SOURCE: Netton, Ian Richard. “Al-Fārābī: The Search for Order.” In Allah Transcendent: Studies in the Structure and Semiotics of Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Cosmology, pp. 99-148. London: Routledge, 1989.

In the following essay, Netton examines al-Fārābī's description of God as the One in whom essence and existence merge absolutely, his understanding of the concept of emanation, and the structure of his theology.

The Road to Ascalon: the Man and His Search

The reputation of Abū Naṣr Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Tarkhān b. Awzalagh¹ al-Fārābī (AD 870-950) has come down to us untarnished and undiminished from medieval times. It became a cliché in the study of Islamic philosophy to refer to him as the ‘Second Teacher’ or ‘Master’ after Aristotle. Ibn Khallikān lauded al-Fārābī as the greatest Muslim philosopher and one who was unrivalled in the...