Ibn alnafis wrote this book in direct response to ibn tufayls hayy ibn yaqzan, as is clear from the fact that ibn alnafis took both the core idea of a comingofage story and the main plot of ibn tufayls novel as a model. It was written by the philosopher abu bakr muhammad ibn tufayl known in the west as abubacer, who served as an adviser and physician to the spanish almohad sultan. In contrast, the preoccupation with this world in which the majority of people indulge results in darkness or hell. Hayy ibn yaqdhan dealt with many philosophical themes, especially in regards to epistemology. The thoughts expressed in the novel can be found in different variations and to different degrees in the books of thomas hobbes, john locke, isaac newton, and immanuel kant. Avner benzakens account of how the text traveled demonstrates the intricate. Isolated from human civilization, the infant hayy ibn yaqzan is raised by a gazelle on a deserted island through observation, experimentation, and speculation. Try searching on jstor for other items related to this book.
This tale was translated into latin in 1671 and is thought to be the model for daniel defoes robinson. Why richard rosengarten likes to teach hayy ibn yaqzan, by. Hayy ibn yaqzan became a popular and oftencopied work in early modern europe. Hayy ibn yaqzn is the name of the protagonist in ibn tufayls tale. Hayy ibn yaqzan the name means alive, son of the awake, the vigilant was the title of a work by avicenna, and the two other characters of the tale, absal and salaman, are also the names of characters in avicennas work. Commonly translated as the selftaught philosopher or the improvement of human reason, ibn tufayls story hayy ibn yaqzan inspired debates about autodidacticism in a range of historical fields from classical islamic philosophy through renaissance humanism and the european enlightenment. Abu bakr ibn tufail, the history of hayy ibn yaqzan, translated from the arabic by simon ockley, revised, with an introduction by a. Ibn tufails hayy ibn yaqdhan was written as both a continuation of avicennas version. Translation of the persian commentary on the recital of.
Abu bakr muhammad ibn tufayl facts abu bakr muhammad ibn tufayl ca. Although ibn tufayls philosophical tale hayy ibn yaqzan is one of the most famous medieval arabic stories to reach the west, precious little is known about the. This concurrence is particularly clear in therecital of. Ibn tufayl was a medieval thinker and an heir to the oriental philosophy of avicenna ibn sina and the scholarship of algazel alghazali. Seyed hossein rated it it was ok feb, these recitals, in which the thinker recaptures his spiritual autobiography in the form of symbols, belong to a literary genre that is characteristic of. Part ii is a complete translation, with notes, of the persian commentary. By the age of 49 years, hayy ibn yaqzaan has reached intellectual communion with his creator. Translation of the persian commentary on the recital of hayy ibn yaqzan. Then he saw his first human, a visitor to the island named asaal. This human was born in an uninhibited island in the indian ocean, so goes the story, without human begetters. The first two pages of a manuscript containing the text of ibn tufayls hayy ibn yaqzan, ms.
His work hayy ibn yaqzan is a fable treating the life of an ideal man who comes to physical, intellectual, and spiritual maturity outside any human community. In the late 12th century, avicennas original persian version of hayy ibn yaqzan inspired shahab aldin suhrawardi to write story of western loneliness, in which he began the story from where avicenna ended hayy ibn yaqzan. Avicenna and the visionary recital princeton university press. A timely biography of ibn tufayl that sets one of the most famous arabic philosophical works hayy ibn yaqdhan in its historical and philosophical context. There is noreference to it in the recital of hayy ibn yaqzan except at the end of the book,where it is said. Avicennas recital of the living son of the watchful. Commonly translated as the selftaught philosopher or the. Hayy ibn yaqdhan and the european enlightenment daily. Translation of the recital of hayy ibn yaqzan it was a great festival of the spiritual culture of iran, a celebration all the more opportune because, except for a few great names, chiefly of poets, the lineage of philosophers, theologians, and mystics who have given that culture its originality within the islamic universe is to all intents and purposes absent from the horizon of western man. In ibn tufayls philosophical tale hayy ibn yaqzan, the main character hayy realizes that in order to become his ideal self, he must complete a series of duties.
It tells of a child who is nurtured by a gazelle and grows up in total isolation from humans. One of the most widely circulated books of the islamic intellectual tradition, ibn tufayls work was translated into latin in 1617 by edward pococke, the son of dr. The darkness about the pole pages for the use of future bibliographers it may be well to record the following data. Ibn tufayl 1116 to 1185, one of the luminaries of andalusian islam, is best known for his philosophical tale hayy ibn yaqdhan, literally meaning alive, son of awake.
The medieval arab book hayy ibn yaqzan is a long forgotten philosophical novel from the socalled golden age of islamic spain. Ibn tufayl on learning and spirituality without prophets. The arabic philosophical fable hayy ibn yaqzan is a classic of medieval islamic philosophy. Texts by henry corbin available online updated 72310. The journey of the three phases begins with the inarticulate animal, which then progresses to the celestial body, and then ends with some resemblance. Eleven years later, defoes famous book was published. Asaal is a practicing muslim brought up in the third stage of the abrahamic faith. It is interesting to note that ibn tufayl was averroess. Ibn tufayls hayy ibn yaqzan was derivative in basing its title and several characters on avicenna.
Its also in the book as such and not only in the online version that part two of the french original edition unfortunately is missing a translation of the persian commentary on the recital of hayy ibn yaqzan. The story of robinson crusoe was based on a twelfth. Abu bakr ibn tufayls hayy ibn yaqzan sometimes translated as alive, son of awakethough the title is the main characters name is a curious philosophical thought experiment from. Known to medieval christian scholastics as abubacer from abu bakr, ibn tufayl was born in the town known in modern times as guadix near granada. Henry corbins discovery in an istanbul library of the manuscript of a persian translation of and commentary on avicennas hayy ibn yaqzan, written in arabic, led him to an analysis of three of avicennas mystical recitals. As in ibn tufayls work, ibn alnafis protagonist, kamil whose name means the complete or the perfect. Avicenna and the visionary recital princeton university. At the heart of the story is a literal autopsy of a heart. Thus i have found myself ready to come to your aid. The book tells the story of hayy ibn yaqzan, a child who grows up in total isolation from humans. With this realization he lost interest in the deers body, which he then viewed as a mere instrument. These form an initiatory cycle leading the adept along the path of spiritual progress. The 12thcentury muslim mystic ibn tufayl relates the story of a spontaneously generated child raised by a gazelle on a desert island, and the process by which he attains union with god through the naturally acquired art of mystic contemplation.
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