Al-Farabi on the Perfect State: Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī's Mabādi' Ārā' Ahl al-Madīna al-Fāḍila by Richard Walzer Review by: Thérèse-Anne Druart Middle East Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 (Spring, 1986), p. 365 Published by: Middle East Institute Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4327342 . Accessed: 21/06/2014 17:10 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. . Middle East Institute is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Middle East Journal. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 17:10:07 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=mei http://www.jstor.org/stable/4327342?origin=JSTOR-pdf http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp Herbert L. Bodman, Jr., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Al-Farabi on the Perfect State: Abu Nasr al-Farabi's Mabadi' Ara' Ahl al-Madina al- Fadila, ed. by Richard Walzer. Oxford and New York: Clarendon Press, 1985. vii + 503 pages. Bibl. to p. 541. Indices to p. 569. Postscript to p. 571. $69.00. Reviewed by Therese-Anne Druart The late Richard Walzer carefully prepared the critical and definitive edition of al-Farabi's most famous text. This is a great piece of scholarship. It is a pity that the Arabic text which was written by hand is not always very clear or properly provided with diacritical marks. Its second part is some- times difficult to decipher and will certainly puzzle, if not baffle, readers who have not dealt with manuscripts (see p. 220, for in- stance). The translation, which is the first one into English, is generally precise and correct. It conveniently faces each page of the Arabic text. One finds the following principal mis- takes or inaccuracies: On p. 102, 1. 10 and 13 and on p. 104, 1. 1 and 4, "min dhatihi" is not translated. On p. 106, 1. 12, voluntary " 'iradiyyat" entities, which are contrasted to natural ones, are mistakenly translated as having will while in fact they are simply artificial objects produced by means of an act of the will. On p. 123, 1. 2, the beginning of the sentence is incorrect. It should read: "Hence each of these bodies and its form is 'actual' intellect . . ." instead of "Hence the form of each of these celestial bodies is 'actual' intellect . . ." On p. 142, 1. 6, "al- qabil" is translated as "the agents which receive." This is rather confusing since in fact the one who receives is not an agent but a patient. On p. 155, there is no translation of part of a sentence on p. 154, 1. 4-5. On p. 254, 1. 1, the famous though obscure term "nawabit" is simply translated as "the com- mon people," though it obviously refers in al-Farabi (see The Political Regime, ed. Naijar, p. 87, 1. 5 and 104, 1. 7 to p. 107, 1. 20) and in Ibn Bajjah's Governance of the Solitary to weeds or bad seeds, i.e. people who refuse to conform to the views proposed by the state and religion. In the bad states among the "nawabit," one finds far from common people, since one of their classes includes budding philosophers (see The Polit- ical Regime, p. 104, 1. 17 top. 105, 1. 6). The commentary, extremely detailed, ex- hibits Walzer's quality of great erudition about philosophical terms and late Greek philosophical schools as well as his bad habit of postulating lost Greek texts to explain many features of the Arabic text. Most of these hypotheses seem unwarranted and reductionist (see, for instance, pp. 334 and 482). Twice Walzer gets confused about the process of emanation for the pure Intelli- gences. It is by contemplating the First Cause that each one produces another Intelligence and by contemplating itself that it produces one of the celestial bodies (cf. Arabic text and translation, pp. 100-101) and not the reverse as stated on pp. 344 and 363. There is another confusion on p. 378, where Walzer asserts that al-FarabI does not use the term "hawl"' though it is the term used in the Arabic text, pp. 124-126. On p. 346, one wonders why Walzer refers to the 'Uyun al-masa'il as if it was written by al-Farabi since its authenticity is generally no longer accepted. There are good indexes and a useful bibli- ography up to 1975. Yet one can only deplore that there is no index for the terms used by al-Farabi in the 'Ara'. This is an indispensable book for every serious scholar in Arabic philosophy. Therese-Anne Druart is Associate Profes- sor of Greek and Arabic Philosophy at Georgetown University and is the author of several articles on al-Fartibt and Ibn Baijah. An Introduction to Shi'i Islam: The History and Doctrine of Twelver Shi'ism, by Moojan Momen. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1985. xxii + 299 pages. Appends. to p. 365 This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 17:10:07 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp Article Contents p. 365 Issue Table of Contents Middle East Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 (Spring, 1986), pp. 224-402 Front Matter [pp. 306-400] Editor's Note [p. 224] Qadhdhafi and His Opposition [pp. 225-237] French Policy in North Africa [pp. 238-251] Algeria and Socialist France [pp. 252-266] The Social Base of Islamic Militancy in Morocco [pp. 267-284] The Soviet Union and the PLO since the War in Lebanon [pp. 285-305] Chronology October 16, 1985-January 15, 1986 [pp. 307-329] Book Reviews Afghanistan and Iran Review: untitled [pp. 331-332] Review: untitled [pp. 332-334] Review: untitled [pp. 334-335] Review: untitled [pp. 335-336] Israel and Zionism Review: untitled [pp. 336-338] Lebanon Review: untitled [pp. 338-339] Review: untitled [pp. 339-340] Review: untitled [pp. 340-341] Maghrib Review: untitled [pp. 341-342] Review: untitled [pp. 342-343] Saudi Arabia Review: untitled [pp. 343-344] Review: untitled [pp. 344-345] Yemen Review: untitled [pp. 345-346] Review: untitled [pp. 346-347] Modern History and Politics Review: untitled [pp. 347-349] Review: untitled [pp. 349-350] Review: untitled [pp. 350-351] Review: untitled [pp. 351-352] Arab-Israeli Conflict Review: untitled [pp. 352-353] Review: untitled [pp. 353-354] Review: untitled [pp. 354-355] Literature Review: untitled [pp. 356-358] Economics Review: untitled [pp. 358-359] Review: untitled [pp. 359-360] Review: untitled [pp. 360-361] Review: untitled [pp. 361-362] Social Conditions Review: untitled [pp. 362-363] Review: untitled [pp. 363-364] Religion and Philosophy Review: untitled [pp. 364-365] Review: untitled [p. 365] Review: untitled [pp. 365-366] Review: untitled [pp. 366-368] Review: untitled [pp. 368-369] Review: untitled [pp. 369-370] Review: untitled [pp. 370-371] Shorter Notices Review: untitled [p. 371] Review: untitled [p. 371] Review: untitled [p. 372] Review: untitled [pp. 372-373] Review: untitled [p. 373] Review: untitled [pp. 373-374] Review: untitled [p. 374] Review: untitled [p. 374] Review: untitled [pp. 374-375] Review: untitled [p. 375] Recent Publications [pp. 375-381] Bibliography of Periodical Literature [pp. 383-399] Communications [pp. 401-402] Review: Erratum: Deutsche Roman im arabischen Orient [p. 402] Back Matter