Al-Kindi

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"Alkindus" redirects here. For the insect (bug), see Alkindus (genus).

For the surname, see Al-Kindi (surname).

al-Kindī
Portrait of Al-Kindi
Born	c. 801 Basra, Iraq
Died	c. 873 (aged approx. 72) Baghdad, Iraq
Era	Medieval era (Islamic Golden Age)
Region	Iraq, Arab world, Muslim world
School	Islamic theology, philosophy
Main interests	Philosophy, logic, ethics, mathematics, physics, chemistry, psychology, pharmacology, medicine, metaphysics, cosmology, astrology, music theory, Islamic theology (kalam)
Influences[show] Ancient Greek philosophy
Influenced[show] Abu Zayd al-Balkhi, Ahmad ibn al-Tayyib al-Sarakhsi, Isaac Israeli ben Solomon, Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi, Miskawayh,[1] Robert Grosseteste

Abu Yūsuf Yaʻqūb ibn ʼIsḥāq aṣ-Ṣabbāḥ al-Kindī (Arabic: أبو يوسف يعقوب بن إسحاق الصبّاح الكندي‎, Latin: Alkindus) (c. 801–873 CE), known as "the Philosopher of the Arabs", was an Iraqi Muslim Arab philosopher, polymath, mathematician, physician and musician. Al-Kindi was the first of the Muslim peripatetic philosophers, and is unanimously hailed as the "father of Islamic or Arabic philosophy"^[2][3][4] for his synthesis, adaptation and promotion of Greek and Hellenistic philosophy in the Muslim world.^[5]
Al-Kindi was a descendant of the Kinda tribe. He was born and educated in Basra,^[6] before going to pursue further studies in Baghdad. Al-Kindi became a prominent figure in the House of Wisdom, and a number of Abbasid Caliphs appointed him to oversee the translation of Greek scientific and philosophical texts into the Arabic language. This contact with "the philosophy of the ancients" (as Greek philosophy was often referred to by Muslim scholars) had a profound effect on his intellectual development, and led him to write hundreds of original treatises of his own on a range of subjects ranging from metaphysics, ethics, logic and psychology, to medicine, pharmacology,^[7] mathematics, astronomy, astrology and optics, and further afield to more practical topics like perfumes, swords, jewels, glass, dyes, zoology, tides, mirrors, meteorology and earthquakes.^[8][9]
In the field of mathematics, al-Kindi played an important role in introducing Indian numerals to the Islamic and Christian world.^[10] He was a pioneer in cryptanalysis and devised several new methods of breaking ciphers.^[11] Using his mathematical and medical expertise, he was able to develop a scale that would allow doctors to quantify the potency of their medication.^[12]
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.^[13] But despite the important role he played in making philosophy accessible to Muslim intellectuals, his own philosophical output was largely overshadowed by that of al-Farabi and very few of his texts are available for modern scholars to examine.

Contents

 [hide] 

• 1 Life
• 2 Accomplishments
  • 2.1 Philosophy
  • 2.2 Astronomy
  • 2.3 Optics
  • 2.4 Medicine
  • 2.5 Chemistry
  • 2.6 Mathematics
  • 2.7 Cryptography
  • 2.8 Music theory
• 3 Philosophical thought
  • 3.1 Influences
  • 3.2 Metaphysics
  • 3.3 Epistemology
  • 3.4 The soul and the afterlife
  • 3.5 The relationship between revelation and philosophy
  • 3.6 Critics and patrons
• 4 References
• 5 Bibliography
  • 5.1 English translations
  • 5.2 Studies
• 6 External links

Life[edit]

