Al-Farabi
~872–950 · Turkic/Persian (Abbasid Caliphate) · Islamic Golden Age
Known for: 'The Second Teacher' after Aristotle—night watchman by day, greatest Islamic political philosopher by night
Earned the title 'The Second Teacher.' Reportedly a night watchman who spent days studying, he was also a virtuoso musician. His Virtuous City paralleled Plato's Republic.
His synthesis of Platonic and Aristotelian thought with Islamic theology profoundly influenced Avicenna and Averroes.
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