al-Kindi
al-Kindi | |
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Islamic theology (kalam), logic, ethics, mathematics, physics, chemistry, psychology, pharmacology, medicine, metaphysics, cosmology, astrology, music theory |
Abū Yūsuf Yaʻqūb ibn ʼIsḥāq aṣ-Ṣabbāḥ al-Kindī (
Al-Kindi was born in
In the field of
The central theme underpinning al-Kindi's philosophical writings is the compatibility between philosophy and other "orthodox" Islamic sciences, particularly theology, and many of his works deal with subjects that theology had an immediate interest in. These include the nature of God, the soul and prophetic knowledge.[18]
Early life
Al-Kindi was born in
When al-Ma'mun died, his brother, al-Mu'tasim became caliph. Al-Kindi's position would be enhanced under al-Mu'tasim, who appointed him as a tutor to his son. But on the accession of al-Wathiq (r. 842–847), and especially of al-Mutawakkil, al-Kindi's star waned. There are various theories concerning this: some attribute al-Kindi's downfall to scholarly rivalries at the House of Wisdom; others refer to al-Mutawakkil's often violent persecution of unorthodox Muslims (as well as of non-Muslims); at one point al-Kindi was beaten and his library temporarily confiscated. Henry Corbin, an authority on Islamic studies, says that in 873, al-Kindi died "a lonely man", in Baghdad during the reign of al-Mu'tamid (r. 870–892). [21]
After his death, al-Kindi's philosophical works quickly fell into obscurity; many were lost even to later Islamic scholars and historians. Felix Klein-Franke suggests several reasons for this: aside from the militant orthodoxy of al-Mutawakkil, the Mongols also destroyed countless libraries during their invasion of Persia and Mesopotamia. However, he says the most probable cause of this was that his writings never found popularity amongst subsequent influential philosophers such as al-Farabi and Avicenna, who ultimately overshadowed him.[22] His philosophical career peaked under al-Mu'tasim, to whom al-Kindi dedicated his most famous work, On First Philosophy, and whose son Ahmad was tutored by al-Kindi.
Accomplishments
According to Arab bibliographer Ibn al-Nadim, al-Kindi wrote at least two hundred and sixty books, contributing heavily to geometry (thirty-two books), medicine and philosophy (twenty-two books each), logic (nine books), and physics (twelve books).[23] Although most of his books have been lost over the centuries, a few have survived in the form of Latin translations by Gerard of Cremona, and others have been rediscovered in Arabic manuscripts; most importantly, twenty-four of his lost works were located in the mid-twentieth century in a Turkish library.[24]
Philosophy
His greatest contribution to the development of Islamic philosophy was his efforts to make Greek thought both accessible and acceptable to a Muslim audience. Al-Kindi carried out this mission from the
In his writings, one of al-Kindi's central concerns was to demonstrate the compatibility between philosophy and
Astronomy
Al-Kindi took his view of the solar system from Ptolemy, who placed the Earth at the centre of a series of concentric spheres, in which the known heavenly bodies (the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and the stars) are embedded. In one of his treatises on the subject, he says that these bodies are rational entities, whose circular motion is in obedience to and worship of God. Their role, al-Kindi believes, is to act as instruments for divine providence. He furnishes empirical evidence as proof for this assertion; different seasons are marked by particular arrangements of the planets and stars (most notably the sun); the appearance and manner of people varies according to the arrangement of heavenly bodies situated above their homeland.[27]
However, he is ambiguous when it comes to the actual process by which the heavenly bodies affect the material world. One theory he posits in his works is from Aristotle, who conceived that the movement of these bodies causes friction in the sub-lunar region, which stirs up the primary elements of earth, fire, air and water, and these combine to produce everything in the material world. An alternative view found in the treatise On Rays (De radiis) is that the planets exercise their influence in straight lines; but this treatise, written by a Latin author, probably around the middle of the 13th century, is apocryphal.[28] In each of these, two fundamentally different views of physical interaction are presented; action by contact and action at a distance. This dichotomy is duplicated in his writings on optics.[29]
Some of the notable astrological works by al-Kindi include:[30]
- The Book of the Judgement of the Stars, including The Forty Chapters, on questions and elections.
- On the Stellar Rays (spurious)
- Several epistles on weather and meteorology, including De mutatione temporum, ("On the Changing of the Weather").
- Treatise on the Judgement of Eclipses.
- Treatise on the Dominion of the Arabs and its Duration (used to predict the end of Arab rule).
- The Choices of Days (on elections).
- On the Revolutions of the Years (on mundane astrology and natal revolutions).
