arab ruler did not have experience before. At the beginning, the policy was to leave it as it was both in terms of bookkeeping and the bookkeepers. Minister of finance in the Mu’awiya period for instance, was held by Sarjun b. Mansur (the grandfather of St. John of Damascus) who held the same position during the Byzantines. Triggered by the use of Arabic as the new official language, the change, especially the translation of texts from Greek and Persian, soon initiated particularly during the reign of Umayyad caliph ‘Abdul Malik (685-705).

The translation of various texts had been made possible by several factors. First, practical consideration—to solve certain practical problems and to develop certain type of practical knowledge (practical discipline)—called for the translation of bookkeeping, and earliest scientific and medical texts in medicine, alchemy, and astrology. Initiator of this translation is the Umayyad Prince Khalid b. Yazid, followed by various translators such as Masarjawaih on medical compendium, Abdullah b. al-Muqaffah on texts like Kalilah wa Dimnah, Khudai Nameh, Ayin Nameh, the Book of Mazda and Biography of Anushirwan. The second factor is the availability of patrons. Well-known among these patrons are the Barmakid family who was very enthusiastic on Greek learning especially on the Emperor of Anushirwan, the Banu Musu family who provided generosity on the acquisition and translation of Greek texts such as Treatise on the Atom and Treatise on the Eternity of the World, and of course the caliphs themselves such as Harun al Rashid and al-Ma’mun of the ‘Abbasid. The third factor is the policy of the caliph or the state. During Harun’s time, astronomical works such as Indian’s Siddhanta, Quadripartius of Ptolemy, and several of Persians’ were translated. During al-Ma’mun’s reign, the tendency or theological bias of the caliph toward rationalist thinkers (Mu’tazilah) provided opportunities for many theological and philosophical works, especially from Greek.

While the practical disciplines such as medicine and astrology marked the beginning of translation of works from Greek, Persian and Indian, it was during the reign of caliphs Harun and al-Ma’mun that marked the flourish of the translation of philosophical works. Among the early translators is Yahia b. al-Bitriq who translated the Plato’s Timeous, Aristotle’s De Anima which greatly contributed to Arab’ conception of Aristotle’s psychology, and other works of Aristotle such as the zoological corpus, Analytica Priora, and the Secret of Secrets. Al-Ma’mun also established Bait al-Hikmah (House of Wisdom) which became the center of translation and research of the “ancient learning.” Another important translator of Greek philosophy and science is Hunain b. Ishaq (809-973) who under the patron of Banu Musa not only translated the original texts but also re-translated and scrutinized the existing translations to look at their accuracy. He translated and retranslated Galen’s Treatise on Demonstration, Hypothetical Syllogism, Ethics, paraphrasing Plato’s Sophist, Parmenides, Crytyalus, Euthydemus, Timeous, Statesman, Republic, and Laws. There were also other translation of Aristotelian works by Hunain’s associates including his son Ishaq, his nephew Hubaish, and his disciple Isa b. Yahya who were responsible for the translation of Catogories, the Hermeneutica, the Physica, the Ethica, De Plantis and several others. Equal to the greatness of Hunain was Qusta b. Luqa who translated many Greek’s works and revised the existing translations. His works include The Saying of the Philosophers, The Difference between Soul and Spirit, A Treatise of the Atom, A Political Treatise, The Physica, and many others. Other translators were Abu Bishr Matta and Yahia b. Adi whose works were on, for instance, Analytica Posteriora, Introduction to Analytica, and Treatise on Conditional Syllogism.

Most of these translators were Christian of the Nestorian or Jacobite sect with the exception of the pagan astrologer-philosopher Thabit al-Qurra whose famous works were on, among others, Nature of Stars and Their Influence, Principles of Ethics, and Music. There were abundant other translators whose works in general encompass wide range of topics in science, theology and philosophy, long range of time from early Greek, Persian and Indian, and across languages at the time.

Categorized further, these works of translations and retranslations from Greek include the Pre-Socratic, Peripatetics, and Stoics types of works. From Pre-Socratic, the two most prominent are Empedocles and Phytagoras. Phytagoras’ influence was later institutionalized in a fraternity movement called Ikhwan al Shafa (the Brethren of Purity) which arose in Basrah during the mid of eight century. From Peripatetic philosophers, the most well known translated works were of Theoprastus, Eudemus, Alexander of Aphrodisias, Themistius, and Olympiodorus. Works can be mentioned here are Alexander’s On the Intellect, Eudemian Ethics, and Repositoty of Wisdom (Siwan al Hikmah). From Stoic type of philosophy, Arabic sources mentioned the works of Chrisippus and Zeno of Citium.

The Neo-Patonic elements of philosophical works during Arab rule also important to be mentioned. The most important influence of Greek in this case was not the Aristotle’s famous Metaphysica, but rather, the alleged Aristotle’s compilation of the Theologia. Translated for al-Kindi by a Syirian Christian ‘Abd al-Masih b. Na’imah of Emessa, the Theologia, together with another Greek work, the De Causis, illuminated the dogma of emanation in Islamic philosophy. Emanation is a doctrine of “the One and the manner in which it generates the whole order of being beneath it” (p.22). This doctrine, more elaborately, explains that the divine nature is “the First Cause and that time and the aeon (al-dahr) are both beneath it, and that it is the cause of the causes and their author, after a fashion; and that the luminous virtue (or power) shines forth from it upon Reason;… Soul; … Nature” (p.23). All things according to this dogma are the emanation of the One (the First) and the Soul orders or governs either the world of forms or the particular. Islamic Neo-Platonism philosophy was then surrounded by discussion of the First Principle or God, the emanation of things from Him, the role of Reason as a God instrument of creation, the position of the Soul, and about the matter as the basest creation and the lowest rung in the cosmic scale.

The great influence of Greek philosophy did not obstruct the absorption of other influence from Persian and Indian works into the Islamic philosophy and science. It must be noted however, that the Muslims’ interest in Indian philosophy was not as great as their interest in Indian astronomy and medicine. Of this not so great influence, the anonymous treatise on Religious Beliefs of the Indians seems to be important among Arab philosophers. The copy of this work had been reported as part of the handwriting of al-Kindi, for instance. Part of the works of Indian philosophy appeared in a significant portion in the work of al-Biruni (ca. 1048) in his treatise On the Truth about the Beliefs of India. However this work came too late to have an influential impact on Muslim philosophy compared to the one from the Greek. It is also possible that through the work of al-Razi about Atomism, as a reaction against Aristotelianism, Indian philosophy can be traced. The discussion of Barahima and Sumaniya are another possibility of looking at the Indian influence on Muslim philosophy. Barahima views that prophethood or commissioning of prophet by God is altogether unnecessary. Sumaniya was an Indian sect which was also mentioned in the Arab sources, cited as a kind of skeptical epistemology which sees any supersensible knowledge as impossible.

Also influential is the Persian works. Through the works of Ibn al-Mukaffa this Persian impact can be traced. The main theme of this Persian influence is related to Manichean dualism. The polemics against heretic well-known as Zindiq are related very much to Manicheanism. A greater influence of Persian works and culture came later from new generation of Persian thinkers and philosophers. Most of this influence were marked by the works of Muslim thinkers of Persian origin such as Sibawayh (a grammarian), Ibn Sina (a philosopher), al-Razi (a physician), and al-Ghazali (a theologian).