Al-Fārābī on the Method of Astronomy

Abstract

is article analyzes al-Fārābī's (d. 950) conception of the astronomical method by examining rarely studied texts such as the K. al-mūsīqā and K. al-burhān and by addressing key issues such as the subject matter of astronomy, the techniques used to derive the first principles of this science, the relation between astrology, astronomy, physics, and metaphysics, and the place of al-Fārābī in the Arabic astronomical tradition. e analysis indicates that al-Fārābī's theories combine material from the Greek astronomical tradition, especially Geminus, as well as from the logical works of Aristotle, particularly the Posterior Analytics. Moreover, it enables us to view al-Fārābī as a link between the Greek astronomers on the one hand and Ibn Sīnā and Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī on the other.

The Oldest Translation of the Almagest Made for al-Maʾmūn by al-Ḥasan ibn Quraysh: A Text Fragment in Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ’s Critique on al-Fārābī’s Commentary

“…25 A supposed copy in the British Library turned out to be the Talkhīṣ by Ibn Sīnā, 26 and the work was considered to be lost. 27 In 2011 the discovery of a part of a comprehensive commentary on the Almagest, probably al-Fārābī's commentary, was announced. 28 The MS Tehran, Majlis Library, 6531 has a modern title-page with the name of al-Fārābī.…”