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Al-Kindi

Type Figure Region Iraq Time c. 801–873 Also known as the Philosopher of the Arabs

Iraqi-born Arab philosopher and polymath (c. 801–873), "the Philosopher of the Arabs," who reconciled Greek philosophy with Islam.

Timeline

  1. c. 801–820Kufa · MesopotamiaAl-Kindi was born into an Arab noble family around Kufa in Iraq and received an Islamic education and training in Arabic literature from childhood, ranging widely over Arabic translations of Greek philosophy, mathematics, and natural science.
  2. c. 820–850Baghdad · MesopotamiaAl-Kindi moved to Baghdad, where he won the patronage of Caliph al-Ma'mun and other rulers and worked at scholarly institutions such as the House of Wisdom. He devoted himself to reconciling the Greek philosophy of Aristotle and Plato with Islamic belief and wrote extensively on philosophy, mathematics, and science.
  3. c. 850–873Baghdad · MesopotamiaIn his later years al-Kindi continued to write on ethics, theology, optics, cryptography, and music theory, leaving a catalogue of more than two hundred works. His philosophical method stressed the harmony of reason and revelation and laid foundations for later thinkers such as al-Farabi and Ibn Sina.

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