Arabic Beyond the Arabs
al-Farabi began with Arabic before philosophy
الفارابيّ: بدأ بالعربيّة قبل الفلسفة
Ibn Khallikan says al-Farabi was a Turk, born and raised in his own country. He reached Baghdad knowing Turkish and several other languages, but not Arabic. So he began with Arabic, learned it and mastered it completely, and only then turned to philosophy. For Ibn Khallikan he became the greatest of the Muslim philosophers, and Avicenna learned from his books.
- In brief
- He reached Baghdad knowing many languages but Arabic, so he began with it
- Outside Arabic
- Alpharabius
«وصل إلى بغداد وهو يعرف اللسان التركي وعدة لغات غير العربي، فشرع في اللسان العربي فتعلمه وأتقنه غاية الإتقان، ثم اشتغل بعلوم الحكمة.»
His origin is disputed: Ibn Khallikan makes him a Turk, while other sources and scholars make him Persian, so the card attributes the statement to Ibn Khallikan. He died in Damascus in 339 AH (950).
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Sources
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