philosophy reflection essay

MEDIAEVAL STUDIES

part of it. Nevertheless it is part of that emanation which ultimately stems from the One. For it 1s a quality whereby human beings· are connected and harmonized with each other, and it is of the nature of the One to bestow on the beings along with their substances such states as are conducive to order, harmony and organization.20

The treatise On the Essence of Love found in the Encyclopedia. of the Brethren of Purity is probably the most explicit · and important treatment of love to be found in Arabic philosophy prior • to Ibn Sina, a treatise which would well merit a new translation and a detailed analysis. The basis of the doctrine of this treatise, which deals exclusively with love as a quality of the human soul, is the Platonic division of the soul into (i) nutritive-appetitive, (ii) emotional-animal and (iii) rational parts.!?, Each of these three parts has a specific type and specific objects of love, namely, (i) food and sexual grati- fication, (ii) victory, rev~:mge and supremacy, and (iii) knowledge and the acquisition of perfection, respectively. In all its manifestations love is definitely a quality of the soul, never of the body; £or love is most properly defined as the desire for unification with the object of love,:!!! and unification is an entirely spiritual achievement, bodies allowing merely of mixture and proximity.09

Even in the manifestations of the lowest type of love the body serves merely as an instrument in an activity which is of the soul.8()

Thus all love has its place and type of unification. Embracing, kissing31 ~nd sexual intercourse,:i:i for instance, are types of unification in accordance wi'th the capacity of the animal soul, the desire for the preservation of the species being part of the nature of most animals.~ And all love-which is never ceasing in the souls--34 is a perfection given by God's grace for the purpose of leading the souls toward good aims.as .

However, all love is of a perishing nature except spiritual love and especially the love of God;:ir, and God is the "first object of love".~1 The real and final aim of all love is to "awaken the soul from slumber and folly" and to lead it away from the sensual-bodily to the spiritual world, away from mere bodily ornament. and beauty to the beauty of the spiritual world.35 Therefore, those who are truly wise try in their actions, insights and character to become assimilated to the universal soul just as the universal soul attempts to become assimilated to the Creator Himself."°

III.

An indication of the connection between the Risalah fi'l- 'ishq and Ibn Sina's general philosophical doctrill€ is to be found in the annotations to the translation given below; a more thorough exhibition of this connection would lead beyond the scope of this introduction. It remains here merely to point out one fact: that Ibn Sina's psychology is the basis on which his doctrine of love is built.'" To exhibit this by some examples: the third chapter of the Risalah

26 Op. cit. p. 17. 21 Br. P. text, p. 495, Br. P. Weltseele, p. 73. 28 Br. P. text, pp. 494 ff., Br. P. Weltseele ,

p. 72. ""Br. P . text, p. 496, Br. P. W eltseele, pp.

73 ff .. 30 Br. P. text, p. 497, Br. P. Weitseele, p. 75. 81 Br. P. text, p. 496, Br. P. Weltseele, p. 74. s:i Br. P. text, p. 500, Br. P. Weltseele, p. 78. :is Ibid. 3~ Br. P. text, p. 493, Br. P. Weltseele, p. 70.

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:-.;; Br. P. text, p. 501, Br. P. W eltseele, p. 79. ~ Br. P. text, p. 503, Br. P. Weltseele, p. 80. .,, Br. P. text, pp. 506, 507, Br. P. Welt-

seele, pp. 83, 84. :JS Br. P. text, pp. 504 ff., Br. P. W eltseele,

pp. 81 ff. 39 Br. P. text, p. 506, Br. P. W eltseele, p. 83. •°Cf. most conveniently Ibn Sin.a's short

treatise on psychology published by S. Landauer, Die Psychologie des Ibn Sina ZDMG XXIX (Leipzig, 1875), pp. 335-418;

EMIL L. FACKENHEIM

fi'l- 'ishq, with its basic division of the nutritive soul inio three parts, is virtually a summary of doctrines expounded more fully elsewhere~' with the addition of such conclusions as appertain to the subject of love; the division of the animal soul into perceptive and appetitive parts and the division of sense- perception into external and internal, which are basic to the conclusions arrived at in the fourth chapter, are likewise summary of doctrines fully expounded elsewhere.'"

But Ibn Sina's psychology is in a yet deeper sense the basis of his doctrine of love. In Ibn Sina's psychology as a whole, Platonic have given way to Aris- totelian conceptions. · The concept of a harmonious hierarchical order of the parts of the soul has taken the place of a concept leading readily to a doctrine · advocating the suppression of the lower parts of the soul in the attempt to reach the perfection of the highest. It is on this basis that some of Ihn Sina' s most important doctrines on love are formulated, especially those of the fifth chapter where a great attempt is made to allot to the love of external beauty a role which \\-ill remain positive, valuable and honorable even when compared with the most exalted and unearthly love.

TRANSLATION

IN the name of the all-merciful God: 0 Abdullah 'l-Ma'sumi,3 the lawyer, you have asked me to compose for you a clear and brief treatise on love. In reply let me say that with the following treatise I have done my utmost to win your approval and to satisfy your desire. I have let it consist of the following seven chapters:

(i) On the power of love as pervading all beings; (ii) O.q the existence of love in those substances' which are simple and

inanimate;; (ih) On the existence of love in those beings which have the faculty of

assimilating food, insofar as they possess that faculty; 0

(iv) On the existence of love in the animal substances, in respect of their possession of the animal faculty;

(v) On the love of those who are noble-minded and young1 foi: external beauty;

(vi) On the love of the divine souls; (vii) General conclusion.

more ' explicitly his Opus egregium De Anima which is part of the a.sh-Shifa'. Of this work we have used a typewritten copy of the Latin edition of Venice 1508, the Arabic original being unavailable.

u Cf. Laudauer, op. cit., pp. 349 ff., 384 ff.; Opus egregium De Anima, 4v col. 2B.

•~ Cf. Landauer, op. cit., pp. 353 ff., 391 ff.; Opus egregitmi De Anima, 4v col. 2B ff.; cf. H. A. Wolfson, 'The Internal Senses in Latin Arabic and Hebrew Philosophic Texts\ HaT'Oard Theological Review (Cam- bridge, 1935), pp. 95 ff. .

~ Cf. on him C. Brockel.mann, Geschichte der arabischen Literatur, Erster Su.ppLe- mentband (Leiden, 1937), p. 828; cf. also Mehren's resume, p. 1 note 2.

• Jawhar; this term is here used in a sense

which includes accidents. For this' usage which is quite general in Arabic philosophy · cf. also al-Farabi, Der Musterstaat, ed. F. Dieterici (Leyden, 1895), p. 44 and lbn Rushd, Compendio de Metafisica, ed. C. Q. Rodriguez (Madrid, 1919), part I, chapter 24.

"Cf. A. M. Goichon, Introduction d Avi- cenne (Paris, 1933), p. 82. By adding the character "inanimate" to that of simplicily Ibn Sina excludes souls, intelligences and God so that only prime matter, form and accident remain.

0 B.M. reads instead: "On the existence of love in the vegetative beings." .

7 I.e. in the prime of life (cf. Lane, Arabic- English Lexicon, (London, 1863 ff.) ' book I, part 6), p. 2337, article fata.; this root has the secondary meaning of "generous".

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