Mediaeval Arabic love theory between dissonance and consonance: Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyā˒ al-Rāzī and his argument against ˓Ishq Cover Image

Mediaeval Arabic love theory between dissonance and consonance: Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyā˒ al-Rāzī and his argument against ˓Ishq
Mediaeval Arabic love theory between dissonance and consonance: Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyā˒ al-Rāzī and his argument against ˓Ishq

Author(s): Jalal Abd Alghani
Subject(s): Middle Ages, Other Language Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Akadémiai Kiadó
Keywords: Abū Bakr al-Rāzī; mediaeval Arabic love theory; Plato; Galen; ᶜishq; al-1ibb al-Rū4ānī; psychology;

Summary/Abstract: This article deals with Chapter V of Kitāb al-1ibb al-Rū4ānī of Abū Bakr al-Rāzī (Rhazes) which is concerned with ᶜishq (love) and entitled Fī al-ᶜIshq wal-Ilf wa-Jumlat al-Kalām fī al-Ladhdha or “On Love and Intimacy and a Summary Account of Pleasure”. In this chapter, al-Rāzī propounds the idea that love is an unfortunate condition that leads to subservience and surrender, madness and enervation. Previous studies on Kitāb al-1ibb al-Rū4ānī show that al-Rāzī based his work on the maladies of the self on Plato, Galen and the tradition of Hedonism. In this article, however, I intend to explore al-Rāzī’s views on ᶜishq and aim to contextualise them within the framework of mediaeval Arabic love theory. I propose to show, moreover, that al-Rāzī’s psychology, or more specifically his argument over ᶜishq, is based not only on “a blend of materialistic and Platonic elements”, as Lenn Evan Goodman asserts, and on “lively debates typical of Hellenistic philosophy”, as Thérèse-Anne Druart claims, but his contemplation which derives from his perception of the vicissitudes of the society and his endeavours to demolish what he considers mistaken ideas of love which were promulgated by some works of mediaeval Arabic literature. By doing so, Chapter V could be considered an exemplar of a form of mediaeval applied ethics which “addresses the moral permissibility of specific actions and practices” as it occurred in the society.

  • Issue Year: 67/2014
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 273-287
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: English