Science of the Soul in Ibn Sīnā's Pointers and Reminders: A Philological Study

341 Pages·2023·1.698 MB·English

by  Michael A. Rapoport

ScienceoftheSoulinIbnSīnā’sPointersandReminders
Islamic Philosophy, Theology
and Science
texts and studies
Editedby
HansDaiber
AnnaAkasoy
EmilieSavage-Smith
volume 122
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/ipts
Science of the Soul in Ibn Sīnā’s
Pointers and Reminders
A Philological Study
By
MichaelA.Rapoport
leiden | boston
Coverillustration:Al-Išārātwa-l-Tanbīhāt(“PointersandReminders”).CalligraphybyNihadNadam,2022.
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
ChronologyofIbnSīnā’sWorks ix
NotesonSources,Presentation,Transliteration,andTranslation x
Introduction 1
1 IbnSīnāandMysticism 3
1.1 Defining(IbnSīnā’s)SufismandMysticism 11
1.2 ATerminologicalClarification 24
2 MetaphysicsoftheRationalSoul 26
3 TheUniquenessofthePointers 28
4 EditionsandTranslationsofthePointersandReminders 29
4.1 Editions 29
4.2 Translations 39
5 Objectives,Methodology,andStructure 41
6 OverviewofIbnSīnā’sInternalFaculties 46
1 TheSoul’sIndependencefromtheBody 49
1 TheRationalSoul’sIndependencefromtheBody 50
2 IntellectandIntelligibleDoNotUnite 66
3 God’sKnowledgeofParticulars 73
4 EvilandtheOrderoftheGood 92
5 IbnSīnā,Optimist 102
2 TheSoul’sUltimateDestination 105
1 InternalPleasuresAreSuperiortoExternalPleasures 106
2 TheNatureofPleasureandPain 111
3 AwarenessofPleasureandPain 128
4 PleasureandPainintheAfterlife 134
5 RankingBeingsinTermsofJoy 146
6 ReturningtotheFinalDestination 152
3 TheSoul’sIntellectualDevelopment 155
1 DifferentiatingKnowersfromNon-knowers 156
2 The“Stages”(darajāt)oftheHumanIntellectinRelationto
SecondaryIntelligibles 175
3 Knowledge(ʿirfān)andtheHighestStages 188
4 CharacteristicsoftheKnower 195
5 ANewMetaphorforaFamiliarEpistemology 198
vi contents
4 TheSoul,Science,andtheSupernatural 201
1 MarvelousFeats 202
2 ImaginativeKnowledge 208
2.1 ABriefExcursusonImaginativeKnowledge 208
2.2 Empirical,Logical,andPhilosophicalBasesforEngravingsfrom
Above 211
2.3 DistractingtheFacultiesoftheSoul 214
2.4 MakingContactwiththeSupernalRealm 226
2.5 Imagination,Imitation,andInterpretation 231
2.6 IbnSīnā’sEmpiricism 239
2.7 ConclusiontotheExcursusonImaginativeKnowledge 240
3 MotivePower 244
4 NaturalizingtheSupernatural 255
5 ReturningtoIbnSīnā’sMysticism/Sufism 258
1 Non-standardEpistemology 259
2 UnionwiththeDivine 263
3 TheImpossibilityofUnionforIbnSīnā 278
Conclusion 282
1 IfNotSufismorMysticism,ThenWhat? 283
2 ConcludingRemarks 288
Appendix1:ComparisonbetweenPointersandIbnSīnā’sSummae 291
Appendix2:ComparisonbetweenPointersandIbnSīnā’s
Monographs 293
Bibliography 295
Index 318
Acknowledgments
Thisbookisbothanexcerptfromandexpansionofmydissertation.Assuch,
I should first and foremost thank my dissertation supervisor, Dimitri Gutas,
withoutwhomthisprojectwouldnothavecometofruition.Iamimmensely
gratefulforhispatiencewithandconfidenceinmeand,ofcourse,hisenduring
enthusiasmforIbnSīnāandArabicphilosophy.Myintellectualdebttohimwill
beabundantlyclearinthenotesthroughoutthetext.Iwouldalsoliketothank
FrankGriffel,whowelcomedmeasanhonorarymemberofReligiousStudies
whileagraduatestudentatYale,andwhoseadviceandencouragementwere
indispensableinturningthisprojectfromadissertationtoamonograph.Lastly,
I should thank the two anonymous reviewers, whose incisive criticism and
clearsuggestionssubstantiallyimprovedthisbook.Needlesstosay,allremain-
ingerrors,omissions,andshortcomingsaremyown.