- De Signis Astronomiae Applicitis as Mediciam 'On the Signs of Astronomy as applied to Medicine'
- Treatise on the Spirituality of the Planets.
Optics
Al-Kindi was the first major writer on optics since antiquity. Roger Bacon placed him in the first rank after Ptolemy as a writer on the topic.[31] In the apocryphal work known as De radiis stellarum, is developed the theory "that everything in the world ... emits rays in every direction, which fill the whole world."[32] This theory of the active power of rays had an influence on later scholars such as Ibn al-Haytham, Robert Grosseteste and Roger Bacon.[33]
Two major theories of optics appear in the writings of al-Kindi: Aristotelian and Euclidean. Aristotle had believed that in order for the eye to perceive an object, both the eye and the object must be in contact with a transparent medium (such as air) that is filled with light. When these criteria are met, the "sensible form" of the object is transmitted through the medium to the eye. On the other hand, Euclid proposed that vision occurred in straight lines when "rays" from the eye reached an illuminated object and were reflected back. As with his theories on Astrology, the dichotomy of contact and distance is present in al-Kindi's writings on this subject as well.
The factor which al-Kindi relied upon to determine which of these theories was most correct was how adequately each one explained the experience of seeing. For example, Aristotle's theory was unable to account for why the angle at which an individual sees an object affects his perception of it. For example, why a circle viewed from the side will appear as a line. According to Aristotle, the complete sensible form of a circle should be transmitted to the eye and it should appear as a circle. On the other hand, Euclidean optics provided a geometric model that was able to account for this, as well as the length of shadows and reflections in mirrors, because Euclid believed that the visual "rays" could only travel in straight lines (something which is commonly accepted in modern science). For this reason, al-Kindi considered the latter preponderant.[34]
Al-Kindi's primary optical treatise "De aspectibus" was later translated into Latin. This work, along with
Medicine
There are more than thirty treatises attributed to al-Kindi in the field of medicine, in which he was chiefly influenced by the ideas of Galen.[36] His most important work in this field is probably De Gradibus, in which he demonstrates the application of mathematics to medicine, particularly in the field of pharmacology. For example, he developed a mathematical scale to quantify the strength of a drug, and a system (based on the phases of the moon) that would allow a doctor to determine in advance the most critical days of a patient's illness.[17] According to Plinio Prioreschi, this was the first attempt at serious quantification in medicine.[37]
Chemistry
Al-Kindi denied the possibility of transmuting base metals into precious metals such as gold and silver, a position that was later attacked by the Persian alchemist and physician Abu Bakr al-Razi (c. 865 – c. 925).[38]
One work attributed to al-Kindi, variously known as the Kitāb al-Taraffuq fī l-ʿiṭr ("The Book of Gentleness on Perfume") or the Kitāb Kīmiyāʾ al-ʿiṭr wa-l-taṣʿīdāt ("The Book of the Chemistry of Perfume and Distillations"), contains one of the earliest known references to the distillation of wine.[39] The work also describes the distillation process for extracting rose oils, and provides recipes for 107 different kinds of perfumes.[40]
Mathematics
Al-Kindi authored works on a number of important mathematical subjects, including arithmetic, geometry, the Hindu numbers, the harmony of numbers, lines and multiplication with numbers, relative quantities, measuring proportion and time, and numerical procedures and cancellation.
Cryptography
Al-Kindi is credited with developing a method whereby variations in the frequency of the occurrence of letters could be analyzed and exploited to break ciphers (i.e. cryptanalysis by frequency analysis).[16] His book on this topic is Risāla fī Istikhrāj al-Kutub al-Mu'ammāh (رسالة في استخراج الكتب المعماة; literally: On Extracting Obscured Correspondence, more contemporarily: On Decrypting Encrypted Correspondence). In his treatise on cryptanalysis, he wrote:
One way to solve an encrypted message, if we know its language, is to find a different plaintext of the same language long enough to fill one sheet or so, and then we count the occurrences of each letter. We call the most frequently occurring letter the "first", the next most occurring letter the "second", the following most occurring letter the "third", and so on, until we account for all the different letters in the plaintext sample. Then we look at the cipher text we want to solve and we also classify its symbols. We find the most occurring symbol and change it to the form of the "first" letter of the plaintext sample, the next most common symbol is changed to the form of the "second" letter, and the following most common symbol is changed to the form of the "third" letter, and so on, until we account for all symbols of the cryptogram we want to solve.[42]
Al-Kindi was influenced by the work of
Meteorology
In a treatise entitled as Risala fi l-Illa al-Failali l-Madd wa l-Fazr (Treatise on the Efficient Cause of the Flow and Ebb), al-Kindi presents a theory on tides which "depends on the changes which take place in bodies owing to the rise and fall of temperature."[43] In order to support his argument, he gave a description of a scientific experiment as follows:
One can also observe by the senses... how in consequence of extreme cold air changes into water. To do this, one takes a glass bottle, fills it completely with snow, and closes its end carefully. Then one determines its weight by weighing. One places it in a container... which has previously been weighed. On the surface of the bottle the air changes into water, and appears upon it like the drops on large porous pitchers, so that a considerable amount of water gradually collects inside the container. One then weighs the bottle, the water and the container, and finds their weight greater than previously, which proves the change. [...] Some foolish persons are of opinion that the snow exudes through the glass. This is impossible. There is no process by which water or snow can be made to pass through glass.