Al-Kindi was born in Kufa to an aristocratic family of the Kinda tribe, descended from the chieftain al-Ash'ath ibn Qays, a contemporary of Muhammad. The family belonged to the most prominent families of the tribal nobility of Kufa in the early Islamic period, until it lost much of its power following the revolt of Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath.^[14] His father Ishaq was the governor of Kufa, and al-Kindi received his preliminary education there. He later went to complete his studies in Baghdad, where he was patronized by the Abbasid caliphs al-Ma'mun (ruled 813–833) and al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842). On account of his learning and aptitude for study, al-Ma'mun appointed him to the House of Wisdom, a recently established centre for the translation of Greek philosophical and scientific texts, in Baghdad. He was also well known for his beautiful calligraphy, and at one point was employed as a calligrapher by al-Mutawakkil.^[15]
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 (r. 847–861), 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).^[15]
After his death, al-Kindi's philosophical works quickly fell into obscurity and many of them were lost even to later Islamic scholars and historians. Felix Klein-Franke suggests a number of reasons for this: aside from the militant orthodoxy of al-Mutawakkil, the Mongols also destroyed countless libraries during their invasion. 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.^[16]

Accomplishments[edit]

Al-Kindi was a master of many different areas of thought. And although he would eventually be eclipsed by names such as al-Farabi and Avicenna, he was held to be one of the greatest Islamic philosophers of his time.
The Italian Renaissance scholar Geralomo Cardano (1501–1575) considered him one of the twelve greatest minds of the Middle Ages.^[17] According to 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).^[18] His influence in the fields of physics, mathematics, medicine, philosophy and music were far-reaching and lasted for several centuries. 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.^[19]

Philosophy[edit]

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 House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma), an institute of translation and learning patronized by the Abbasid Caliphs, in Baghdad.^[15] As well as translating many important texts, much of what was to become standard Arabic philosophical vocabulary originated with al-Kindi; indeed, if it had not been for him, the work of philosophers like Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and al-Ghazali might not have been possible.^[20]
In his writings, one of al-Kindi's central concerns was to demonstrate the compatibility between philosophy and natural theology on the one hand, and revealed or speculative theology on the other (though in fact he rejected speculative theology). Despite this, he did make clear that he believed revelation was a superior source of knowledge to reason because it guaranteed matters of faith that reason could not uncover. And while his philosophical approach was not always original, and was even considered clumsy by later thinkers (mainly because he was the first philosopher writing in the Arabic language), he successfully incorporated Aristotelian and (especially) neo-Platonist thought into an Islamic philosophical framework. This was an important factor in the introduction and popularization of Greek philosophy in the Muslim intellectual world.^[21]

Astronomy[edit]

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.^[22]
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 his treatise On Rays is that the planets exercise their influence in straight lines. In each of these, he presents two fundamentally different views of physical interaction; action by contact and action at a distance. This dichotomy is duplicated in his writings on optics.^[23]
Some of the notable astrological works by al-Kindi include:^[24]

• The Book of the Judgement of the Stars, including The Forty Chapters, on questions and elections.
• On the Stellar Rays.
• 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[edit]

Two major theories of optics appear in the writings of al-Kindi; Aristotelian and Euclidian. 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.^[25]
Through the Latin version of the De Aspectibus, Al-Kindi partly influenced the optical investigations of Robert Grosseteste.^[26]

Medicine[edit]

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.^[27] 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 drug and a system, based the phases of the moon, that would allow a doctor to determine in advance the most critical days of a patient's illness.^[12]

Chemistry[edit]

As an advanced chemist, he was also an opponent of alchemy; he debunked the myth that simple, base metals could be transformed into precious metals such as gold or silver.^[28] He is sometimes credited as one of the first distillers of alcohol.

Mathematics[edit]

Al-Kindi authored works on a number of important mathematical subjects, including arithmetic, geometry, the Indian numbers, the harmony of numbers, lines and multiplication with numbers, relative quantities, measuring proportion and time, and numerical procedures and cancellation.^[10] He also wrote four volumes, On the Use of the Indian Numerals (Ketab fi Isti'mal al-'Adad al-Hindi) which contributed greatly to diffusion of the Indian system of numeration in the Middle-East and the West. In geometry, among other works, he wrote on the theory of parallels. Also related to geometry were two works on optics. One of the ways in which he made use of mathematics as a philosopher was to attempt to disprove the eternity of the world by demonstrating that actual infinity is a mathematical and logical absurdity.^[29]

The first page of al-Kindi's manuscript "On Deciphering Cryptographic Messages", containing the oldest known description of cryptanalysis by frequency analysis.