Ialsoowemygratitudetothefollowingindividualsandinstitutions:Mar-
cellaMunson,thechairoftheDepartmentofLanguages,Linguistics,andCom-
parativeLiteratureatFloridaAtlanticUniversity(fau),forhersteadfastsup-
portofmyresearchandteaching;theDorothyF.SchmidtCollegeofArtsand
LettersatfauforawardingmewithaScholarlyandCreativeAchievementFel-
lowship,whichprovidedmethetimetocompletethemanuscriptforthisbook;
the Interlibrary Loan staff at fau’s Wimberly Library, whose timely delivery
of materialshasgreatlysupportedmywork;RobertWisnovsky,foradviceon
thestructureof thisstudyinitsdissertationformandforgenerouslysharing
manuscript images, which significantly expedited my research; and Shawkat
Toorawa, for reading and commenting on an early draft of what eventually
becameChapters2–4,andforhisguidanceasItransitionedfromgraduatestu-
denttofacultymember.
Therearemanyotherswhohavesupportedandhelpedmeinmanyother
ways,andwhomIwishtothank:ValerieHansen,whosementorshipwasawel-
comegiftduringmylasttwoyearsatYale,andwhohastaughtmemuchabout
beingabetterscholar,educator,andwriter.MyinterestinArabicandIslamic
intellectualhistorywaskindledinseminarswithAhmetKaramustafaandAsad
Ahmed,whofirstintroducedmeto falsafa,kalām,andClassicalArabic.Iam
gratefulforallthattheytaughtme,andmostespeciallyfortheircontinuous
supportovertheyears.
I am fortunate to call Geoffrey Moseley a colleague and friend. I appreci-
atehiswillingnesstoentertainmynumerousquestionsaboutArabic(andthe
manyotherlanguagesheknows).GeoffmadeYalenelcawelcomingplacefor
me.IhopeIhavesucceededinpayingforwardhisgoodwill.
viii acknowledgments
Lastly—but of course not least—I wish to thank my wife, Melanie Bauer,
forgamelyreadingdraftsofthisstudy;forpatientlyentertainingdiscussionsof
historyandphilosophy;andforherencouragement,reassurance,andmotiva-
tion.Iwouldnothavebeenabletodothiswithouther.
Chronology of Ibn Sīnā’sWorks
Thislistislimitedtoworkscitedinthisstudy.AlldatesarederivedfromGutas,
AvicennaandtheAristotelianTradition,whereinacompletebibliographycan
befound.
