When Islam took over the Middle East it came into contact with a flourishing local culture heavily influenced by Greek thought. As far as philosophy was concerned, neoplatonism was the leading approach. For example, many of the most important neoplatonists such as Plotinus, Porphyry, and Proclus had studied in Alexandria, a city conquered by the Muslims in 642. A number of key texts became important when translated into Arabic. These were the Theology of Aristotle, in fact mainly parts of Plotinus's Enneads and the Liber de causis, based on Proclus's Elements of Theology. Also popular among philosophers were the extensive commentaries on Aristotle by Alexander of Aphrodisias, Themistius, and others—commentators imbued with the values of neoplatonism to some extent. One significant aspect of neoplatonism was the idea that Plato and Aristotle did not differ much on important issues, together with the doctrine of emanation and a...