Cryptography[edit]

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).^[11]

Music theory[edit]

Al-Kindi was the first great theoretician of music in the Arab-Islamic world. He is known to have written fifteen treatises on music theory, but only five have survived. He added a fifth string to the 'ud.^[30] His works included discussions on the therapeutic value of music^[31] and what he regarded as "cosmological connections" of music.^[32]

Philosophical thought[edit]

Influences[edit]

While Muslim intellectuals were already acquainted with Greek philosophy (especially logic), al-Kindi is credited with being the first real Muslim philosopher.^[33] His own thought was largely influenced by the Neo-Platonic philosophy of Proclus, Plotinus and John Philoponus, amongst others, although he does appear to have borrowed ideas from other Hellenistic schools as well.^[34] He makes many references to Aristotle in his writings, but these are often unwittingly re-interpreted in a Neo-Platonic framework. This trend is most obvious in areas such as metaphysics and the nature of God as a causal entity.^[35] Earlier experts had suggested that he was influenced by the Mutazilite school of theology, because of the mutual concern both he and they demonstrated for maintaining the singularity (tawhid) of God. However, such agreements are now considered incidental, as further study has shown that they disagreed on a number of equally important topics.^[36]

Metaphysics[edit]

According to al-Kindi, the goal of metaphysics is the 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.^[13]
Central to al-Kindi's understanding of metaphysics is God's absolute oneness, which he considers an attribute uniquely associated with God (and therefore not shared with anything else). By this he means that while we may think of any existent thing as being "one", it is in fact both "one" and many". For example, he says that while a body is one, it is also composed of many different parts. A person might say "I see an elephant", by which he means "I see one elephant", but the term 'elephant' refers to a species of animal that contains many. Therefore, only God is absolutely one, both in being and in concept, lacking any multiplicity whatsoever. Some feel this understanding entails a very rigorous negative theology because it implies that any description which can be predicated to anything else, cannot be said about God.^[36][37]
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 Neo-Platonic philosophers (who asserted that the universe existed as a result of God's existence "overflowing", which is a passive act), al-Kindi conceived of God as an active agent. In fact, of God as the agent, because all other intermediary agencies are contingent upon Him.^[38] The key idea here is that God "acts" through created intermediaries, which in turn "act" on one another – through a chain of cause and effect – to produce the desired result. In reality, these intermediary agents do not "act" at all, they are merely a conduit for God's own action.^[35] This is especially significant in the development of Islamic philosophy, as it portrayed the "first cause" and "unmoved mover" of Aristotelian philosophy as compatible with the concept of God according to Islamic revelation.^[39]

Epistemology[edit]

Ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle would become highly revered in the medieval Islamic world.

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 epistemology, which was influenced by Platonic realism.^[40]
According to Plato, everything that exists in the material world corresponds to certain universal forms in the heavenly realm. These forms are really abstract concepts such as a species, quality or relation, which apply to all physical objects and beings. For example, a red apple has the quality of "redness" derived from the appropriate universal. However, al-Kindi says that human intellects are only potentially able to comprehend these. This potential is actualized by the First Intellect, which is perpetually thinking about all of the universals. He argues that the external agency of this intellect is necessary by saying that human beings cannot arrive at a universal concept merely through perception. In other words, an intellect cannot understand the species of a thing simply by examining one or more of its instances. According to him, this will only yield an inferior "sensible form", and not the universal form which we desire. The universal form can only be attained through contemplation and actualization by the First Intellect.^[41]
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.^[42]

The soul and the afterlife[edit]

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.^[43]

The relationship between revelation and philosophy[edit]

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.^[44][45]
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.^[46]

Critics and patrons[edit]

