Lecture | Studium Generale
The Commentary on the Remarks and Admonitions of Ibn Sina by the Shi’i Polymath Nasir al-Din al-Tusi Or.95 in the Leiden University Library
- Date
- Tuesday 14 May 2024
- Time
- Address
-
Lipsius
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden - Room
- 019 and online
Or.95 in the Leiden University Library
The Remarks and Admonitions is a philosophical and theological compendium penned by the greatest mind in medieval Islam, Ibn Sina (d. 1037). In it, the author offers intelligent reflections on a range of issues such as the nature of God, proofs for the existence of a divine being, and the human soul and how one ought to cultivate piety. The commentary by Tusi is a rich explication to show that the ideas of Ibn Sina match perfectly with the religious worldview of Shi’i Islam, the second largest branch in Islam. The lecture will show how the text, a widely studied canon, was passed down from one generation of scholars onto another for centuries. It will gives us a glimpse into the intellectual workings of medieval Muslim thinkers and their attempts to make sense of the world around them.