421

Ṣiwān al-ḥikma 421
Siwan al-hikma (The Vessel of Wisdom)

(10th cent. CE)
Thales is mentioned several times in his doxography, formerly ascribed to an
Abu Sulaiman as-Sigistani al-Mantiqi (d. 987 CE), which is enriched with
gnomological material and of which only two extracts survive.1
Th 499
Thales’ association with Egypt; the first philosopher; water as the first
created thing.
The Vessel of Wisdom 13–17
It is reported in some books that Thales of Miletus was first to practice
philosophy in Egypt. He went to Miletus when he was an old man. A group
of Greeks were named philosophers on account of him. Philosophy often
moved from one place to another. He believed that the first thing which
God (be He exalted) created was water and that all entities dissolved first
into the water. He was brought to this view by the fact that all things come
from moisture. He also inferred this from referring to the saying of the poet
5 Homer, that “Okeanos is as if he was made to be a generator of all things.”2
Th 500
Thales the first philosopher; his prediction of an eclipse; his dates.
And it is said that the first time that philosophy appeared was in the reign
of Buhtnasar,3 and the first to originate and make a start in astrology was
1 Cf. Daiber 1984, 36–68.

2 The quotation from the Iliad (14.201) was mediated by the translation of Aristotle’s
Metaphysics (1.3.983b30 f.).
3 Modern Oriental studies distinguishes two Babylonian kings with the name Nabuku-
durri-usur; the first is placed in the second half of the twelfth cent. BCE, the second
ruled from 605 to 562 BCE and is the Nebukadnezar who conquered Jerusalem and
was known in Arabic as Bhutnasar. With Buhtnasar I is identified Nabonassar, with
whose accession in 747 BCE begins the era employed by Hipparchus and Ptolemy.
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‫‪422‬‬ ‫‪Ṣiwān al-ḥikma‬‬
‫وﺗﺄﻟﻴﻒ اﻷﺷﻌﺎر واﳋﻄﺐ واﻷﻣﺜﺎل واﻟﺮﺳﺎﺋﻞ إﱃ أن ﳒﻢ اثﻟﻴﺲ ابﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ وﻛﺬكل ﻋﲅ‬

‫اﳊﺴﺎب واﻟﻬﻨﺪﺳﺔ واﳌﺴﺎﺣﺔ أﺧﺬوﻫﺎ ﻋﻦ اﳌﴫﯾّﲔ ﻓﺄﻣّﺎ وﺟﻮد اﻟﺸﻌﺮ ﰲ أﻣّﺔ ﯾﻮانن‬
‫ﻓﺈﻧّﻪ ﻇﻬﺮ ﻓﳱﻢ ﻗﺒﻞ اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ وأﺑﺪﻋﻪ أوﻣﲑس اﻟﺸﺎﻋﺮ وﻫﻮ ﻋﻨﺪﱒ ﲟﲋةل إﻣﺮئ اﻟﻘﻴﺲ‬
‫ﰲ اﻟﻌﺮب واثﻟﻴﺲ ﰷن ﺑﻌﺪ أوﻣﲑس ﺑﺜﻠامثﺋﺔ واﺛﻨﲔ وﲦﺎﻧﲔ ﺳـﻨﺔ ﳁﻦ ﻛﻮن اثﻟﻴﺲ إﱃ‬
‫‪10‬‬ ‫اﺑﺘﺪاء ﻣكل ُﲞﺘﻨﴫ ﲦﺎﻧﻴﺔ وﻋﴩﻳﻦ ﺳـﻨﺔ وأايم وأﻣّﺔ اﻟﻴﻮانﻧ ّﻴﲔ ﳒﻤﺖ ﺑﻌﺪ ﻣﻮﳻ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ‬
‫اﻟﺴﻼم وإنّ اﻟﺸﻌﺮ ﺑﺪأ ﻣﳯﻢ ﻗﺒﻞ اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ ﺑامثﻧﲔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺴـﻨﲔ وأ ّول ﻓﻴﻠﺴﻮف ﰷن‬
‫ﻣﳯﻢ ﰲ ﺳـﻨﺔ ﺗﺴﻌﲈﺋﺔ وإﺣﺪى وﲬﺴﲔ ﻣﻦ وﻓﺎة ﻣﻮﳻ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ اﻟﺴﻼم وﻫﺬا ﻣﺎ ﺧﱪ ﺑﻪ‬
‫ﻛﻮرﻟّﺲ ﰲ ﻛﺘﺎﺑﻪ اذلي ر ّد ﻓﻴﻪ ﻋﲆ ﯾُﻠﻴﺎﻧﺲ ﻓامي انﻗﺾ ﺑﻪ اﻹﳒﻴﻞ وذﻛﺮ ﻓﺮﻓﻮرﯾﻮس أنّ‬
