''Al-Nijat min al-Qarq fi Bahr al-Zalalaat'' ( ar, النجاة من الغرق في بحر الضلالات, ) known as ''Al-Nijat'' is one of the most famous philosophical works of the

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

sage, Avicenna (980-1037). The general theme of the book is philosophy and includes topics in the fields of logic, physics, mathematics and theology.

Epistemology and approach

The book ''"Al-Nijat min al-Qarq fi Bahr al-Zalalaat"'' written in Arabic and includes a course of theoretical philosophy (

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premise ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, mathematics and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

). According to some researchers, ''"Al-Nijat"'' is a selection from

The Book of Healing ''The Book of Healing'' (; ; also known as ) is a scientific and philosophical encyclopedia written by Abu Ali ibn Sīna (aka Avicenna) from medieval Persia, near Bukhara in Maverounnahr. He most likely began to compose the book in 1014, comp ...

. The great similarity of the book of ''"Al-Nijat"'' to

in the order of the chapters and in the content is the reason for these opinions. Some points can be considered about this view: * Avicenna's introduction at the beginning of the book of ''"Al-Nijat"'' contains the point that his purpose is not to write summaries, but the goal is to write the minimum things that should be known. * Avicenna's definitions and expressions in the book of ''"Al-Nijat"'' are close to his definitions and expressions in the Book of Healing. * The order of the chapters and topics discussed in the book of ''"Al-Nijat"'' corresponds step by step to the "book of healing". Of course, in some cases, there has been a shift and the topics have become more accurate than in the "book of healing". The headings are arranged this way: * ''"Al-Nijat min al-Qarq fi Bahr al-Zalalaat"'' ** Logic *** with 149 chapters ** Physics *** with 6 articles (46 chapters in total) ** Mathematics *** with 29 titles and chapters ** Theology *** with 2 articles (total with 62 chapters)

Content

Logic

The logic section of the book ''"Al-Nijat min al-Qarq fi Bahr al-Zalalaat"'' is very similar in definitions and titles to the logic section of

, and from this point of view ''"Al-Nijat"'' is an excerpt from it. But the ease and clarity of the definitions, the expression based on division, the avoidance of prolongation of the word, and the omission and displacement of some issues, have made ''"Al-Nijat"'' in these respects both superior to the extensive book of healing and more valuable than the excerpt book of ''"Oyoun al-Hikma"'' of Avicenna. Some of the topics in the logic section of the book are: * Perception and affirmation * The benefit of logic * Types of particles * Intrinsic and transversal * Theorem and its types * Material of theorems * Directions, inversion, analogy and its types * Trilogy forms * Induction, allegory, argument and its types and preliminaries

Physics

Avicenna's purpose in writing the physics sections was to establish a scientific style for future generations, but he did not necessarily include the latest scientific material in it. Although Avicenna was a follower of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

in meteorology and he himself acknowledged it, he did not follow Aristotle's views in cases where a new and appropriate theory seemed to him or he himself reached a different conclusion. Avicenna on various aspects of geophysics, meteorology and atmospheric effects, including the formation of mountains, groundwater, earthquakes, mining, clouds, rain, water vapor, dew, snow, hail, halo, sunbow, wind (origin, types, quantity, temperature, power, rainfall, effects, duration, direction, etc.), thunder, lightning, comet and meteor. Some of the topics of the physics section are: * Motion and related issues * Time, place, finite and infinite and related issues * The unity of the universe and the impossibility of its multiplicity * The effects of heat and cold on objects * The ego and related issues

Mathematics

In mathematics, Avicenna studied and analyzed the principles of Euclid, but did not elaborate and stated only what was necessary to understand the theorems and prove them in order to acquaint the learner with the basics of geometry as soon as possible. Avicenna has also dedicated section 7 of the book of ''"Al-Nijat"'' to geometry. Avicenna openly considered music to be mathematics. He has also dealt with shapes, their properties and performances. Avicenna's theories on mathematics have not yet been fully explored, but ''Karl Lukuc'' has examined part of his mathematics (flat geometry) in his book ''"Avicenna as a Mathematician"''. Some of the topics in mathematics section are: * Rules about sides, angles and triangles * Rules about the proportion of surfaces * Relations and guilds and their properties * Quality of extraction of the size of the mass of the earth and the moon and the sun relative to each other * Cognition of observation and the quality of observing * Tunes, sounds, materials, instruments, improvements, etc.

