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In the Islamic world, the idea of the “philosopher-king” became a relevant theme particularly from the tenth century onwards. Al-Fārābī, the political philosopher of Islam par excellence, discussed the perfect city ruled by the philosopher-king along the lines of Plato. Although al-Fārābī’s political thinking is susceptible to various interpretations, it contains a key idea that was most particularly significant for his readers: that human beings must seek perfection and the utmost happiness in theoretical life, but that utmost perfection and felicity are only possible within the virtuous city ruled by the philosopher-king. In al-Andalus, al-Muʾtaman ibn Hūd, king of Saragossa (r. 474/1081-478/1085) seems to follow these ideals. Al-Muʾtaman was a philosopher and a mathematician when he ascended the throne. Given that the scholars of his time and of the generations that followed criticised him for his religious beliefs and philosophical opinions, it may well be that he attempted to rule as a philosopher-king. This article presents, on the one hand, a study of the personal and intellectual biographies of al-Muʾtaman, and on the other, an analysis of the relationship between the rational sciences and the society that generated a king of his calibre, focusing above all on its intrinsic complexity and its roots (the intellectual legacy of Umayyad Cordova). In this way, the article provides insights into the relationship between knowledge and power and, more particularly, into the legitimising role of secular knowledge inside religiously oriented societies.

Al-Fārābī wrote about the status of medicine in many of his works, and his definition of medicine as a productive art influenced many later scholars. This definition demystified a philosophized conception of medicine that was current among the first physicians of Islam. However, al-Fārābī’s discourse is by no means unambiguous. He says that medicine may be a science, an art, and an art that may be composite, practical, stochastic and not self-sufficient. The article analyzes the textual basis of al-Fārābī’s discourse on medicine and its most salient references and influences, in connection with al-Fārābī’s understanding of Aristotle’s scientific method.

Ibn Rushd considered medicine as a productive art in his al-Kulliyyāt fī l-ṭibb, written between 1162 and 1169, and as a science in his commentary on Ibn Sīnā’s poem on the subject (Sharḥ Urjūzat Ibn Sīnā fī l-ṭibb), written in 1180. In Kulliyyāt, Ibn Rushd followed quite strictly the ideas on the status of medicine propounded by the philosopher al-Fārābī. In Sharḥ Urjūzat Ibn Sīnā, Ibn Rushd summarised the conceptions of several works including Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq’s Masā’il fīl-ṭibb, Ibn Sīnā’s Qānūn fī l-ṭibb and al-Fārābī’s works on Aristotle’s logic. The joint analysis of these sources and the evidence provided by a new manuscript of Ibn Rushd’s Sharḥ give us a clearer idea of the conception of medicine extant in this latter work and, in consequence, we can reconsider and relativise the difference between it and the conception expounded in Kulliyyāt. Ibn Rushd’s ideas on the status of medicine are analysed according to the sociopolitical context in which they were conceived, taking particular account of the fact that Sharḥ Urjūza Ibn Sīnā fī l-ṭibb was written for the intellectual and political elites of the Almohad regime., Ibn Rushd consideró la medicina como un arte productivo en su al-Kulliyyāt fī l-ṭibb, escrito entre 1162 y 1169, y como una ciencia en su comentario al poema de Ibn Sīnā sobre la medicina (Sharḥ Urjūzat Ibn Sīnā fī l-ṭibb), escrito en 1180. En Kulliyyāt, Ibn Rushd sigue de manera bastante estricta las ideas sobre el estatus de la medicina del filósofo al-Fārābī. En Sharḥ Urjūzat Ibn Sīnā, Ibn Rushd sintetiza las concepciones de varias obras, entre las cuales Masā’il fī l-ṭibb de Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq y Ḥubaysh, Qānūn fī l-ṭibb de Ibn Sinā y las obras sobre la lógica aristotélica de al-Fārābī. El análisis conjunto de estas fuentes, más las aportaciones de un nuevo manuscrito de Sharḥ Urjūzat Ibn Sīnā, proporcionan una idea más clara de la concepción de la medicina expuesta en esta obra y, en consecuencia, podemos reconsiderar y relativizar la diferencia entre esta concepción y la que se expone en Kulliyyāt. Las ideas de Ibn Rushd sobre el estatus de la medicina se analizan de acuerdo con el contexto sociopolítico en que fueron concebidas, considerando especialmente el hecho de que Sharḥ Urjūza Ibn Sīnā fī l-ṭibb fue escrito para las elites intelectuales y políticas del régimen almohade.