‫اثﻟﻴﺲ ﻇﻬﺮ ﰲ ﺳـﻨﺔ ﺛﻼث وﻋﴩﻳﻦ وﻣﺎﺋﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣكل ُﲞﺘﻨﴫ‬
‫‪Sim. (first sage/philosopher) Th 29 (q.v.); (eclipse/phases of the moon) Th 178‬‬
‫)‪(q.v.); (Egyptian influence) Th 92 (q.v.); (dates) Th 171 (q.v.‬‬
‫‪Th 501‬‬
‫‪Ṣiwān al-ḥikma 398–416‬‬
‫اﳌﻠﻄﻲ ﻫﻮ أ ّول ﻣﻦ اﺑﺘﺪأ ابﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ وﺑﻪ ُ ّﲰﻴﺖ ﻓﺮﻗﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻴﻮانﻧ ّﻴﲔ ﻓﻼﺳﻔﺔ ﻓﻘﺪ‬‫اثﻟﻴﺲ ّ‬
‫ﰷن ﻟﻠﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ اﻧﺘﻘﺎل ﻛﺜﲑ وﻫﺬا اﻟﺮﺟﻞ ﺗﻔﻠﺴﻒ ﲟﴫ وﺻﺎر إﱃ ﻣﻠﻄﻴﺔ وﻫﻮ ﺷـﻴﺦ وﱂ‬
‫اﳊﻖ ﻟﻴﺲ ﲟﻤﺪوح‬ ‫ﯾﻮﺟﺪ ﻣﻦ الكﻣﻪ ّإﻻ اﻟﻴﺴﲑ ﻟﺘﻘﺎدم اﻟﻌﻬﺪ وﺗﻄﺎول اﳌ ّﺪة وﻫﻮ ﻗﻮهل ّ‬
‫ﻟﻜ ّﻨﻪ ﳑﺠَّ ﺪ ﻷﻧّﻪ أرﻓﻊ وأﻋﲆ ﻣﻦ اﳌﺪح وإﻧّـﲈ ﳕﺪح اﻷﺷـﻴﺎء اﻟﱵ ﻧﻘﻮى أن ﳕﻴﻞ ﺑﻔﻌﻠﻬﺎ‬
‫‪5‬‬ ‫اﻟﴩ وﻗﺎل رأس اﻟﻔﻀﺎﰁ اﻟﳰﲔ وإن ﺻﺪق ﺻﺎﺣﳢُ ﺎ ﻓﺈﳖّ ﺎ ﺗﻌ ّﻴﺒﻪ‬ ‫ﻣّﺮة إﱃ اﳋﲑ وﻣّﺮة إﱃ ّ‬
‫اﻟﻌﻲ واﻟﻐﻀﺐ ﻣﻦ ﺿﻴﻖ اﻟﻔﻜﺮ واﻟﺘﻨ ّﺪم ﻋﲆ ﻣﺎ ﻓﺎت ﻣﻦ اﻟﻔﺸﻞ وﻗﺎل ﻣَﻦ‬ ‫واﻟﺸﺘﳰﺔ ّ‬
‫ﲻﻼ ﻳﺴـﺘﺤﻲ ﻣﻨﻪ ﰲ اﻟﻌﻼﻧﻴﺔ ﻓﻠﻴﺲ ﻟﻨﻔﺴﻪ ﻋﻨﺪﻩ ﻗﺪر وﻗﺎل إنّ اذلي‬ ‫اﻟﴪ ً‬ ‫ﲻﻞ ﰲ ّ‬
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Thales of Miletus, whom we have mentioned, and that [one of ] the first
and most important things that his contemporaries said about him is the
following. The time of a lunar eclipse drew near and he had calculated it
and warned the people of it before it occurred. And when the eclipse oc-
curred they acknowledged within themselves what he had warned them
of, and a group of people came to study under him. Before then, in the
5 land of the Greeks there were none of the demonstrative sciences. Their
situation was like that of the Arabs before Islam (al-jāhiliyyah); the only
[knowledge] they had was the science of language, and the composition of
poetry, rhetoric, proverbs and letters, until Thales began with philosophy.
Furthermore they [the Greeks] took mathematics, geometry and surveying
from the Egyptians. As for poetry among the Greek people, it arose among
them before philosophy. It was invented by the poet Homer, who has the
same status among them as Imru al-Qays1 does among the Arabs. Thales
10 was 382 years later than Homer. From the time of Thales until the beginning
of the reign of Buhtnasar was 28 years and some days. The Greek people
arose later than Moses (may peace be upon him), and poetry began among
them about 80 years before philosophy, and the first philosopher among
them was 951 years after the death of Moses (may peace be upon him). Cyril
reports this in his book where he refuted Julian’s refutation of the Gospel.2
Porphyry mentions that Thales appeared in the 123rd year reckoned from
the reign of Buhtnasar.3
Th 501
Thales as philosopher; his association with Egypt; his wise sayings.
Later in the collection there follows a gnomological part.