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).^[47]
During his life, al-Kindi was fortunate enough to enjoy the patronage of the pro-Mutazilite Caliphs al-Ma'mun and al-Mu'tasim, which meant he could carry out his philosophical speculations with relative ease. In his own time, al-Kindi would be criticized for extolling the "intellect" as being the most immanent creation in proximity to God, which was commonly held to be the position of the angels.^[48] He also engaged in disputations with the Mutazilites, whom he attacked for their belief in atoms.^[49] But the real role of al-Kindi in the conflict between philosophers and theologians would be to prepare the ground for debate. His works, says Deborah Black, contained all the seeds of future controversy that would be fully realized in al-Ghazali's Incoherence of the Philosophers.^[50]

References[edit]

1. Jump up ^ Adamson, pp.12–13
2. Jump up ^ Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (2006). Islamic philosophy from its origin to the present : philosophy in the land of prophecy. State Univ. of New York Press. pp. 137–138. ISBN 0-7914-6799-6. 
3. Jump up ^ Abboud, Tony (2006). Al-Kindi : the father of Arab philosophy. Rosen Pub. Group. ISBN 1-4042-0511-X. 
4. Jump up ^ Greenberg, Yudit Kornberg (2008). Encyclopedia of love in world religions 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 405. ISBN 1-85109-980-8. 
5. Jump up ^ Klein-Frank, F. Al-Kindi. In Leaman, O & Nasr, H (2001). History of Islamic Philosophy. London: Routledge. p 165
6. Jump up ^ http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/al-kindi/
7. Jump up ^ Corbin, Henry (1993). History of Islamic philosophy. Kegan Paul International. p. 155. ISBN 0-7103-0416-1. 
8. Jump up ^ Adamson, Peter (2006). "Al-Kindı¯ and the reception of Greek philosophy". In Adamson, Peter; Taylor, R. The Cambridge companion to Arabic philosophy. Cambridge University Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-521-52069-0. 
9. Jump up ^ Adamson, p7
10. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} "Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Sabbah Al-Kindi". Retrieved 2007-01-12. 
11. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Simon Singh, The Code Book, pgs. 14–20. New York City: Anchor Books, 2000. ISBN 9780385495325
12. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Klein-Franke, p172
13. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Adamson, p34
14. Jump up ^ Crone, Patricia (1980). Slaves on Horses: The Evolution of the Islamic Polity. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 110–111. ISBN 0-521-52940-9. 
15. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b c} Corbin, p154
16. Jump up ^ Klein-Franke, p166
17. Jump up ^ George Satron. Introduction to the History of Science.
18. Jump up ^ Corbin, p154-155
19. Jump up ^ Klein-Franke, p172-173
20. Jump up ^ Adamson, p32-33
21. Jump up ^ Klein-Franke, p166-167
22. Jump up ^ Adamson, p42
23. Jump up ^ Adamson, p43
24. Jump up ^ Dykes, B., (2011) The Forty Chapters. Minnesota: Cazimi Press, 2011; pp.5–6
25. Jump up ^ Adamson, p45
26. Jump up ^ Hendrix, John Shannon; Carman, Charles H., eds. (2010). Renaissance Theories of Vision. Visual Culture in Early Modernity. Ashgate. p. 13. ISBN 1409400247. 
27. Jump up ^ P. Prioreschi. Al-Kindi, A Precursor of the Scientific Revolution
28. Jump up ^ Klein-Franke, p174
29. Jump up ^ Al-Allaf, M. "Al-Kindi's Mathematical Metaphysics" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-12. 
30. Jump up ^ Andrea L. Stanton, Peter J. Seybolt, Edward Ramsamy, Carolyn M. Elliott, ed. (2012). Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia. SAGE Publications. p. 87. ISBN 141298176X. 
31. Jump up ^ Shehadi, Fadlou (1995). Philosophies of Music in Medieval Islam. Leiden: Brill. p. 35. ISBN 9004101284. 
32. Jump up ^ Turner, Howard R. (1997). Science in Medieval Islam: An Illustrated Introduction (3rd pbk. print. ed.). University of Texas Press. p. 49. ISBN 0292781490. 
33. Jump up ^ Klein-Frank, p 165
34. Jump up ^ Adamson, p37
35. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Adamson, p36
36. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Corbin, p155
37. Jump up ^ Adamson, p35
38. Jump up ^ Klein-Frank, p167
39. Jump up ^ Adamson, p39
40. Jump up ^ Klein-Frank, p168
41. Jump up ^ Adamson, p40-41
42. Jump up ^ Adamson, p40
43. Jump up ^ Adamson, p41-42
44. Jump up ^ Adamson, p46-47
45. Jump up ^ Corbin, p156
46. Jump up ^ Adamson, p47
47. Jump up ^ Leaman, O. (1999). A Brief Introduction to Islamic Philosophy Polity Press. p21. ISBN 0-7456-1961-4
48. Jump up ^ Black, p168
49. Jump up ^ Black, p169
50. Jump up ^ Black, p171

