Fārābī's funny flora

In his description of the excellent city ( Kitāb al-siyāsat al-madaniyah and 'Ārā ahl al-madīnah al-fāḍilah), al-Fārābī mentions those citizens who are not philosophers, but rather the opponents of the principles of their community. To these groups, of which several are enumerated al-Fārābī refers either as “the rest” ( al-Bāqūn ), or, “ al-Nawābit ”. It is this group, and in particular this name, that is intriguing, for although on the face of it it carries no politico-religious significance at all, some conclusions that touch upon these fields may be drawn by scrutinizing it. I would like to show that al-Fārābī abstracted the private name of the Nawābit and gave it the meaning of “opposition”. In order to do this I will analyze his use of the name along the following lines: first a short survey of the lexical usage of the root nbt ; then I will show that the Nawābit were regarded by al-Fārābī as oppositional; then that they belong to the excellent cities; that their description entails all areas of political activity; that al-Fārābī was aware of the meaning of the name; that he used it in an abstract manner and the reasons for his choosing this particular name for “opposition”. Secondly I will show the earlier use of the name by a real historical group, and finally its later use by Ibn Bājjah

Humanities · Linguistics · Opposition (politics) · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Education and Islamic Studies · Historical Astronomy and Related Studies · Law · Medieval and Classical Philosophy · Philosophy

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  Open Access•Bahar Koca•Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat…•2026

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• The Cultural Context of Medieval Learning

  Open Access•John Emery Murdoch, Edith Dudley Sylla•Cultural Context of Medieval…•1975

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