The Political Interpretation of the Maxit Imitation of God ‘The Purpose of Philosophy Is the Lawrence V. Berman Studia Islamica, No. 15. (1961), pp. 53-61. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.orgisic?sici=0585-5292% 2819614%290%3A 15%3C53%3ATPIOTM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-M Studia Islamica is currently published by Maisonneuve & Larose. ‘Your use of the ISTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR’s Terms and Conditions of Use, available at hhup:/www.jstororg/about/terms.huml. JSTOR’s Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at hhup:/www jstor.org/journals/mal hum Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the sereen or printed page of such transmission, JSTOR is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of scholarly journals. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact support @jstor.org. hupulwww jstor.org/ Thu Jul 13 01:37:41 2006THE POLITICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE MAXIM: THE PURPOSE OF PHILOSOPHY IS THE IMITATION OF GOD The concept of the imitation of the life of Muhammad as an ideal occupies an important place in Islamic Arabic literature (%). On the other hand, in Arabic literature dealing with philosophic and scientific themes, the concept of the imitation of God as the highest ideal and that this imitation is to be accomplished through philosophy or scientific investigation occupies a contrasting though equally important place. The purpose of this paper is to sum up two previous interpretations of this maxim which have already been noted by others. Secondly, the political implications of the maxim developed in the works of al-Farab! and Maimonides will be pointed out. I The locus classicus for the maxim under discussion is the remark in the Theaetetus that «evils ... can never pass away ; for there must always remain something which is antagonistic * This paper is essentially the same as one read at the Spring 1961 meeting of the American Oriental Society. (1) See 1. Goldsiher, Vorieungen aber den Islam, Heidelberg, 1910, p. 30 48. (arya al ha-Iotém, Jerusalem, 1951, p.218, a Hebrew translation with important bibliographical additions by M. Plessner).bt Lv, BERMAN, to good ... Wherefore we ought to fly away from earth to heaven as quickly as we can ; and to fly away is to become like God, in so far as this is possible; and to become like him, is to become holy, just and wise..." (3) This passage was given a lengthy commentary by Plotinus (#) and the maxim is quoted by the Greek authors (8). ‘The Alexandrian commentators of Aristotle included this maxim among the definitions of philosophy which they included in the introduetion to their commentaries on the Isagoge ascribing it to Plato and consequently it is found in the Arabie commentary of Abul-Faraj b. al~Tayyib on the Isagoge which is based on them (*). ‘The maxim is also quoted by al-Kindi (5), Abi Bakr al-Razi (*), al-Farabi (7), Isaac Israeli (#), the Jabir ibn Hayyan corpus (*), Ikhwan al-Safa (#¢), hn Miskawaih (2), al-Batalyaws! (18), Moshe ibn ‘Ezra (18), Joseph ibn Saddiq (4), Maimonides (+8), Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (#8), Ibn Sab‘in (2?) ( 176B, (@) Enn. 1.2, (3) CLP. Keaus, Jabir ibn Hayydn, vl, Cairo, 1942, p. 99, n.2; A. Altmann ‘and 5. M, Stern, Isaae Ieraeli, Oxford, 1958, pp. 197-199; H. A. Wolfson, Philo, Voll, Cambridge, Mass, 1947, p. 382. (4) Isaae Israeli, p. 14, h. 1, pp- 28-30. Cf. S. M. Stern, «Jon al-Tagyid's Commentary on the Zsagoge», BSAOS, xix/3 (1957), pp. 419-125 and p. 55, n. 3 below. (5) Raed al-Kind! al-Fatsofiga ed, Muh, AbA da, Cairo, 1990, v. 1, p. 172 } Opera philosophica, ed. P. Kraus, Pars Prior (no mote published), Cairo, 1959, p. 108, 1, $12, (7) See below p. 50, nn. 1, () Jeoae.feraei, p. 24" (English translation), See the remarks of Stern concerning the Arabie text pp. 3 and 5 (0) See below p.55,n. 1 (10) Rasa 1edwan al-Safa’, Cairo, 1928, i, 8, 396, i, 58, 348, (11) Tahanid al-Aknidg, Cato, 1322, pp. 29-30 with S Pines, «Un texte inconnu Warlstote en version Atahe 5 Archives @iatire dctriale et litraire du Moyen ‘Age, 1956 (1957), pp. 5-48. (13) Al-Andalus ¥ (1940) p. 98, 1. 1 (Arabie) and D, Kaufmann, Die Spuren ‘al-Batlajan's In der judiachen Religions philotophie, Budapest, 1880, p. 47 (Hebrew. (13) Zion, v. i (1842-48) p. 121. Cf. D. Kaufmann, Geschichte der Altribuentebre, Gotha, 187, p. 286, n. 3;J. Gultmann, Die philoephischen Lehren der Terall, Manster i W:, 1911, p. 21) n.1; Kraus, p98, n. 3. (14) Der Mitrokotmos des Joseph itm Saddik, ed. S. Horovite, Breslau, 1909, 1.68, 1.5 restricted to ethial matter). Cf. Guttmann, oe. et (15) See below p. 59, nn. 1, Sand p. G0, nn. 1,2 (16) Lawam!‘at-nayyinat, Cairo, 128, p. 127 (trom Kraus, p. 99, a. 3) 17) Carrespondance philesophigue avte UEmpereur Frederic II’ Hohenstaufen,