Bahmanyār’s al-Taḥṣīl: a study and translation of Book Two – Metaphysics

The purpose of the present thesis is twofold: on the one hand, it provides the first integral annotated English translation from Arabic of the second book (Metaphysics) of Bahmanyār’s principal work – Kitāb al-Taḥṣīl (Book of attainment), and on the other, it gives a systematic account on its structure, style, sources, and contents by focusing especially on the differences and commonalities with Ibn Sīnā’s philosophy, since al-Taḥṣīl was compiled by Bahmanyār in order to make a succinct exposition of his master’s philosophy, particularly his logic, metaphysics and physics. Bahmanyār is one of the most outstanding and prolific disciples of Ibn Sīnā. His al-Taḥṣīl represents the first generation’s attempt to summarise and interpret almost the entire philosophy of the great master. Moreover, the work is the earliest and largest indirect witness of Kitāb al-šifāʾ (Book of the cure) – Ibn Sīnā’s masterpiece on philosophical sciences. Yet until recently, al-Taḥṣīl, and Bahmanyār’s figure, generally speaking, has received little philosophical attention. Historically Bahmanyār stands at the beginning of a long and rich tradition of the Avicennian school that had a serious impact on all succeeding philosophers and even theologians and mystics. Philosophically, his summa represents a unique case to study the earliest reconsideration of Ibn Sīnā’s thought. Within these perspectives, the dissertation explores the early stage of the Muslim Peripatetic school, where the science of metaphysics is being redefined once more while being both continuous and discontinuous with Ibn Sīnā’s central metaphysical ideas. I argue that Bahmanyār, although to a large extent loyal to his teacher, revises Ibn Sīnā’s philosophy in the spirit of Aristotle, hence this element can be defined as Aristotelian revisionism, while also bringing his own contribution that is rooted neither in Aristotle nor in Ibn Sīnā himself. In Part One of the present dissertation, I reconstruct the biographical account of Bahmanyār’s life and his works within the historical context, after which I focus on his magnum opus – Kitāb altaḥṣīl. In the following chapters, I discuss the structure, style, and sources of Book Two – the Metaphysics of al-Taḥṣīl, as well as its contents. Part Two of the dissertation contains the first integral and annotated translation of the Metaphysics from Arabic into English based on the modern edition by Murtaḍà Muṭahharī. Appendices include the inventory of manuscripts of all works attributed to Bahmanyār and their original texts and English translations. Thus, the dissertation embraces all treatises that are associated with Bahmanyār that have not been translated or studied till nowadays.