Al-Kindi (Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb b. Isḥāq al-Kindī)

Introduction

Not much is known about al-Kindi’s (c. 801–c. 873) life, but some indications can be found in Arabic biographical sources. Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb b. Isḥāq al-Kindī was probably born in Kufa in present-day Iraq, toward the end of the eighth or beginning of the ninth century CE. His father, Isḥāq b. al-Șabbāh, held the position of governor there. As al-Kindī’s name indicates, his family traced their ancestry back to the kings of the South Arabian tribe of Kinda, and notably to a companion of the Prophet Muḥammad.

Al-Kindī received his education in the cities of Kufa, Basra, and Baghdad, which were important cultural centers at that time. He earned a reputation as scholar and physician at the caliphal courts, and enjoyed the support and patronage of the two Abbasid caliphs al-Maʾmūn (r. 813–833) and al-Muʿtaṣim (r. 833–842). To the latter he dedicated his On First Philosophy (Fī al-falsafa al-ūlā), and to his son Aḥmad, whose education he was entrusted with, a number of other...