In explaining the natural cause of the wind, and the difference for its directions based on time and location, he wrote:[44]
When the sun is in its northern declination northerly places will heat up and it will be cold towards the south. Then the northern air will expand in a southerly direction because of the heat due to the contraction of the southern air. Therefore most of the summer winds are merits and most of the winter winds are not.
Music theory
Al-Kindi was the first great theoretician of music in the Arab-Islamic world. He is known to have written fifteen treatises on
Philosophical thought
Influences
While Muslim intellectuals were already acquainted with Greek philosophy (especially
Metaphysics
According to al-Kindi, the goal of metaphysics is knowledge of God. For this reason, he does not make a clear distinction between philosophy and theology, because he believes they are both concerned with the same subject. Later philosophers, particularly al-Farabi and Avicenna, would strongly disagree with him on this issue, by saying that metaphysics is actually concerned with being qua being, and as such, the nature of God is purely incidental.[18]
Central to al-Kindi's understanding of metaphysics is God's
In addition to absolute oneness, al-Kindi also described God as the Creator. This means that He acts as both a final and efficient cause. Unlike later Muslim
Epistemology
Al-Kindi theorized that there was a separate, incorporeal and universal intellect (known as the "First Intellect"). It was the first of God's creation and the intermediary through which all other things came into creation. Aside from its obvious metaphysical importance, it was also crucial to al-Kindi's
According to Plato, everything that exists in the material world corresponds to certain
The analogy he provides to explain his theory is that of wood and fire. Wood, he argues, is potentially hot (just as a human is potentially thinking about a universal), and therefore requires something else which is already hot (such as fire) to actualize this. This means that for the human intellect to think about something, the First Intellect must already be thinking about it. Therefore, he says that the First Intellect must always be thinking about everything. Once the human intellect comprehends a universal by this process, it becomes part of the individual's "acquired intellect" and can be thought about whenever he or she wishes.[55]
The soul and the afterlife
Al-Kindi says that the soul is a simple, immaterial substance, which is related to the material world only because of its faculties which operate through the physical body. To explain the nature of our worldly existence, he (borrowing from Epictetus) compares it to a ship which has, during the course of its ocean voyage, temporarily anchored itself at an island and allowed its passengers to disembark. The implicit warning is that those passengers who linger too long on the island may be left behind when the ship sets sail again. Here, al-Kindi displays a stoic concept, that we must not become attached to material things (represented by the island), as they will invariably be taken away from us (when the ship sets sail again). He then connects this with a Neo-Platonist idea, by saying that our soul can be directed towards the pursuit of desire or the pursuit of intellect; the former will tie it to the body, so that when the body dies, it will also die, but the latter will free it from the body and allow it to survive "in the light of the Creator" in a realm of pure intelligence.[56]
The relationship between revelation and philosophy
In the view of al-Kindi, prophecy and philosophy were two different routes to arrive at the truth. He contrasts the two positions in four ways. Firstly, while a person must undergo a long period of training and study to become a philosopher, prophecy is bestowed upon someone by God. Secondly, the philosopher must arrive at the truth by his own devices (and with great difficulty), whereas the prophet has the truth revealed to him by God. Thirdly, the understanding of the prophet – being divinely revealed – is clearer and more comprehensive than that of the philosopher. Fourthly, the way in which the prophet is able to express this understanding to the ordinary people is superior. Therefore, al-Kindi says the prophet is superior in two fields: the ease and certainty with which he receives the truth, and the way in which he presents it. However, the crucial implication is that the content of the prophet's and the philosopher's knowledge is the same. This, says Adamson, demonstrates how limited the superiority al-Kindi afforded to prophecy was.[57][58]