Thales of Miletus. He was the first to practice philosophy. A group of
Greeks were named philosophers on account of him. Philosophy often
moved from one place to another. This man practiced philosophy in Egypt
and went to Miletus when he was an old man. Very few of his words have
survived because he lived so long ago and so much time has passed.
And these are his sayings: The law is not praiseworthy, but it is a noble
1 A famous pre-Islamic poet of the sixth cent. CE.

2 Cf. Th 373: Contra Iulianum 1.13 f.; Stern 1972, 439 and 442 f. ad loc. (ND 1983,
XIII).
3 There is no corresponding entry in the collection of Smith 1993.

Unauthenticated
‫‪424‬‬ ‫‪Ṣiwān al-ḥikma‬‬
‫ﳛﺲ ﺑﺄﻧّﻪ ﻻﺑﺲ ً‬

‫ﺑﺪان ﻣ ّﻴـ ًﺘـﺎ ﻓﻘﻂ ﻓﺈﻧّﻪ ﲠﳰﺔ وﳚﺐ‬ ‫ﳛﺲ ﺑﺄنّ ﻓﻴﻪ ﻧﻔﺴﺎ انﻃﻘﺔ وإﻧّـﲈ ّ‬‫ﻻ ّ‬
‫ﳛﺲ ﺑﺄن ﻓﻴﻪ ﻧﻔﺴً ﺎ انﻃﻘﺔ ﻏﲑ ﻣﺎﺋﺘﺔ ﻓﻠﻴﺲ‬ ‫أن ﻳﻜﻮن ﺷﺄﻧﻪ ﻣﺎ ﺗﻔﻌهل اﻟﳢﺎﰂ ﻓﺄﻣّﺎ اذلي ّ‬
‫‪10‬‬ ‫ابﻟﻮاﺟﺐ أن ﻳﻜﻮن ﺷﺄﻧﻪ ﻣﺎ ﺗﻔﻌهل اﻟﳢﺎﰂ ﻟﻜﻦ اﻟﻮاﺟﺐ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ أن ﻳﳣ ّﺜـﻞ أﻓﻌﺎل ّاهلل ﺗﻌﺎﱃ‬
‫اﻟﴩ إﻧّﲈ ﯾﻌﺎﻗﺒﻮن ﻋﲆ أﻓﻌﺎﳍﻢ ﻣﻦ دون اذلﻳﻦ َﯾ ْﻨﻮُون‬‫وﻗﻴﻞ هل ﻟِ َﻢ ﺻﺎر اذلﻳﻦ ﯾﻔﻌﻠﻮن ّ‬
‫ﯾﺘﻔﻜﺮ ﻟﻜﻦ ﻷن ﻻ‬ ‫اﻟﴩ؟ ﻓﻘﺎل ﻣﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ أﻧّﻪ إﻧّﲈ ﻣﺎ ﻗﺼﺪ ابﻻﻧﺴﺎن ﻻ ﻷن ﻻ ّ‬ ‫ﻓﻌﻞ ّ‬
‫ﯾﺘﻔﻜﺮ ﻓﻴﻪ وﻗﻴﻞ هل ّأي اﳊﻴﻮان اذلي ﻻ َﻳ ْﺸ َﺒﻊ؟ ﻓﻘﺎل اﻹﻧﺴﺎن اذلي‬ ‫ﯾﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﺮديء ﳑّﺎ ّ‬
‫َﻳ ْﺮﺑَﺢ وﻗﺎل اﻟﻜﺒﲑ اﳍ ّﻤﺔ اذلي ﻳﻜﻮن ﻋﻨﻒ اﻟﻨﺎﰠ ﻋﻨﺪﻩ أﻟﻄﻒ ﻣﻮﻗﻌًﺎ ﻣﻦ ﻟﲔ اﳌﻠﻖ‬
‫‪15‬‬ ‫وﻋﻈﺖ ﻣﺬﻧ ًﺒﺎ ﻓﱰ ّﻓﻖ ﺑﻪ ّﻟﺌﻼ ﳜﺮج إﱃ اﳌﲀﺷﻔﺔ وﻗﺎل ﻛﻮﻧﻮا ﻣﻦ اﻟـﻤ ِ ّ‬
‫ُﴪ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫اﻟﲀﴊ وﻗﺎل إذا‬
‫اﻟـﻤ ُْﺪ ِﻏﻞ أﺧﻮف ﻣﻨﲂ ﻣﻦ اﳌﲀﺷﻒ اﻟـﻤُـﻌْـ ِﻠﻦ ﻷنّ ﻣﺪاواة اﻟﻌﻠﻞ اﻟﻈﺎﻫﺮة أﻫﻮن ﻣﻦ‬
‫ﻣﺪاواة ﻣﺎ اﺳـﺘﺨﻔﻰ وﺑﻄﻦ وﻗﺎل ﻣﻦ ﺳﻘﺎك اﳌ ّﺮ ﻟﺘﱪأ أﺷﻔﻖ ﻋﻠﻴﻚ ﳑّﻦ أوﺟﺮك اﳊﻠﻮ‬
‫ﺎف وﻗﻴﻞ هل ْأﺧ ِﺮج ﻫﺬا‬‫ﺣﱴ َﲣ َ‬‫ﺣﱴ ﺗﺄﻣﻦَ أﺑ ُّﺮ ﺑﻚ ﳑّﻦ آﻧﺴﻚ ّ‬ ‫ﻟﺘﺴﻘﻢ وﻣﻦ ﺧ ّﻮﻓﻚ ّ‬
‫اﻟﻐ ّﻢ ﻣﻦ ﻗﻠﺒﻚ ﻓﻘﺎل ﻟﻴﺲ ﺑﺈذﱐ دﺧﻞ وﺳُ ـﺌﻞ ﻋﻦ ﺣﺎهل ﺑﻌﺪ ﻣﺎ َﻫﺮم ﻓﻘﺎل ﻫﻮ ذا أﻣﻮت‬
‫‪20‬‬ ‫همﻞ‬
‫ﻋﲆ ٍ‬
‫;)‪Sim. (first sage/philosopher) Th 29 (q.v.); (Egyptian influence) Th 92 (q.v.‬‬
‫;)‪(dates) Th 171 (q.v.); (wise sayings) Th 89 (q.v.); (writings) Th 88 (q.v.‬‬
‫)‪(circumstances of his death) Th 237 (1.39) (q.v.‬‬

thing, since it is above praise. For we praise things that sometimes incline
5 us to do good and sometimes to do evil.
He said: The oath is the beginning of disgrace. When the man who swears
the oath remains faithful to it, it will make him vulnerable, and feebleness
makes him ashamed, and he becomes angry about his narrow-mindedness
and he regrets what has escaped him due to his failure.
He said: If anyone does anything in secret that he is ashamed of doing in
public, he has no respect for himself.
He said: Anyone who does not feel that there is a rational soul in him and
only feels that he is clothed with a mortal body, is an animal and thus he
should do what animals do. He, however, who feels that there is an immor-
10 tal rational soul in him, should not do what the animals do, but it is incum-
bent on him to imitate the activities of God (be He exalted).
And it was said to him: Why should those who do evil be punished for their
deeds and not those who intend to do evil? He answered: Because what we
mean by human is not someone who does not think but one who does not
carry out the evil that he thinks.1
And it was said to him: Is there any animal that is never satisfied? He an-
swered: A man who makes profits.2
He said: A high-minded person is one who receives austere advice more
15 kindly than smooth and sweet words from a malicious flatterer.
He said: If you preach to a sinner, be kind to him so that he doesn’t make
his sin publicly known.
He said: Stay away from one who is discreet and insidious more than from
one who is open and transparent, since it is easier to cure visible defects than
to treat what is concealed and hidden.
He said: Someone who gives you a bitter drink in order to cure you is more
compassionate to you than one who gives you a sweet in order to make
you ill. And someone who makes you afraid in order to make you secure,
is better for you than someone makes you feel safe until you fall into fear.
It was said to him: Cast this grief from your heart. He answered: It entered
without my permission.3
1 This is also found under al-Mubassir; cf. below Th 510.

2 The philologist and lexicographer Ibn Duraid (837–933 CE) cites a parallel text
in which the speech refers more pointedly to a merchant; however, the reading of
the name there is uncertain. Cf. Rosenthal 1958, 29–54 and 150–83, Nr. 43 (ND
1990, VII). Cf. also a consideration in favor of an alternative ascription to the Cynic
preacher Teles (third cent. BCE) in Rosenthal 1991, 203, no. 40.
3 This same saying is also found anonymously in al-Mubassir: Badawi 1958, 324, 19
and in Ibn Hindu: al-Qabbani 1900, 130, 10 f.

