Al-Farabi
Islamic · Middle East · 872 to 950
Scholar of the Islamic world who wrote on logic and on the ideal city. He was long called "the second teacher" after Aristotle.
What it is
Al-Farabi was a philosopher born around 870 CE, who studied in Baghdad and later went to Damascus, where he died around 950. Little that is reliable is known of his life, but he was so respected for his work on logic and his commentaries on Aristotle that he was called the Second Master, with Aristotle as the first.
He also wrote the most important medieval treatise on music in Islamic lands, and a political work describing an ideal city whose ruler guides people towards happiness. He worked to bring the thought of Plato and Aristotle together with the teachings of Islam.
The main ideas
- The Second Master. He wrote commentaries on Aristotle and on logic, and was named after Aristotle for it.
- An ideal city. In his political works he described a virtuous city, ruled by someone who understands what human happiness is and guides the citizens towards it.
- Philosophy and religion. He distinguished philosophy from religion and held that religion presents truths through images and symbols that philosophy states in a demonstrative way.
- Music. His Great Book of Music is the most important medieval musical treatise in Islamic lands, and includes philosophical sections.
What it looks like in practice
Picture a town that has no agreed idea of what makes people's lives go well, and a council that must choose rules for it. Al-Farabi would ask the council to begin from what human happiness is, and to measure every law and ruler against that. This is an illustration of the idea, not a saying of Al-Farabi.
Books and moments
- The Virtuous City is his best-known political work.
- Great Book of Music is his large treatise on music and its theory.
- His logical commentaries are the reason for his title, the Second Master.
Questions and criticism
- Should the wise rule? His ideal ruler is wise and guides the people, which sets him close to Plato and invites the old worry about who guards the guardians.
- What is the relation of philosophy to religion? Which one has priority has been read in different ways, and later thinkers disagreed.
- What did he really hold? Because his works are written with care, it is debated how much he states openly and how much he leaves between the lines.
Close neighbours
He stands between Al-Kindi, who came before him, and Avicenna, who built on his metaphysics. The pages on Plato, Aristotle, Al-Kindi and Ibn Sina show those links.
Written by epchē in our own words, and checked against independent sources on 9 October 2026. The sources are listed below.
Who they connect to
Influenced
- Averroes (Ibn Rushd) · Averroes drew on al-Farabi's political and logical works and disagreed with him on some points.
- Ibn Sina (Avicenna) · Avicenna said that he understood Aristotle's Metaphysics only after reading al-Farabi.
- Moses Maimonides · Maimonides held al-Farabi's logic and political writings in high regard.
Influenced by
- Al-Kindi · Al-Farabi reworked al-Kindi's scheme of the kinds of intellect. (scholars disagree about this link)
- Aristotle · Al-Farabi wrote commentaries on Aristotle's logic and was known as the second teacher.
- Plato · Al-Farabi's ideal city follows Plato's Republic closely.
Other Islamic thinkers
- Al-Kindi · 801 to 873
- Al-Razi · 865 to 925
- Ibn Miskawayh · 932 to 1030
- Ibn Sina (Avicenna) · 980 to 1037
- Al-Ghazali · 1058 to 1111
- Ibn Tufayl · 1105 to 1185
- Averroes (Ibn Rushd) · 1126 to 1198
- Suhrawardi · 1154 to 1191
- Ibn Arabi · 1165 to 1240
- Nasir al-Din al-Tusi · 1201 to 1274