Bibliography[edit]

English translations[edit]

• Peter Adamson & Peter E. Pormann (eds.), (2012) The Philosophical Works of al-Kindī, New York: Oxford University Press.

Studies[edit]

• Peter Adamson (2007) Al-Kindi, New York: Oxford University Press.
• Adamson, Peter; Taylor, Richard C. (10 January 2005). The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81743-1. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
• Adamson, Peter (2007). Al-Kindī. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 978-0-19-518142-5. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
• Robert L. Arrington (2001) [ed.] A Companion to the Philosophers. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-22967-1
• Henry Corbin (1993). History of Islamic Philosophy. London: Keagan Paul.
• Felix Klein-Frank (2001) Al-Kindi. In Oliver Leaman & Hossein Nasr. History of Islamic Philosophy. London: Routledge.

External links[edit]

• Al-Kindi entry by Peter Adamson in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Cooper, Glen M. (2007). "Kindī: Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq al‐Kindī". In Thomas Hockey et al. 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:
  • "al-Kindi, Abu Yusuf Ya'ḳub ibn Isḥak". New International Encyclopedia. 1905. 
  • "Kindī". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 
  • "Kindi, Abu Yusuf Ya'kub Ibn Ishak Al-". Encyclopedia Americana. 1920. 

[show] v t e Islamic philosophy Fields Alchemy Aqidah (theology) 'Aql (intellect) Cosmology astrology medieval astronomy Eschatology Ethics Kalam (dialectic) Fiqh (jurisprudence) Logic Metaphysics Natural philosophy (physics) Peace Madrasah (education) Medieval science Medieval psychology Sufism (mysticism) Schools Early Farabism Avicennism Averroism Illuminationism Sufi cosmology metaphysics Transcendent theosophy Traditionalist Contemporary Concepts ʻAṣabīya Ḥāl Iʻjaz ʼIjtihād ʻlm ʻIrfān Ijmāʿ Maslaha Nafs Qadar Qiyās Shūrā Tawḥīd Ummah [show]  Philosophers by century (CE) 9th–10th Al-Kindi Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari Abu al-Abbas Iranshahri Zakariya Razi Apharabius Abu Hatim al-Razi Al Amiri Ikhwan al-Safa Abu Sulayman Sijistani Ibn Masarrah Abu Yaqub al-Sijistani 11th Al-Ghazali Ibn Miskawayh Avicenna Ibn Hazm Bahmanyar Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi Nasir Khusraw 12th Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī Afdal al-Din Kashani Ahi Evren Ahmad Yasavi Ayn-al-Quzat Averroes Ibn Tufail Omar Khayyám Suhrawardi Shams Tabrizi 13th Hajji Bektash Wali Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi Ibn Sab’in Ibn Arabi al-Abharī Nasir al-Din Tusi Fakhr ad-Din ar-Razi Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi 14th–16th Ibn Khaldun Yunus Emre Hajji Bayram Jalaladdin Davani Sadr ad-Din Dashtaki Aziz Mahmud Hudayi Qadi Mir Husayn al-Maybudi Mahmud Shabistari Sayyid Haydar Amuli Dawūd al-Qayṣarī Jami 17th–19th Mir Damad Mir Fendereski Mulla Sadra Mohsen Fayz Kashani Abd al-Razzaq Lahiji Mujaddid Alf-i-Sani Rajab Ali Tabrizi Qazi Sa’id Qumi Shah Waliullah Hādī Sabzavārī 20th–present Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei Muhammad Iqbal Gohar Shahi Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr René Guénon Frithjof Schuon Martin Lings Hossein Nasr Naquib al-Attas Abdolkarim Soroush Gholamhossein Ebrahimi Dinani Taha Abdurrahman Mohammed Abed al-Jabri Mohammed Arkoun Fouad Zakariyya Reza Davari Ardakani Ahmad Fardid Mostafa Malekian Hasanzadeh Amoli Javadi Amoli Partawi Shah