Unauthenticated
426 Pseudo-Ğābir ibn Ḥayyān
Pseudo-Ğābir ibn Ḥayyān
Th 502
Kitāb al-baḥt 2.331.9 f. (ed. Kraus)
‫ﰻ اﻟﻨﺎس أذﻛﻴﺎء وﻻ اتﻣّﻲ اﳋﻠﻖ ﻛﲈ ُﳛﲃ ﻋﻦ اثﻟﻴﺲ وﻓﻮاثﻏﻮرس وﺳﻘﺮاط‬ ّ ‫إذ ﻟﻴﺲ‬
ّ ‫وأﻓﻼﻃﻦ وأﻣﺜﺎﳍﻢ ﳑّﻦ ﱂ‬
‫ﯾﺘﻌﲅ ﻣﻦ أﺣﺪ ﺷﻴﺌﺎ وﰷن انﻃﻘﺎ ابﻟﻌﲅ ﻣﻦ ﺻﻐﺮﻩ وأ ّول أﻣﺮﻩ‬

Unauthenticated
Pseudo-Ğābir ibn Ḥayyān 427
Someone asked him about his condition when he had become aged. He said:
5 It is what it is. I am dying slowly.
Adjoined is a longer quotation (with minor variations) from Pseudo-Ammo-
nius (416–425), which corresponds to chapter II of the text (p. 34 f., translated
p.80 f.); see above Th 483.
Pseudo-Gabir ibn Hayyan (mid-10th cent. CE)

In the extensive corpus of alchemical writings that has been attributed to
a follower of the Shiite Imam Ga’far as-Sadiq (ca. 700–765 CE),1 several
ancient authorities are invoked, including Thales.2 In a Kitab al-baht (Book
of Investigation) he is mentioned in a narration of Archimedes.3
Th 502
Thales the Sage.
Book of Investigation
Not everyone is smart or exemplary in that way that is reported about
Thales, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato and others who had nothing to learn
from others, and who spoke of knowledge from his youth and his early age.
1 F. Sezgin (1972, 132–229) keeps the early dating. For the identity of the (or at least
of one) forger, cf. P. Kraus 1942 (vol. 1), LXIII f.
2 Kraus 1943 (vol. 2), 46, n. 1; 47, n. 1; 53, n. 5; 55, n. 4; 59, n. 1; 119, n. 2; 128, n. 5; 280,
n. 2, 332 and 336 with quotations from the Placita Philosophorum, cf. also Sezgin
1971, Index s.v. Thales, and here esp. p.163, a long discussion between Socrates and
Thales in a book on silver.
3 Or should this be: in a narration about Archimedes?

Unauthenticated
428 Constantine VII Porphyrogennetus
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetus
Th 503
De virtutibus et vitiis 1.348.21–22 (ed. Büttner-Wobst/ Roos)
Φασὶ δέ τινες Θαλῆν προϊδόμενον ἔκ τινων σημείων ὄμβρον γενησόμενον
καὶ ἀναμένειν τὴν ὥραν ἐκείνην.
Th 504
De sententiis 38–39, 282.18–283.2 (ed. Boissevain)
Ὅτι περὶ τοῦ χρυσοῦ τρίποδος ἀμφισβητήσεως οὔσης ἡ Πυθία ἔχρησεν
οὕτως ἔκγονε Μιλήτου, τρίποδος πέρι Φοῖβον ἐρωτᾷς; τίς σοφίᾳ πρῶτος
πάντων; τούτῳ τρίποδ᾽ αὐδῶ.
οἱ δέ φασιν ἄλλως ὅτι πολέμου γενομένου τοῖς Ἴωσι πρὸς ἀλλήλους, καὶ
5 τοῦ τρίποδος παρὰ σαγηνέων ἀνενεχθέντος, ἐπερωτῆσαι τὸν θεὸν περὶ
τῆς καταλύσεως τοῦ πολέμου. ἡ δὲ ἔφη οὔποτε μὴ λήξῃ πόλεμος Μερόπων
καὶ Ἰώνων πρὶν τρίποδα χρύσειον, ὃν Ἥφαιστος κάμε τεύχων, ἐκ μέσσου
πέμψητε, καὶ ἐς δόμον ἀνδρὸς ἵκηται ὃς σοφίᾳ τά τ᾽ ἐόντα τά τ᾽ ἐσσόμενα
προδέδορκεν. [39] Ὅτι οἱ Μιλήσιοι ἀκολουθῆσαι βουλόμενοι τῷ χρησμῷ
10 Θάλητι τῷ Μιλησίῳ τῶν ἑπτὰ σοφῶν τὸ ἀριστεῖον ἐβούλοντο δοῦναι‧
τὸν δὲ εἰπεῖν ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν πάντων σοφώτατος, συμβουλεύειν δὲ πρὸς
ἕτερον πέμπειν σοφώτερον. τούτῳ δὲ τῷ τρόπῳ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν
ἑπτὰ σοφῶν ἀποποιησαμένων τὸν τρίποδα Σόλωνι δίδοσθαι δοκοῦντι
πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὑπερβεβλῆσθαι σο-[283] φίᾳ τε καὶ συνέσει. τὸν δὲ
15 συμβουλεῦσαι τοῦτον ἀναθεῖναι Ἀπόλλωνι‧ τοῦτον γὰρ εἶναι σοφώτερον
πάντων.
Sim. (Thales’ prize/story of the tripod) Th 52 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetus 429
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetus (906–959 CE)

Extract from Nicolaus of Damascus, Histories, book 7 (cf. Th 79). The story
of Croesus on the pyre (cf. Herodotus, Histories 1.86 f.), where at the last
second he is saved by a sudden cloudburst.
Th 503
Thales’ prediction of rain.
On Virtues and Vices 1.348.21–22
Some say that Thales foresaw from some signs that there would be rain, and
awaited that time (cf. Th 10).
Th 504i
Thales the Sage; the story of the tripod.
On Maxims 38–39, 282.18–283.2
When there was a dispute about the golden tripod, the Pythian priestess
proclaimed the following oracle: “Child of Miletus, are you asking Phoebus
about the tripod? Who is the first of all in wisdom? I declare that the tripod
is his.” Some say differently, that when there was a war among the Ionians
5 and the tripod had been hauled up in a fishnet, they asked the god how to
end the war. She said that the war between the Meropes and the Ionians will
never end until you send away the golden tripod which Hephaestus pro-
duced by his labor and it reaches the house of the man who has by his wis-
dom foreseen the things that are and that will be. [39] The Milesians wished
10 to obey the oracle and wished to give it as a prize to Thales of Miletus who
was one of the Seven Sages. But he said that he was not the wisest of all and
he advised them to send it to someone else who was wiser. When the rest
of the Seven Sages refused the tripod in the same way too, they gave it to
Solon, who seemed to exceed everyone in wisdom [283] and understanding,
15 and he advised them to dedicate it to Apollo, for he is wiser than everyone.
i W. does not translate this testimonium..

