Al-Farabi Quotes on Politics
al-Farabi (c. 872–950), the second teacher (al-mu'allim al-thani) after Aristotle in the Islamic philosophical tradition, developed the most rigorous medieval Islamic political philosophy in The Virtuous City (al-Madina al-Fadila) and the Aphorisms of the Statesman. The framework integrates Plato's Republic with Quranic revelation: the perfect city is the one whose ruler is at once philosopher and prophet, in whom the active intellect's emanation produces both the demonstrative knowledge of the philosopher and the imaginative-symbolic knowledge that allows the prophet-lawgiver to communicate the same truths to the non-philosophical multitude. The framework shaped Avicenna, Averroes, Maimonides, and the broader medieval philosophical theology of the three Abrahamic traditions.
Quotes
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Attributed to Al-Farabi:
“The excellent city is one whose people unite in pursuit of the most excellent things.”
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Attributed to Al-Farabi:
“The first ruler is the one to whom an entire community gives obedience, and is bound to him.”
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Attributed to Al-Farabi:
“Man cannot attain perfection except through the help of others; he must therefore associate with them.”
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“A just city should favor justice and the just, hate tyranny and injustice, and give them both their just desserts.”
H. Gibb et al. , eds., "Mazalim", The Dictionary of Islam vol. IV (Leiden: Brill, 1991)