Sigla:
~ approximatedating
* earliestpossibledating
~387/997 Kitābfīl-Nafsʿalāsunnatal-iḫtiṣār CompendiumontheSoul
al-Birrwa-l-iṯm PietyandSin
Risālatal-Tuḥfa Gift
~390/1000 Risālafīl-ʿišq EpistleonLove
403/1013 al-Mabdaʾwa-l-maʿād ProvenanceandDestination
~402–414/1012–1024 al-Aḍḥawiyyafīl-maʿād ImmolationDestination
~403–414/1013–1024 al-Qānūnfīl-ṭibb CanonofMedicine
~404/1014 al-Maʿādal-aṣġar LesserDestination
404–405/1014–1015* ʿUyūnal-ḥikma ElementsofPhilosophy
414/1023 al-Hidāya Guidance
~411–418/1020–1027 al-Šifāʾ Cure
~417–418/1026–1027 al-Najāt Salvation
~418/1027 Dānišnāma-yiʿAlāʾī PhilosophyforʿAlāʾal-Dawla
~418–428/1027–1037 al-Mubāḥaṯāt Discussions
~418–428/1027–1037 al-Taʿlīqāt Notes
419–420/1028–1029 ŠarḥMaqālatal-lāmminKitābMā CommentaryonBookLambdaof
baʿdaal-ṭabīʿali-Arisṭuṭālīs Aristotle’sMetaphysics
419–420/1028–1029 ŠarḥKitābUṯūlūjiyā CommentaryontheTheologyof
Aristotle
~421–425/1030–1034 al-Išārātwa-l-tanbīhāt PointersandReminders
~428/1037 RisālafīKalāmʿalāal-nafsal-nāṭiqa OntheRationalSoul
Notes on Sources, Presentation,Transliteration,
andTranslation
For Ibn Sīnā’s Pointers and Reminders (al-Išārāt wa-l-tanbīhāt), I have relied
onZāriʿī’sedition(Qum2002).Whennecessary,IhavecompareditwithFor-
get’sedition(Leiden1892),whichGoichonreliedonforhertranslation.When
investigatingdiscrepanciesbetweenInati’stranslationandmyown,Icompare
ZāriʿīandForgetwithDunyā’sedition(Cairo1968,vol.4),whichInatiusedas
thesourceforhertranslation.
TofacilitatequicklyidentifyingwhereIaddressagivenpointerorreminder
ineachchapter,Iidentifyeachsectionbasedonitschapter(Romannumeral)
and section (Arabic numeral), emphasized with bold text. For example, the
firstsectionoftheeighthchapterofthePointersappearsasviii.1.Whenpar-
allelpassagesexistbetweenthePointersandotherworksbyIbnSīnā,Ipresent
theparallelpassagesinchronologicalorder(seethe“ChronologyofIbnSīnā’s
Works”fordates).
Irefertobooks,chapters,andsectionswithinIbnSīnā’sotherworkswitha
combinationofRomanandArabicnumerals.Fortextsthathaveonlysections,
like LesserDestination,IuseonlyRomannumerals.1IbnSīnā’s LesserDestin-
ationappearsalongsideCompendiumof theSoulandOntheRationalSoul in
Ahwānī(ed.), Aḥwālal-nafs:Risālafīl-nafswa-baqāʾihāwa-maʿādihāli-l-šayḵ
al-raʾīsIbnSīnā.ReferencesinthenotestoLesserDestinationwillappearsimply
asAḥwālal-nafs,whilereferencestoCompendiumorOntheRationalSoulwill
beidentifiedspecifically.
In translating Arabic and Persian, my aim has been to remain faithful to
theoriginaltextwhilesimultaneouslypresentingitinreadable,naturalEng-
lish.Indoingso,Ihaveoptedtoexcludecommonepithetsandhonorifics(e.g.,
taʿālāwhenreferringtoGod),althoughIhaveincludedthesewhenproviding
theoriginalArabicorPersian.Whenitisnecessaryforclarityorstyletoinsert
languageintoEnglishtranslations,[squarebrackets]indicateanexplanatory
insertion (e.g., to clarify a pronoun’s antecedent), or a resumptive insertion
1 IconsidertheLesserDestinationtobeanauthenticAvicennantext.Onitstitleandattribu-
tiontoIbnSīnā,seeGutas,AvicennaandtheAristotelianTradition,477–479.Foranargument
againsttheauthenticityofsomeofitschapters,seeSebti,“Question.”Inalaterstudy,Sebti
acknowledgestheLesserDestinationas“anauthentictestimonyofAvicenna’sdoctrineofthe
prophecy,”albeitonethatstandsoutinsomeplacesfromthestandardexpositionofhisdoc-
trine;Sebti,Avicenne,33n1.