Unauthenticated
‫‪430‬‬ ‫‪Ibn an-Nadīm‬‬
‫‪Ibn an-Nadīm‬‬
‫‪Th 505‬‬
‫‪Fihrist 245.12–15 (ed. Flügel)1‬‬
‫اﶆﺎر ﲝﴬة أﰊ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﻋﻴﴗ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ وﻗﺪ ﺳﺄﻟﺘﻪ ﻋﻦ أ ّول ﻣﻦ‬ ‫ﻗﺎل ﱄ أﺑﻮ اﳋﲑ ﺑﻦ ّ‬
‫اﻟﺼﻮري ﰲ ﻛﺘﺎﺑﻪ اﻟﺘﺄرﱗ وﻫﻮ ﴎاي ّﱐ أنّ أ ّول‬
‫ّ‬ ‫ﺗﳫﻢ ﰲ اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ ﻓﻘﺎل زﰪ ﻓﺮﻓﻮرﯾﻮس‬ ‫ّ‬
‫اﻟﻔﻼﺳﻔﺔ اﻟﺴـﺒﻌﺔ اثﻟﺲ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺎﻟّﺲ اﻷﻣﻠﻴﴘ وﻗﺪ ﻧﻘﻞ ﻣﻦ ﻫﺬا اﻟﻜﺘﺎب ﻣﻘﺎﻟﺘﲔ إﱃ‬
‫ﺗﳫﻢ ﰲ اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ‬ ‫اﻟﻌﺮ ّﰊ ﻓﻘﺎل أﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﻛﺬا ﻫﻮ وﻣﺎ أﻧﻜﺮﻩ وﻗﺎل آﺧﺮون أنّ أ ّول ﻣﻦ ّ‬
‫‪5‬‬ ‫ﺑﻮاثﻏﻮرس‬
‫)‪Sim. (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.‬‬
‫‪1‬‬ ‫‪Also translated in Smith 1993, 220 f. (no. 194bT).‬‬

Ibn an-Nadīm 431
Ibn an-Nadim (died 995 or 998 CE)

This Shiite bookseller from Bagdad was filled with especial reverence for
Aristotle and the other Greek thinkers. His comprehensively organized book
catalogue published under the plain title Fihrist (Catalogue), is also a trea-
sury of details in cultural history.
Th 505
Thales the first philosopher.
Catalogue
Abū al-Khayr ibn al-Khammār1 said to me in the presence of Abū al-Qā-
ʿ ʿ
sim Isā bin Alī,2 when I asked him who was the first who spoke about
philosophy: “Porphyry of Tyre claims (Th 247) in his book The His-
tory, which is written in Syriac, that the first of the Seven Philosophers
was Thales of Miletus, the son of M’LLS.3 Two chapters of this book were
translated into Arabic. Abū al-Qāsim said that that was true and he did not
5 dispute it. Others say that the first who spoke about philosophy was Pytha-
goras.
1 Christian doctor and philosopher, born in Baghdad in 942 CE, translated many
works from Syrian into Arabic, went from Baghdad to Choresm, was kidnapped
and taken from there to Afghanistan, where he died before 1030.
2 Secretary at the court of the Caliph, was considered an expert in the Greek sciences,
lived from 914 to 1001 CE.
3 The name can be read as Mallos, which cannot be brought into agreement with
with Ἐξαμύης, which is found in Diogenes Laertius and other authors, even if H.
Diels wants to recognize in it a simple “corruption” (1888/89, 165–170; cf. also O.
Immisch, 1888/9, 515 f. on Thales’ origin). Rather we should think of an independent
local tradition which Porphyry, who came from Tyre, followed.

Unauthenticated
‫‪432‬‬ ‫‪Al-Bīrūnī‬‬
‫‪Al-Bīrūnī‬‬
‫‪Th 506‬‬
‫)‪Tarīḫ al-Hind 15.19–16.1 (ed. Sachau‬‬
‫إنّ ﻗﺪﻣﺎء اﻟﻴﻮانﻧ ّﻴﲔ ﻗﺒﻞ ﳒﻮم اﳊﳬﺔ ﻓﳱﻢ ابﻟﺴـﺒﻌﺔ اﳌﺴ ّﻤﲔ أﺳﺎﻃﲔ اﳊﳬﺔ وﱒ ﺳﻮﻟﻦ‬
‫اﻷﺛﻴﲏ وﺑﻴﻮس اﻟﻔﺎرﯾﲏ وﻓﺎرايﻧﺪروس اﻟﻘﻮرﻧﱻ واثﻟﺲ اﳌﻠﻴﺴﻮﳼ وﻛﻴﻠﻮن اﻟﻠﻘﺎذوﻣﻮﱐ‬
‫وﲥ ُّﺬ ِب اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ ﻋﻨﺪﱒ ﲟﻦ ﻧﺸﺄ ﺑﻌﺪﱒ ﰷﻧﻮا‬
‫ﻓﻴﻄﻴﻘﻮس ﻟﺴﺒﻴﻮس ﻗﻴﻠﻴﺒﻮﻟﻮس ﻟﻨﺪﯾﻮس َ َ‬
‫ﻋﲆ ﻣﺜﻞ ﻣﻘﺎةل اﻟﻬﻨﺪ‬
‫‪Th 507‬‬
‫)‪Al-ātār al-bāqiya an al-qurūn al-ḫāliya 27.14–21 (ed. Sachau‬‬
‫وﻗﺪ زﰪ ﺑﻌﺾ اﻟﻨﺎس أنّ ﻫﺬﻩ اﻷدوار ﰷﻧﺖ ُﺗ ْـﺴـ َﺘـ ْﻌ َﻤ ُﻞ ُ‬