In addition to this, al-Kindi adopted a naturalistic view of prophetic visions. He argued that, through the faculty of "imagination" as conceived of in Aristotelian philosophy, certain "pure" and well-prepared souls, were able to receive information about future events. Significantly, he does not attribute such visions or dreams to revelation from God, but instead explains that imagination enables human beings to receive the "form" of something without needing to perceive the physical entity to which it refers. Therefore, it would seem to imply that anyone who has purified themselves would be able to receive such visions. It is precisely this idea, amongst other naturalistic explanations of prophetic miracles that al-Ghazali attacks in his Incoherence of the Philosophers.[59]
Critics and patrons
While al-Kindi appreciated the usefulness of philosophy in answering questions of a religious nature, there would be many Islamic thinkers who were not as enthusiastic about its potential. But it would be incorrect to assume that they opposed philosophy simply because it was a "foreign science". Oliver Leaman, an expert on Islamic philosophy, points out that the objections of notable theologians are rarely directed at philosophy itself, but rather at the conclusions the philosophers arrived at. Even al-Ghazali, who is famous for his critique of the philosophers, was himself an expert in philosophy and logic. And his criticism was that they arrived at theologically erroneous conclusions. The three most serious of these, in his view, were believing in the co-eternity of the universe with God, denying the bodily resurrection, and asserting that God only has knowledge of abstract universals, not of particular things (not all philosophers subscribed to these same views).[60]
During his life, al-Kindi was fortunate enough to enjoy the patronage of the pro-
Legacy
Al-Kindi was a master of many different areas of thought and was held to be one of the greatest philosophers. His influence in the fields of physics, mathematics, medicine, philosophy, and music were far-reaching and lasted for several centuries.
The best man of his time, unique in his knowledge of all the ancient sciences. He is called the Philosopher of the Arabs. His books deal with different sciences, such as logic, philosophy, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy etc. We have connected him with the natural philosophers because of his prominence in Science.[64]
Al-Kindi's major contribution was his establishment of philosophy in the Islamic world and his efforts in trying to harmonize the philosophical investigation along with the Islamic theology and creed. The philosophical texts which were translated under his supervision would become the standard texts in the
Al-Kindi was also an important figure in
In 1986, the Royal Commission for Riyadh City inaugurated the Al Kindi Plaza in the Diplomatic Quarter district of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
References
- ^ Klein-Frank, F. Al-Kindi. In Leaman, O & Nasr, H (2001). History of Islamic Philosophy. London: Routledge. p 165
- ISBN 978-0-7914-6799-2.
- ISBN 978-1-4042-0511-6.
- ISBN 978-1-85109-980-1.
- ^ "Al-Kindi biography". www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007.
- ^ a b Klein-Franke 2001, p. 165.
- ^ a b c Corbin 1993, p. 155.
- ^ Adamson 2005, p. 33.
- ^ Adamson 2007, p. 7.
- ^ a b "Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Sabbah Al-Kindi". Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
- from the original on 12 January 2022.
- ^ Borda, Monica (2011). Fundamentals in Information Theory and Coding. Springer. p. 122.
Al Kindi, an Arab scientist from 9th century is considered the father of cryptology, his book on this subject being, at this moment, the oldest available.
- ^ S2CID 123537702.
- S2CID 123537702.
- ^ "Al-Kindi Distinguished Statistics Lectures". Statistics at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
The lectures are named after Al-Kindi (801–873 CE), a prominent figure in the House of Wisdom, whose book entitled "Manuscript on Deciphering Cryptographic Messages" is believed to be the earliest writing on statistics. In his book, Al-Kindi gave a detailed description on how to decipher encrypted messages using statistics and frequency analysis. This text arguably gave rise to the birth of both statistics and cryptanalysis.
- ^ ISBN 9780385495325.
- ^ a b Klein-Franke 2001, p. 172.
- ^ a b Adamson 2005, p. 34.
- ISBN 9781404205116.
- ISBN 0-521-52940-9.
- ^ a b c Corbin 1993, p. 154.
- ^ Klein-Franke 2001, p. 166.
- ^ Corbin 1993, pp. 154–155.
- ^ Klein-Franke 2001, pp. 172–173.
- ^ Adamson 2005, p. 32-33.
- ^ Klein-Franke 2001, pp. 166–167.
- ^ Adamson 2005, p. 42.
- S2CID 258054985.
- ^ Adamson 2005, p. 43.
- ^ Dykes, Benjamin N. (2011). The Forty Chapters of Al-Kindī: Traditional Horary and Electional Astrology. Minneapolis: Cazimi Press. pp. 5–6.
- ^ Deming, David (2012). Science and Technology in World History, Volume 2: Early Christianity, the Rise of Islam and the Middle Ages. McFarland. p. 92.
- OCLC 463202962.
- S2CID 40895875.