[show] v t e Mathematics in medieval Islam Mathematicians 9th century 'Abd al-Hamīd ibn Turk Sind ibn Ali Al-Abbās ibn Said al-Jawharī Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf ibn Maṭar Al-Kindi Al-Mahani Banū Mūsā Hunayn ibn Ishaq Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī Thābit ibn Qurra Na'im ibn Musa Sahl ibn Bishr Habash al-Hasib al-Marwazi 10th century Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi Abū al-Wafā' al-Būzjānī Abū Ja'far al-Khāzin Abū Kāmil Shujāʿ ibn Aslam Abu'l-Hasan al-Uqlidisi Abu-Mahmud Khojandi Ahmad ibn Yusuf Al-Nayrizi Al-Saghani Brethren of Purity Ibn Sahl Ibn Yunus Ibrahim ibn Sinan Muhammad ibn Jābir al-Harrānī al-Battānī Sinan ibn Thabit Al-Isfahani Abu-Mahmud Khojandi Nazif ibn Yumn Abū Sahl al-Qūhī 11th century Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī Abu Nasr Mansur Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī Alhazen Ibn Muʿādh al-Jayyānī Al-Karaji Al-Sijzi Alī ibn Ahmad al-Nasawī Avicenna Ibn Tahir al-Baghdadi Kushyar ibn Labban Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud 12th century Al-Khazini Ibn Yahyā al-Maghribī al-Samaw'al Omar Khayyám Jabir ibn Aflah Abu Bakr al-Hassar 13th century Muhyi al-Dīn al-Maghribī Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī Shams al-Dīn al-Samarqandī Sharaf al-Dīn al-Tūsī Ibn al‐Ha'im al‐Ishbili Ibn Abi al-Shukr 14th century Yaʿīsh ibn Ibrāhīm al-Umawī Ibn al-Banna' al-Marrakushi Ibn al-Shatir Kamāl al-Dīn Fārisī Al-Khalili Qotb al-Din Shirazi Ahmad al-Qalqashandi 15th century Abū al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Qalaṣādī Ali Qushji Jamshīd al-Kāshī Qāḍī Zāda al-Rūmī Ulugh Beg Ibn al-Majdi 16th century Al-Birjandi Muhammad Baqir Yazdi Taqi al-Din Ibn Hamza al-Maghribi Ibn Ghazi al-Miknasi Treatises Almanac Book of Fixed Stars Book of Optics De Gradibus Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity Tables of Toledo Tabula Rogeriana The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing The Book of Healing Zij Zij-i Ilkhani Zij-i-Sultani Concepts Alhazen's problem Centers Al-Azhar University Al-Mustansiriya University House of Knowledge House of Wisdom Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din Madrasah Maktab Maragheh observatory University of Al-Karaouine Influences Babylonian mathematics Greek mathematics Indian mathematics Influenced Byzantine mathematics European mathematics Indian mathematics