The article explores several texts written in al-Andalus between the twelfth and the early fourteenth centuries that mention Ibn al-Zarqālluh (al-Zarqālī) or the “Toledan astronomers.” These texts, contained in the works of physicians and philosophers, express scholarly reactions to the contributions of the circle of astronomers of eleventh-century Toledo, sponsored by the judge Ṣāʿid al-Andalusī. The textual evidence reveals attitudes ranging from a somewhat naïve admiration to harsh criticism. The article deals with the idealised image of the Toledan circle, due to a great extent to the significance of their work but also to external factors such as the innovative instruments and devices that these astronomers made. The texts suggest that some of the contributions of the Toledan circle were debated during the twelfth century, and that the echoes of this debate were felt in the following centuries. The discussion centred on the instrumentalism of Toledan astronomy, which was criticised by scholars who discussed the compatibility of Ptolemy’s mathematical astronomy and Aristotle’s natural philosophy. The “revolt against Ptolemy” that characterises this debate is reconsidered in the light of both the texts under study and the findings of recent research.

As is well known,taṣawwurandtaṣdīq,conceptualization and assent, are essential notions in the epistemology of Arabo-Islamic philosophy. Conceptualization amounts to the definition of an object of knowledge, and assent to the recognition,viasome kind of reasoning, that this definition is true. One of the authors who dealt with both topics in greatest depth was al-Fārābī, whoseoeuvreexerted a profound influence on Ibn Bājja. This article analyzes the materials ontaṣawwurandtaṣdīqfound in Ibn Bājja's notes regarding al-Fārābī's writings on logic and scientific method, namely the glosses toKitāb al-Burhān. The analysis shows, on the one hand, that he understood perfectly the importance of both terms in al-Fārābī's construal of Aristotle's scientific method; and on the other, that he used them to deal with human thought processes. Indeed, conceptualization and assent were essential notions for Ibn Bājja, and underlie some of his best-known works.

This article lists the medical works written by Ibn Bājja, overviews those that have come down to us and studies the super-commentary of Galen's commentary to Hippocrates'Aphorisms(Sharḥ fī al-Fuṣūl). This text shows a deep influence of al-Fārābī, namely in a conception of medical experience which stems from the latter's construal of experience (tajriba) as the inductive process described by Aristotle inPosterior Analyticswhich brings the premises of demonstration. On this basis, Ibn Bājja advocated for a less scholastic, more empiric medicine, and his claim was echoed by Ibn Rushd. There are some similarities between Ibn Bājja's text and Ibn Rushd'sK. al-Kulliyyāt fī al-ṭibbwhich suggest that the latter had readSharḥ fī al-Fuṣūl.This work gives moreover some evidence that human dissection could have been performed during Ibn Bājja's time.

Coinciding with the scientific flourishing of the 5th / 11th century, which was favoured by the cultural policy of the Andalusī kingdoms ( mulūk al-tawā'if ), Abū ‘ Umar ibn ‘ Abd al-Barr, Ibn Hazm and Sā‘ id al-Andalusī all dealt with the classification of the sciences in many works that are already known. Ibn Bājja began his career at the end of this period. In his glosses to al-Fārābī’s commentary to the Isagoge he wrote a text on this subject that has not yet been analysed. The present paper studies Ibn Bājja's classification in connection with his predecessors and with the scientific and philosophical background of Andalusī culture. In their classifications of the sciences, all these authors express and stress important factors of the evolution of Andalusī science and thought, such as the dialectic between religious and rational sciences and the importance of the scientific method derived from Aristotle's logic. Sā‘ id al-Andalusī and Ibn Bājja ( and, to a lesser extent, Ibn Hazm ) show the profound influence exerted by al-Fārābī’s works, particularly the Ihsā' al-‘ ulūm. Thus, Ibn Bājja foreshadows the evolution of sciences in the next century and the movement headed by Ibn Rushd, Ibn Tufayl and others, characterized by the search for concordance with the postulates set forth by philosophical disciplines.

Lorsqu'on parle d'astronomie arabe, on pense la plupart du temps au savoir astronomique du monde classique, adopte et adapte par les Arabes depuis le II e /VIII e siecle. Mais a cote de cette matiere si importante, il y a un autre domaine qui merite, peut-etre avec plus de priorite, cette denomination d' astronomie arabe : l'ethnoastronomie arabe : les connaissances empiriques que la culture arabe preislamique a rassemblees sur le ciel et sur les astres, sans aucune methode ni pretention scientifique, et qui nous informe sur sa cosmologie particuliere. Connaissances et procedes de l'ethnoastronomie des Arabes furent rassembles par les philologues des Basra, Kufa et Bagdad dans des traites specifiques et dans des livres ou les lexicographes ont recueilli le vocabulaire qui fait reference aux jours et aux nuits. Cet article se limite a un aspect particulier de l'ethnoastronomie arabe : la Lune et les mots et dictons rimes qui decrivent son aspect tout au long du mois.