- ^ Adamson 2005, p. 45.
- ^ Szulakowska, Urszula (2000). The Alchemy of Light: Geometry and Optics in Late Renaissance Alchemical Illustration. Brill. p. 29.
In the West, optics was developed by fourteenth century scholastics such as Bacon, Witelo, Ockham and Pecham following Arabian models, in particular, those of Alhazen's Optics and Al-kindi's De radiis stellarum.
- ^ Prioreschi 2002.
- ^ Prioreschi 1996, p. 230.
- ^ Klein-Franke 2001, pp. 173–174.
- ISBN 9789231038310. pp. 65-69; al-Hassan, Ahmad Y. (2009). "Alcohol and the Distillation of Wine in Arabic Sources from the 8th Century". Studies in al-Kimya': Critical Issues in Latin and Arabic Alchemy and Chemistry. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag. pp. 283–298. (same content also available on the author's website). See also Garbers, Karl (1948). Kitāb Kīmiyā' al-'Iṭr Wat-Taṣ'īdāt: Buch über die Chemie des Parfüms und die Destillationen von Ya'qūb b. Isḥāq al-Kindī. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der arabischen Parfümgeschichte und Drogenkunde aus de 9. Jahrh. Vol. P.C. Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 30. Leipzig: Brockhaus..
- ^ al-Hassan 2001, p. 69.
- ^ Al-Allaf, M. "Al-Kindi's Mathematical Metaphysics" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 January 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2007.
- ISBN 978-0821883211.
- ^ Prioreschi 2002, p. 17.
- ISBN 9780755210114.
- ISBN 978-1412981767.
- ISBN 978-9004101289.
- ISBN 978-0292781498.
- ^ Adamson 2005, p. 37.
- ^ a b Adamson 2005, p. 36.
- ^ Adamson 2005, p. 35.
- ^ Klein-Franke 2001, p. 167.
- ^ Adamson 2005, p. 39.
- ^ Klein-Franke 2001, p. 168.
- ^ Adamson 2005, pp. 40–41.
- ^ Adamson 2005, p. 40.
- ^ Adamson 2005, pp. 41–42.
- ^ Adamson 2005, p. 46-47.
- ^ Corbin 1993, p. 156.
- ^ Adamson 2005, p. 47.
- ISBN 978-0-7456-1961-3.
- ^ Black, p168[full citation needed]
- ^ Black, p169[full citation needed]
- ^ Black, p171[full citation needed]
- ^ "Al-Kindi | Muslim Heritage". www.muslimheritage.com. 6 May 2007.
- ^ Adamson, Peter (2018). Al-Kindi. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University.
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ignored (help) - ^ Sarton, George (1927). Introduction to the History of Science. Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Bibliography
English translations
- Adamson, Peter; Pormann, Peter E., eds. (2012). The Philosophical Works of al-Kindī. New York: Oxford University Press.
Works about al-Kindi
- Adamson, Peter (2007). Al-Kindī. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 978-0-19-518142-5. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- Adamson, Peter (10 January 2005). "Al-Kindī and the reception of Greek philosophy". In Adamson, Peter; Taylor, Richard C. (eds.). The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy. Cambridge University Press. pp. 32–51. ISBN 978-0-521-81743-1.
- ISBN 978-0-631-22967-4.
- ISBN 9781135198886.
- Klein-Franke, Felix (2001). "Al-Kindi". In Leaman, Oliver; Nasr, Hossein (eds.). History of Islamic Philosophy. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415131599.
- Prioreschi, Plinio (2002). "Al-Kindi, A Precursor of the Scientific Revolution" (PDF). Journal of the International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine. 2: 17–19.
- Prioreschi, Plinio (1996). "Medicine: al-Kindi". A History of Medicine: Vol.4 Byzantine and Islamic medicine. Omaha: Horatius Press. pp. 227–235.
External links
- Adamson, Peter. "Al-Kindi". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Cooper, Glen M. (2007). "Kindī: Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq al-Kindī". In Thomas Hockey; et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer. pp. 635–6. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. (PDF version)
- Alkindus (Bibliotheca Augustana)
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Sabbah Al-Kindi", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
- Al-Kindi – Famous Muslims
- Al-Kindi's website – Islamic Philosophy Online
- Dr. Mashhad Al-Allaf DOC– Three texts by Al Kindi in the Islamic Philosophy section
- Benjamnin N. Dyke's translation of Al-Kindi's Forty Chapters with PDF extracts from the Introduction and main text
- Texts on Wikisource:
- "New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
- "Kindī". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
- "Kindi, Abu Yusuf Ya'kub Ibn Ishak Al-". Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.
- "