[show] v t e Astronomy in medieval Islam [hide]  Topics Works Arabic star names Islamic calendar ʿAjā'ib al-makhlūqāt wa gharā'ib al-mawjūdāt Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity Tabula Rogeriana The Book of Healing Zij Alfonsine tables Huihui Lifa Book of Fixed Stars Toledan Tables Zij-i Ilkhani Zij-i Sultani Sullam al-sama' Instruments Alidade Analog computer Aperture Armillary sphere Astrolabe Astronomical clock Celestial globe Compass Compass rose Dioptra Equatorial ring Equatorium Globe Graph paper Magnifying glass Mural instrument Navigational astrolabe Nebula Planisphere Quadrant Sextant Shadow square Sundial Telescope Triquetrum Concepts Almucantar Apogee Astrology in medieval Islam Astrophysics Axial tilt Azimuth Celestial mechanics Celestial spheres Circular orbit Deferent and epicycle Earth's rotation Eccentricity Ecliptic Elliptic orbit Equant Galaxy Geocentrism Gravitational potential energy Gravity Heliocentrism Inertia Islamic cosmology Moonlight Multiverse Obliquity Parallax Precession Qibla Salat times Specific gravity Spherical Earth Starlight Sublunary sphere Sunlight Supernova Temporal finitism Trepidation Triangulation Tusi-couple Universe Institutions Al-Azhar University House of Knowledge House of Wisdom University of al-Karaouine Observatories Istanbul (Taqi al-Din) Maragheh Samarkand (Ulugh Beg) Influences Babylonian astronomy Egyptian astronomy Hellenistic astronomy Indian astronomy Influenced Byzantine science Chinese astronomy Medieval European science Indian astronomy [show]  Astronomers by century (CE AD) 8th Ahmad Nahavandi Al-Fadl ibn Naubakht Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī Mashallah ibn Athari Yaʿqūb ibn Ṭāriq 9th Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi Abu Said Gorgani Al-Farghānī Al-Kindi Al-Mahani Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf ibn Maṭar Al-Marwazi Ali ibn Isa al-Asturlabi Banu Musa Iranshahri Khālid ibn ʿAbd al‐Malik Al-Khwārizmī Sahl ibn Bishr Thābit ibn Qurra 10th Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi Ibn Al-Adami Abu-Mahmud Khojandi Abū Ja'far al-Khāzin Abū Sahl al-Qūhī Abū al-Wafā' Būzjānī Ahmad ibn Yusuf al-Battani Alchabitius Al-Nayrizi Al-Saghani Ibn Yunus Ibrahim ibn Sinan Ma Yize 11th Abu Nasr Mansur Al-Bīrūnī Al-Zarqālī Alhazen Avicenna Ibn al-Saffar Kushyar ibn Labban Said Al-Andalusi Sijzi 12th Al-Bitruji Al-Kharaqī Al-Khazini Al-Samawal al-Maghribi Abu al-Salt Anvari Ibn al-Kammad Jabir ibn Aflah Omar Khayyám Sharaf al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī 13th Ibn al-Banna' al-Marrakushi Ibn al‐Ha'im al‐Ishbili Jamal ad-Din Muhyi al-Dīn al-Maghribī Nasir al-Din al-Tusi Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi Shams al-Dīn al-Samarqandī Zakariya al-Qazwini Ibn Abi al-Shukr Mu'ayyad al-Din al-'Urdi Athīr al-Dīn al-Abharī Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al‐Farisi 14th Ibn al-Shatir Shams al-Dīn Abū Abd Allāh al-Khalīlī Abū al‐ʿUqūl Nizam al-Din Nishapuri 15th Ali Kuşçu ʿAbd al‐Wājid Jamshīd al-Kāshī Kadızade Rumi Ulugh Beg Sibt al-Maridini Ibn al-Majdi 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Wafa'i 16th Al-Birjandi Bahāʾ al-dīn al-ʿĀmilī Piri Reis Takiyüddin 17th Yang Guangxian

