Books by Al-Farabi

About the author

Abu Nasr al-Farabi (c. 872–950) came from Central Asia, studied in Baghdad and spent his last years at the court of Sayf al-Dawla in Aleppo before dying in Damascus. He was called the Second Teacher, after Aristotle himself, because he did so much to organise and explain Greek logic and philosophy in Arabic.

His most famous book, The Opinions of the People of the Virtuous City, imagines an ideal state ruled by a philosopher, in the spirit of Plato's Republic. He also wrote one of the most important books on music theory in Arabic. Ibn Sina said that only al-Farabi's commentary helped him understand Aristotle's Metaphysics.