‫ابﻟﺮ ْؤﯾَﺔ دون اﳊﺴﺎب إذ ﰷن‬
‫اﻟﻨﺎس ﺣﻴﻨﺌﺬ ﱂ ﯾﻔﻄﻨﻮا ﲝﺴﺎب اﻟﻜﺴﻮﻓﺎت اﻟﱵ ﻻ ُﯾ ْﻌ َﺮ ُف ﻣﻘﺪار اﻟﺸﻬﺮ ّ‬
‫اﻟﻘﻤﺮي وﻻ‬
‫ﯾ ّﱲ ﻫﺬﻩ اﳊﺴـﺒﺎانت ّإﻻ ﲠﺎ وأنّ أ ّول ﻣﻦ وﻗﻒ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﰷن اثﻟﺲ ﻣﻦ أﻫﻞ ﻣﻠﻄﻴﺔ ﻓﺈﻧّﻪ‬
‫ﻟـ ّﻤﺎ اﺧﺘﻠﻒ اﱃ أﲱﺎب اﻟﺮايﺿﺎت وأﺧﺬ ﻣﳯﻢ ﻋﲅ اﻟﻬﻴﺌﺔ واﳊﺮﰷت ّ‬
‫ﺗﺮﰵ ﻣﻨﻪ إﱃ‬
‫‪5‬‬ ‫اﺳـﺘﻨﺒﺎط اﻟﻜﺴﻮﻓﺎت ّﰒ َو َﻗ َﻊ إﱃ ْﻣﴫ ﻓﺄﻧﺬر اﻟﻨﺎس ﺑﻜﻮن اﻟﻜﺴﻮف ﻓﻠ ّﻤﺎ ﺻﺪق ﺧﱪﻩ‬
‫وﳇﲈ ﻗﺮﺑﺖ‬ ‫ﻟﲁ ﺻﻨﺎﻋﺔ ﻣﺒﺎدئ ﯾُﻨﳤـﻰ إﻟﳱﺎ ّ‬ ‫اﺳـﺘﻌﻈﻤﻮﻩ وﻫﺬا اﳋﱪ ﻣﻦ اﳌﻤﻜﻨﺎت ﻓﺈنّ ّ‬

Al-Bīrūnī 433
Al-Biruni (973–1048 CE)

Al-Biruni was from Choresm, the ancient cultural oasis, south of the Aral Sea
on the lower course of the Oxus. This exponent of an Islam that was liberal
and open to the world and also thoroughly orthodox is commonly considered
the most important and creative widely educated person in the entire Muslim
middle ages. In his works he refers continuously to the Greeks, whom he
valued highly.1 In his great monograph on India he compares the situation
there with the ancient Greeks, among whom he mentions the Seven Sages.
Th 506
Thales the Sage.
History of India 15.19–16.1
Before the rise of philosophy among the ancient Greeks that was due to the
so-called Pillars of Wisdom, namely, Solon of Athens, Bias of Priene, Peri-
ander of Corinth, Thales of Miletus, Chilon of Sparta, Pittacus of Lesbos
and Cleobulus of Lindos and the refinement of philosophy by those who
came after them, one could say about them the same as about the people of
India.
Th 507
Thales as astronomer; his prediction of an eclipse; his association with
Egypt.
In his Chronology he discusses whether Thales could really have predicted
an eclipse. He is dependent on a tradition which concerns a lunar eclipse. He
discusses the determination of lunar months and their congruence with solar
years, which is found by recording eclipses, he names the Metonic cycle of
nineteen years, and then he continues:
Chronicle 27.14–21
Some claimed that these [astronomical] periods were worked out by ob-
servation and not by calculations, because at that time people did not pay
1 Cf. Kennedy 1970, 147–58; cf. also the Introduction to Strohmeier 32002, 9–31.

Unauthenticated
‫‪434‬‬ ‫)‪Al-Bīrūnī – Ibn Sina (Avicenna‬‬
‫ﻣﻦ ﻣﺒﺪﲛﺎ ﰷﻧﺖ أﺑﺴﻂ ّ‬

‫ﺣﱴ ﯾُﻨﳤـﻰ إﻟﻴﻪ وﻟﻜﻦّ اﻟﻮاﺟﺐ أن ﻻ ﯾُﻄﻠﻖ ﰲ ﻫﺬا اﳋﱪ‬
‫اﻟﻘﻮل ﺑﺄنّ اﻟﻜﺴﻮف ﱂ ﯾُﻌﺮف ﻗﺒﻞ اثﻟﺲ ّإﻻ ابﺷﱰاط َﻣﻮاﺿ َﻊ دون ُأﺧﺮ‬
‫‪Sim. (eclipse/phases of the moon) Th 178 (q.v.); (Egyptian influence) Th 92‬‬
‫)‪(q.v.‬‬
‫)‪Ibn Sina (Avicenna‬‬

‫‪Th 508‬‬
‫)‪Kitāb aš-šifā 87.1–6 (ed. Madkūr/Qāsim‬‬
‫ﻓﻴﺸـﺒﻪ أن ﻳﻜﻮن أﻗﺪهمﻢ ﻣﻦ رأى أنّ اﻟﻌﻨﴫ اﻟﻮاﺣﺪ ﻫﻮ اﳌﺎء ودﻋﺎﻩ إﱃ ذكل ﻇ ّﻨﻪ‬
‫ﺣﱴ ﻳﻜﻮن ﻣﻨﻪ ﻣﺎ ﻫﻮ ﻋﻨﴫ‬ ‫أن اﻟﻌﻨﴫ ﯾﻨﺒﻐﻲ أن ﻳﻜﻮن ﻣﻄﺎوﻋﺎ ّ‬
‫ﻟﻠﺘﺸﲁ واﻟﺘﺨﻠﻴﻖ ّ‬
‫هل ّ‬
‫ﻓﲁ ﻣﺎ ﻫﻮ أﺷ ّﺪ ﻣﻄﺎوﻋﺔ ذلكل ﻓﻬﻮ أوﱃ ابﻟﻌﻨﴫﯾّﺔ ّﰒ وﺟﺪ ﻫﺬﻩ اﳌﻄﺎوﻋﺔ ﻛﺄﳖّ ﺎ‬
‫ﺧﺎص ابﻟﺮﻃﻮﺑﺔ واﻟﻨﺎس ّﳇﻬﻢ ﯾﻌﺘﻘﺪون أنّ اﻟﺮﻃﻮﺑﺔ ﻣﺎء أو ﳾء اﻟﻐﺎﻟﺐ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ‬
‫ﻓﺼﻞ ّ‬
‫‪5‬‬ ‫ﺗﺘﺨﻠﻖ ّإﻻ ﻣﻦ‬
‫اﳌﺎء ﲾﻌﻞ اﳌﺎء اﻟﺒﺴـﻴﻂ ﻫﻮ اﻟﻌﻨﴫ ﻗﺎل وﻟﻬﺬا ﻣﺎ ﻧﺮى اﳊﻴﻮاانت ﻻ ّ‬
‫اﻟﺮﻃﺐ وﻫﻮ اﳌﲏ‬
‫)‪Sim. (water as the first principle) Th 29 (q.v.‬‬

