Research Catalog

Title

Epistles of the Brethren of Purity : On companionship and belief. An Arabic critical edition and English translation of epistles 43-45 / edited and translated by Samer Traboulsi, Toby Mayer [and] Richard Netton ; foreword by Nader el-Bizri.

Author

Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ. author.

Publication

Oxford : Oxford University Press, in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2016.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Traboulsi, Samer F., 1972-
• Mayer, Toby.
• Netton, Ian Richard.
• Institute of Ismaili Studies.
• Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ. Rasāʼil. 43-45.

Description

xxiii, 167, 149 pages; 25 cm

Summary

The Ikhwan al-Safa' (Brethren of Purity), the anonymous adepts of a tenth-century esoteric fraternity based in Basra and Baghdad, hold an eminent position in the history of science and philosophy in Islam due to the wide reception and assimilation of their monumental encyclopaedia, the Rasa 'il Ikhwan al-Safa' (Epistles of the Brethren of Purity). This compendium contains fifty-two epistles offering synoptic accounts of the classical sciences and philosophies of the age; divided into four classificatory parts, it treats themes in mathematics, logic, natural philosophy, psychology, metaphysics, and theology, in addition to didactic fables.Epistles 43-45 succeed the extended description of religions and creeds that opens the final section of the corpus, on the theological sciences. Epistle 43 explains briefly the need for purifying one's soul by performing virtuous acts, after which one can follow the 'straight path' to God. The extremely diverse Epistle 44 is no dry exercise in abstruse theology; rather, it is characterized by the most delightful anecdotes, designed to inform the reader of a deeper truth, that of the hereafter following the soul's separation from the body at death. Alongside references to many of the Prophets encountered in the Qur'an, this Epistle shows a familiarity with other religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism. Epistle 45 focuses on companionship and friendship, resonating strongly with the word 'Brethren' by which the authors distinguish themselves. The volume overall is united in its underlying themes of the immortality of the soul and the profound need for mutual cooperation, informed in parts by the general Neoplatonism of the entire corpus, as well as by Aristotelian and Platonic motifs.

Series Statement

Epistles of the Brethren of Purity

Uniform Title

Rasāʼil. 43-45. English

Alternative Title

• Rasāʼil. 43-45.
• On companionship and belief : an Arabic critical edition and English translation of Epistles 43-45
• ‏رسايل اخوان الصفاء و خلان الوفاء (٤٣-٤٥) : الرسالة الثانية الى الرسالة الرابعة من القسم الرابع في الناموسية الالهية
• Rasāʼil Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ wa-khullān al-wafāʼ (43-45) : al-risālah al-thāniyah ilá al-risālah al-rābiʻah min al-qism al-rābiʻ fī al-nāmūsīyah al-ilāhīyah

Subject

• Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ
• Philosophy, Arab > Early works to 1800
• Islamic philosophy > Early works to 1800

Contents

Epistle 43: Introduction, English Translation. -- Epistles 44 and 45: Introduction, English Translation. -- English Translation. -- Arabic Edition of Rasā-il 43-45. -- Arabic Appendices

Call Number

JFE 17-6699

ISBN

• 9780198784678
• 0198784678

LCCN

2017406016

OCLC

935194561

Author

Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ. author.

Title

Epistles of the Brethren of Purity : On companionship and belief. An Arabic critical edition and English translation of epistles 43-45 / edited and translated by Samer Traboulsi, Toby Mayer [and] Richard Netton ; foreword by Nader el-Bizri.

Imprint

Oxford : Oxford University Press, in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2016.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Epistles of the Brethren of Purity

Alternate Script for Subject

اخوان الصفاء. رسايل.

Alternate Script for Subject

اخوان الصفاء. رسايل.

Alternate Script for Subject

اخوان الصفاء. رسايل.

Added Author

Traboulsi, Samer F., 1972-

Mayer, Toby.

Netton, Ian Richard.

Institute of Ismaili Studies.

Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ. Rasāʼil. 43-45.

Added Title Page Title

Rasāʼil Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ wa-khullān al-wafāʼ (43-45) : al-risālah al-thāniyah ilá al-risālah al-rābiʻah min al-qism al-rābiʻ fī al-nāmūsīyah al-ilāhīyah

Alternate Script for Added Title Page Title

رسايل اخوان الصفاء و خلان الوفاء (٤٣-٤٥) : الرسالة الثانية الى الرسالة الرابعة من القسم الرابع في الناموسية الالهية

Research Call Number

JFE 17-6699