Abstract
Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ is a philosophical community that emerged in Basra in the 4th (H)/10th century. This community conducts its activities in the form of secret meet-ings and conversations. Rasā’il Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’, which consists of 52 treatises whose author or authors have been kept secret, belong to them. It is thought that Risālat al-jāmi‘a which is the essence and summary of these treatises belongs to them. Although this community is Shiite, its treatises have become the handbooks of Shiite Ismaili groups. Rasā’il Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ have an encyclopedic content. There is information on many branches of science from mathematics to metaphysics, from geography to astrology in the Rasā’il. It is said that by some researchers the primary theme in Rasā’il is morality. Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ expresses the mission of Rasā’il as a purification in the religious and moral field and they believe that the way to do this is philosophy. There are also various speculations that the Rasā’il have some kind of political propaganda. However, in the aspect of our study, Rasā’il are scientific works with a rich content in the field of moral philosophy. It is clear that the theory of temperament (mizaj) has an important place in the moral philosophy of Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’. The subject of this study is the possibility of change of natures within the framework of temperament theory in Rasā’il Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’.
In the dictionary, temperament (mizaj) means mixture, and as a concept, it expresses the mixing ratio of akhlāṭ arba‘a that constitutes the physical structure of human beings. Body fluids (blood, sputum, black bile and yellow bile), which are the basic building blocks of the human body, are called akhlāṭ arba‘a. According to Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’, each of these body fluids should be present in the body in equal amounts. The difference or imbalance between the amounts of these fluids affects the physical health status. Temperament is a medical theory in terms of its effects on physical health. It has a central place in the medical understanding of Hippocrates, Galen, and Avicenna. Galen was the first to evaluate temperament as a moral theory. Galen said that the temperament of the body also affects the morality and nature of the human being. He explained this relationship between the physical structure of human and his spiritual structure through his nafs (soul) and quwwāt al-nafs (faculties of soul).
The theory of temperament expresses the connection between the physical and metaphysical aspects of human beings. Because of this connection, the relationship of temperament with its nafs and quwwāt al-nafs is important. According to Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’, vegetative and animal quwwāt (forces) have a direct relationship with the mood of the temperament body. There is an indirect relationship between the nâtık (reasonable) quwan and the temperament of the body. This relationship between the temperament of the body and quwwāt al-nafs is reciprocal and continuous. In this respect, a change in the temperament balance of the body also affects the actions of the quwwāt al-nafs. The acts of the nafs constitute the morality and nature of the human being. Balance of nafs in its actions is called virtue; opposite of this called vice. Since the virtue of human actions depends on the moderation of quwwāt al-nafs, the moderation of the temperament in relation to the nafs is also important at this point. The relationship between temperament and quwwāt al-nafs is an important issue addressed in this study.