Al-Bīrūnī – Ibn Sina (Avicenna) 435
attention to the calculation of eclipses, without which one cannot know the
length of the lunar month or how to calculate it. The first who did this was
Thales of Miletus, for he went to mathematicians and acquired knowledge
of astronomy and the movements [of the heavenly bodies] from them, and
5 from that knowledge he found a way to deduce when eclipses would occur.
Then he went to Egypt and warned the people of the occurrence of the
eclipse, and when his statement proved true, they had regarded him highly.
This story is possible, since every art has principles which one can reach,
and the nearer it [the art] gets to its principle, the simpler it is for the art
to reach it. However, we must not generalize from this report that eclipses
were unknown before Thales, because they could have been known in other
places.
Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) (before 980–1037 CE)

Th 508
Water as the first principle.
Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) was influential in the West as a philosopher and ex-
ponent of a neoplatonizing Aristotelianism.1 In the Kitab as-sifa (Book of
Convalescence), his major philosophical work, he refers to the conceptions
of matter of Aristotle’s predecessors, which Aristotle vanquished, without
mentioning their names, but where even so he apostrophizes Thales as the
earliest.
Book of Healing2
It appears that the earliest of them [the philosophers] held the view that the
single element is water. What brought him to this view was his belief that
an element must be amenable to formation and generation in order for [an-
other] element to be generated from it. And that which is most amenable is
most worthy of the status of elementality. Then he considered this amenity
to be a distinctive character of moisture and all peoples believe that moisture
5 is water or something in which water is predominant. So he considered pure
water to be the element. He said: And thus we see how animals are gener-
ated only from moisture, namely, from sperm.
1 Strohmaier 2006.
2 Cf. also the correspondence between Al-Bīrūnī and Ibn Sīnā, Al-as’ ila wa-l-ăwiba
in Nasr/Mohaghegh 1972, 32, 2–4.

Unauthenticated
‫‪436‬‬ ‫)‪Ibn Sina (Avicenna‬‬
‫)‪Th 508a (= Ar 243‬‬
‫)‪Al-Asʾila wa-l-aǧwiba 32.3–9 (ed. Nasr‬‬
‫ﻣﺜﻞ اثﻟﻴﺲ ﺣﲔ ﺟﻌﻠﻬﺎ اﳌﺎء وﻫﺮﻗﻠﻴﻄﺲ أذ ﳚﻌﻠﻬﺎ اﻟﻨﺎر ودﯾﻮﺟﺎﻧﺲ اذ ﺟﻌﻠﻬﺎ ﺟﻮﻫﺮا‬
‫ﺑﲔ اﳌﺎء واﻟﻬﻮاء واﻧﻜﺴﻤﻨﺪرس ﺣﲔ ﳚﻌﻠﻬﺎ ﻫﻮاء ‪ .‬و ﳚﻌﻞ ﰻ واﺣﺪ ﻣﳯﻢ الاﺟﺮام‬
‫اﳌﺘﻮدلات ﻋﻮارض ﺗﻌﺮض ﰱ اﳉﺴﻢ اﻳﺶ ﻣﺎ وﺿﻌﻮﻩ ‪ ،‬واﻧّﻪ ﻟﻴﺲ ﻳﻜﻮن ﻋﻦ‬ ‫اﻷﺧﺮ و ّ‬
‫ﺟﺴﻢ آﺧﺮ ‪ .‬وﯾﻘﻮل اﻧﻜﺴﻤﻨﺪرس اﻟﻘﻮل اذلى ﺣﻜﻴﺘﻪ انّ اﻟﺠﻮﻫﺮ الا ّول ﻫﻮاء ‪ ،‬ﻓﺎذا‬
‫‪5‬‬ ‫اﺻﺎﺑﺘﻪ ﻛﻴﻔ ّﻴﺔ اﻟﱪودة ﺻﺎر ﻣﺎء ‪ ،‬واذا ﲯﻦ ﻣﻦ ﲢﺮﯾﻚ اﻟﻔكل ﰷن انرا او اﺛﲑا ‪.‬‬

Ibn Sina (Avicenna) 437
Th 508a (= Ar 243)
Water as the first principle
Around the year 1000 there was an exchange of letters between the still
young Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) and the polymath al-Biruni (973–1048 CE).1 It
began with eighteen questions of al-Biruni which had arisen in connection
with his lectures on Aristotle. The questions and the answers of Ibn Sīnā alike
are the object of the correspondence. The topic of the present dispute is the
friction of the sphere of fire at the equator and the poles. Ibn Sīnā compares
al-Biruni’s view with the idea of the Presocratics about principles and refers
in this connection to Anaximander’s theory of air – obviously a confusion
with Anaximenes.2
Questions and Answers 32.3–9

... like Thales, since he takes water to be [the first substance], and Heraclitus,
since takes it to be fire, and Diogenes [of Apollonia], since he takes it to be
a substance [intermediate] between water and air, and Anaximander, since
he takes it to be air. Every one of them takes the other corporeal things and
the things that are generated to be accidents that occur in the body [viz. the
first element] in a certain arrangement. For in no way does it [viz. the first
element] come to be out of a different body. Anaximander says the saying
5 that I mentioned above, that the first substance is air. If the air is exposed to
the quality of coldness it becomes water and if it is heated by the motion of
the orb it becomes fire or aether.
1 Cf. Gutas 1988, 97–8.

