Abstract
The works of Muslim scholars and scientists have been translated into Latin directly or through intermediary languages since the XIth century. While the translation process takes place in the first stage with individual effort and in limited areas, but especially with XIIth century, it has been transformed and continued through institutions and with the support of the state, systematically and differently. The works that translated in this period includes works on philosophy and theology as well as works related to scientific fields such as medicine, chemistry, physics, astronomy and mathematics. In the XIIth century, with Gerard of Ceromana and Dominicus Gundissalinus' personal interest in philosophy, they systematically translated the works of al-Fārābī, Avicenna and Averroes into Latin in the field of philosophy.
The translation of Islamic thought into Latin took place in two parallel ways. The first of these is the translation of Aristotle's works together with the commentaries of Muslim philosophers. This translation movement started in Toledo under the leadership of Gerard of Cremona. The second translation movement is the translation movement initiated by Jewish translators led by Dominicus Gundissalinus. Jewish translators translated the works of Avicenna and works belonging to the Avicenna tradition. The common feature of both translation movements is that, as in the case of Gerard of Cremona and Dominicus Gundissalinus, they determined the works they would translate based on the classification and order of the sciences in the work of al-Fārābī’s Kitāb ihsā' al-‘ulum.
Along with the translation movement, Islamic thought composed of philosophy, logic, cosmology, chemistry, physics etc. began to influence Latin thinkers and to shape their thinking systems. While this influence is sometimes seen in direct references and quotations made by Latin philosophers and theologians; sometimes it can be understood from the similarities in opinions and references they make indirectly without naming a person or work due to political and religious concerns.
Learning of Aristotle's doctrines on natural and social sciences through the works of Muslim philosophers had a profound effect on the formation and shaping of medieval thought. Translations made directly from Greek had never been as straightforward, easy and systematic as translations made from Arabic. Muslim philosophers’ re-interpretation of Aristotle's philosophy in accordance with theology and metaphysics provided considerable convenience for Christian theologians and philosophers to rationalize their beliefs in the scholastic period. In addition, Islamic thought, which had a new, different and original structure in different disciplines, especially in philosophy and metaphysics, had been effective in shaping Latin thought, which was at the beginning of its formation process, and gaining a new perspective.
In this study, even though he was not as profound as Avicenna and Averroes in Latin thought, we tried to determine the translation process of the works of al-Fārābī and its influence, whose effect is neglected compared to former two philosophers and left in the secondary plan. While doing this, we tried to determine which works were translated by whom, in which years, and which scholars influenced, by sorting the translated works according to their subjects. Then, in order to better understand the influence of al-Fārābī, we determined the effect of Kitāb ihsā' al-‘ulum (Classification of the Sciences) which was translated into Latin in the early period, and how it had an impact on Latin thought tradition, especially in the field of classification of the sciences and music. With the translation of al-Fārābī's Kitāb ihsā' al-‘ulum, we evaluated the effects on the classification of the sciences, the number and ranking of the 7 liberal arts (artes liberales/septem artes) in the Western thought tradition in terms of examples. By doing so, we tried to fully determine the limits and depth of the influence of Fārābī's philosophy on Latin thought. As a result of our study, we determined that shortly after the translation of Fārābī's works into Latin, he had an important influence on the formation and development of Latin thought with his different and original views, especially in the field of classification of sciences, and logic and music. The most important indicator of this is some written works that take as an example or imitate the books of Fārābī's regarding classification of sciences and the theoretical foundation of music.