Theology

Avicenna begins the issue of knowing existence from the very concept of "being and existence". According to him, existence and existent are the most obvious concepts and no explanation can be given about existence or existent except their name. ''"Existence can not be described except by its name, it is the first source of any description, so there is not a description for it, but its form is immediately placed in the mind (ego)."'' In Avicenna's ontology, not all beings have the same concept of "existence", but some are more deserving and worthy in this sense than others. Thus beings are in order. Avicenna says in this regard: ''"The most suitable things for existence are

essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...

s, then the objects, and the essences that are not in matters are the most suitable essences for existence, except the first matter (first hyle); Because these essences are threefold: matter, form and separated, which is neither a matter nor a part of the matter and its existence is inevitable, because the matter and its components are caused and existence of man finally reaches a essence which is a discontinuous cause (to matter), but completely separate. So the first beings in merit for existence are the essence of discontinuous separation from the matter, then the form, then matter, and although this is a cause for the matter, it is not a cause of existence, but a receptive (place) for the attainment of existence. The matter has a hyle and in addition has a face that is more complete than a hyle. After these comes the accident; And in each of these classes, a number of beings are found who are different in existence"''. Some of the topics of the theology section are: * The concurrence of coexistence with the existing * Intrinsic and exotic indications * The reason of need of the possible to the self-existent is for its possibility not for its occurrence * The vastness of the self-existent and the fact that its complete and there are no expected states in it * The prove of the self-existent * Resurrection * Inspirations * Answered prayers * Heavenly retributions * Prophecy * Worship and its benefits in this world and the hereafter

Explanation

The book ''"Al-Nijat"'' has several explanations such as: * Explanation of

Mulla Sadra Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Shīrāzī, more commonly known as Mullā Ṣadrā ( fa, ملا صدرا; ar, صدر المتألهین) (c. 1571/2 – c. 1635/40 CE / 980 – 1050 AH), was a Persian Twelver Shi'i Islamic mystic, philosopher, the ...

* Explanation of Fakhr al-Din Esfarayeni

Publication

The book ''"Al-Nijat min al-Qarq fi Bahr al-Zalalaat"'' first time published in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

by ''Mohyeddin Sabori al-Kordi'' in 1913 and secondly in 1938. Also ''"Al-Nijat"'' has been edited by Mohammad Taqi Danesh Pajouh in 1985, published by

University of Tehran Press University of Tehran Press (UTP) (Persian: ) is a publishing house and a department of the University of Tehran in Iran founded in 1957. It is the largest university press in the Middle East. The press has published more than 5,000 titles in Pers ...

in Iran. This version has an introduction in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

written by Danesh Pajouh which describes subjects in detail. Then there are pictures of the Arabic manuscript of the book, then the text of book in Arabic. The "Theology" section was translated into English by ''Nematullah Karamollahi'' and published in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1926. The English translation of the "Ego" (psychology) section was also published by

Fazlur Rahman Malik Fazlur Rahman Malik ( ur, ; September 21, 1919 – July 26, 1988), commonly known as Fazlur Rahman, was a modernist scholar and Islamic philosopher from today's Pakistan. Fazlur Rahman is renowned as a prominent liberal reformer of Islam, who ...

in his book "Avicenna's Psychology", first published in 1952 and secondly in 1981 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

References

External links

Avicenna--a great physician and thinker - PubMed

The Necessity of Reviving Samarqandi`s Sharh-al-Qestas

{{DEFAULTSORT:Al-Nijat Works by Avicenna Iranian books