Abdal Hakim Murad - The Cambridge Companion to Islamic Theology

Islamic philosophy (falsafa) 57
terminology
The term falsafa is an Arabised form of the Greek philosōphia. The
Arabic h _
ikma may also be used more or less synonymously with the
same term, although more often the intended meaning is closer to
the word ‘‘wisdom’’. Used in numerous Arabic and Persian texts, falsafa
indicates an inclusive rational process aimed at knowing the nature of
things and expressing the result in a systematic way. The term h _
ikma,
by contrast, is used in several ways, some of them not related to the
science, or the art, of systematic philosophy. Some historians have used
words such as ‘‘theosophy’’ to translate the term h _
ikma as a means of
explaining the presumed esoteric and mystical dimensions of Islamic
philosophy, but such usage is not justified in the actual Arabic and
Persian texts. Based on the Greek term, an agent noun faylasuf was
coined, which means ‘‘philosopher’’. In relation to the Arabic term
h _
ikma, the adjectival form h _
akım maybeusedinthesamesense
as faylasuf, but it is mainly employed to denote a special, often religious
quality associated with the practitioner/follower of falsafa or
h _
ikma.
Throughout history Islamic philosophers sought to construct
holistic philosophical systems, and some made special efforts to harmonise
philosophical principles with religion. Following Avicenna (Abu
‘Alı ibnSına, 980–1037), the story of Islamic philosophy can best be
understood as the quest to refine and construct holistic philosophical
systems that have also served to uphold the deduced validity of revealed
truths.
early translations and state patronage
From as early as the late decades of the seventh and early decades of
the eighth century evidence exists that Arabic translations were being
made from the Syriac and perhaps also from the Greek. No sources are
known from earlier periods, however, and our knowledge of the earliest
translations is limited to later accounts. One superb source, cited in
every study of the intellectual history of Islam, is a work known as the
Fihrist, a Persian term meaning ‘‘list’’ or ‘‘outline’’. This work was
compiled in the tenth century by the famous Baghdad book-dealer Ibn
al-Nadım (d. 995). 4 It notes the first instance in which a member of
the Arab ruling elite, Khalid ibn Yazıd (d. 704), commissioned the
translation of medical, astrological and alchemical treatises, allegedly
from the Greek. 5 The text further reveals that under the patronage of
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