[show] v t e Medicine in the medieval Islamic world Physicians 7th century Al-Harith ibn Kalada and his son Abu Hafsa Yazid Bukhtishu Masarjawaih Ibn Abi Ramtha al-Tamimi Rufaida Al-Aslamia Ibn Uthal 8th century Bukhtishu family Ja'far al-Sadiq 9th century Albubather Bukhtishu family Jabril ibn Bukhtishu Jābir ibn Hayyān Hunayn ibn Ishaq and his son Yahya ibn Sarafyun Al-Kindi Masawaiyh Shapur ibn Sahl Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari Al-Ruhawi Yuhanna ibn Bukhtishu Salmawaih ibn Bunan 10th century Qusta ibn Luqa Abu ul-Ala Shirazi Abul Hasan al-Tabari Al-Natili Qumri Abu Zayd al-Balkhi Isaac Israeli ben Solomon 'Ali ibn al-'Abbas al-Majusi Abu Sahl 'Isa ibn Yahya al-Masihi Muvaffak Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi Ibn Juljul Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi Ibn al-Jazzar Al-Kaŝkarī Ibn Abi al-Ashʿath Ibn al-Batriq Ibrahim ibn Baks 11th century Abu 'Ubayd al-Juzjani Alhazen Ali ibn Ridwan Avicenna Ephraim ibn al-Za'faran Ibn al-Wafid Abdollah ibn Bukhtishu Ibn Butlan Ibn al-Kattani Ibn Jazla Masawaih al-Mardini Ali ibn Yusuf al-Ilaqi Ibn Al-Thahabi Ibn Abi Sadiq Ali ibn Isa al-Kahhal 12th century Abu al-Bayan ibn al-Mudawwar Ahmad ibn Farrokh Ibn Hubal Zayn al-Din Gorgani Maimonides Serapion the Younger Ibn Zuhr Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Israili Abu Jafar ibn Harun al-Turjali Averroes Ibn Tufail Al-Ghafiqi Ibn Abi al-Hakam Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī Al-Samawal al-Maghribi Ibn al-Tilmīdh Ibn Jumay‘ 13th century Sa'ad al-Dawla Al-Shahrazuri Rashidun al-Suri Amin al-Din Rashid al-Din Vatvat Abraham ben Moses ben Maimon Da'ud Abu al-Fadl Al-Dakhwar Ibn Abi Usaibia Joseph ben Judah of Ceuta Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (medieval writer) Ibn al-Nafis Zakariya al-Qazwini Najib ad-Din-e-Samarqandi Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi Ibn al-Quff 14th century Muhammad ibn Mahmud Amuli Al-Nagawri Aqsara'i Zayn-e-Attar Mansur ibn Ilyas Jaghmini Mas‘ud ibn Muhammad Sijzi Najm al-Din Mahmud ibn Ilyas al-Shirazi Nakhshabi Sadid al-Din al-Kazaruni Yusuf ibn Ismail al-Kutubi Ibn al-Khatib Rashid-al-Din Hamadani 15th century Abu Sa'id al-Afif Muhammad Ali Astarabadi Husayni Isfahani Burhan-ud-din Kermani Şerafeddin Sabuncuoğlu Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Harawi Nurbakhshi Shaykh Muhammad ibn Thaleb 16th century Hakim-e-Gilani Abul Qasim ibn Mohammed al-Ghassani Taqi ad-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf Dawud al-Antaki Concepts Psychology Ophthalmology Works The Canon of Medicine Anatomy Charts of the Arabs The Book of Healing Book of the Ten Treatises of the Eye De Gradibus Al-Tasrif Zakhireye Khwarazmshahi Adab al-Tabib Kamel al-Sanaat al-Tibbyya Centers Bimaristan Nur al-Din Bimaristan Al-'Adudi Influences Ancient Greek medicine Influenced Medical Renaissance Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences

Authority control WorldCat VIAF: 90634457 LCCN: n79138789 ISNI: 0000 0001 1684 0731 GND: 118887947 SELIBR: 33144 SUDOC: 027658228 BNF: cb12109766n (data) NKC: jn19990210331 ICCU: IT\ICCU\BVEV\019792 BNE: XX4660229

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Al-Kindi&oldid=670765222"

Categories:

• 801 births
• 873 deaths
• 9th-century mathematicians
• 9th-century philosophers
• 9th-century physicians
• 9th-century Iraqi people
• 9th-century astrologers
• 9th-century Arab people
• Medieval Arab astrologers
• Medieval Arab astronomers
• Medieval Arab mathematicians
• Medieval Arab physicians
• Medieval Arab philosophers
• Medieval Iraqi astronomers
• Medieval Iraqi mathematicians
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• Arab scientists
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• Iraqi philosophers
• Muslim philosophers
• Pharmacologists
• Commentators on Aristotle
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• Musical theorists of medieval Islam
• People from Kufa