2 Cf. Strohmaier 1992, esp. 121–3.

Unauthenticated
‫‪438‬‬ ‫‪Al-Mubaššir ibn Fātik‬‬
‫‪Al-Mubaššir ibn Fātik‬‬
‫‪Th 509‬‬
‫)‪Muḫtār al-ḥikam wa-maḥāsin al-kalim 34.7–36.2 (ed. Badawī‬‬
‫وﰷن ﺳﻮﻟﻮن أﺣﺪ اﳊﻜﲈء اﻟﺴـﺒﻌﺔ اذلﻳﻦ ﰷﻧﻮا ﰲ وﻗﺖ واﺣﺪ وﱒ اثﻟﻴﺲ وﺳﻮﻟﻮن‬
‫وﺑِ ّﻄﺎﻗﻮس وابرايﻧﺪروس وﺧﻴﻠﻮن وﻗﻼوﺑﻮﻟﻮس وﺑﻴﺎس وأﻧﻜﺮ ﻗﻮم ﺑِ ّﻄﺎﻗﻮس وابرايﻧﺪروس‬
‫وﺟﻌﻠﻮا ﻣﲀﳖﲈ أﺑاميﻧﻴﺪس اﻷﻗﺮﯾﻄﻲ وأانﺧﺎرﺳﻴﺲ اﻹﺳﻘﻮﰔ وﻗﻴﻞ إﳖّ ﻢ ﺗﺴﻌﺔ وأﺿﺎﻓﻮا إﻟﳱﻢ‬
‫أﯾﻀﺎ وﻣﻮﺳﻮن اذلي ﻣﻦ ﺧﻴﻨﻴﺎ وإﻧّـﲈ ﺣﺴـﺒﻮا ﺳـﺒﻌﺔ وأﺳﻘﻂ‬ ‫أانﺧﺎرﺳﻴﺲ اذلي ﻣﻦ ﺳﻘﻮﺛﻴﺎ ً‬
‫‪5‬‬
‫ً‬
‫ﻣﻨﻘﻮﺷﺎ ﻟﻴﻠﻘﻰ ﺷـﺒﻜﺘﻪ ﰲ‬ ‫ً‬
‫أﺣﺪااث وﻗﻔﻮا ﺑﺼ ّﻴﺎد ﻓﺪﻓﻌﻮا إﻟﻴﻪ‬ ‫ﻣﳯﻢ اﺛﻨﺎن ﳌﺎ أذﻛﺮﻩ وﻫﻮ أنّ‬
‫اﳌﺎء ﳁﺎ أﺻﻌﺪﺗﻪ ﺑﺒﺨﳤﻢ ﰷن ﳍﻢ ﻓﺄﺧﺬﻩ ﻣﳯﻢ وﻃﺮح ﺷـﺒﻜﺘﻪ ﰲ اﳌﺎء ﻓﺄﺻﻌﺪ ﻃﺮﯾﺒﻮذا ﻣﻦ‬
‫ذﻫﺐ ﻓﺄز َﻣ َﻊ اﻟﺼ ّﻴﺎد ﻋﲆ ﻣﻨﻌﻬﻢ ّإايﻩ واﺣﺘﺞّ ﻋﻠﳱﻢ ﺑﺄﻧّﻪ إﻧّـﲈ ابﻋﻬﻢ ﲰﻜﺔ وﱂ ﯾﺒﻌﻬﻢ ﻃﺮﯾﺒﻮذا‬
‫ﴍط ﻋﲆ ﻧﻔﺴﻪ أن ﯾﻄﻠﻊ ﳍﻢ ﺑﺒﺨﳤﻢ ﻣﺎ ﻃﻠﻊ ﳍﻢ ﻓﻠ ّﻤﺎ ﻃﺎﻟﺖ‬ ‫ﻣﻦ ذﻫﺐ ﻓﺎﺣﺘﺠّ ﻮا ﻋﻠﻴﻪ أﻧّﻪ َ َ‬
‫ُ‬
‫ويح إﻟﳱﻢ أن ﯾﻨﻄﻠﻘﻮا‬‫اﳌﺸﺎﺟﺮة اﺗّﻔﻘﻮا ﻋﲆ أن ﯾﺘﻔﺎﺗَ ْﻮا إﱃ ّاهلل ﺳـﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ ﳁﺎ أﻣﺮﱒ أﻧﻔﺬوﻩ ﻓﺄ ِ‬
‫‪10‬‬
‫ﺑﻪ إﱃ ﺑﻌﺾ اﳊﻜﲈء اﻟﺴـﺒﻌﺔ وﯾﻘﺒﻠﻮا ﺣُ ْ َﳬﻪ ﻓﺄﺗﻮا ابﻹﻃﺮﯾﺒﻮذ ً‬
‫ﺑﺪاي إﱃ اثﻟﻴﺲ ﻓﻮﺟّ ﻪ ﺑﻪ إﱃ‬
‫ﺑﻴﺎس اﳊﻜﲓ واﺣﺘﺠﺰ ﺑﺄن ﻗﺎل ﻫﻮ أﺣﲂ ّﻣﲏ ﻓﺒﻌﺚ ﺑﻴﺎس إﱃ اﳊﻜﲓ اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ ﻓﺄرﺳهل‬
‫ﺣﱴ ﺟﺎز ﻋﲆ اﻟﺴـﺒﻌﺔ اﳊﻜﲈء ﻓﺮ ّدﻩ‬ ‫اﺣﺪ ﻳﺮﺳهل إﱃ اﻵﺧﺮ ّ‬ ‫ﰻو ٍ‬ ‫اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ إﱃ اﻟﺮاﺑﻊ ﻓﲅ ﻳﺰل ُّ‬
‫وﺟﻞ ﲾﻌﻠﻮﻩ ﰲ ﻫﻴﲁ أﻓﻮﻟﻮن‬ ‫اﻟﺴﺎﺑﻊ إﱃ اثﻟﻴﺲ ﻓﺄﺟﺎب ﺑﺄن ُ ْﳚﻌَﻞ ﰲ ﻫﻴﲁ اﻹهل ﻋ َّﺰ ّ‬

Al-Mubaššir ibn Fātik 439
Al-Mubassir ibn Fatik (11th cent. CE)

The collection Muhtar al-hikam wa-mahasin al-kalim (Selected Maxims
and Excellent Sayings), of the learned Egyptian scholar al-Mubassir ibn Fa-
tiq, which was composed in the years 1048 and 1049 CE, contains no chapter
on Thales, but in the context of Solon’s biography it recounts the story of the
golden tripod.1 Franz Rosenthal has made it probable that it goes back via
the Chronology of Abu Isa ibn al-Munaggim to the Philosophus Historia of
Porphyry.2
Th 509
Thales the Sage; the story of the tripod.
Selected Maxims and Excellent Sayings 34.7–36.2
Solon was one of the Seven Sages who lived at one and the same time: Thales,
Solon, Pittacus, Periander, Chilon, Cleobulus and Bias. Some have dropped
Pittacus and Periander and replaced them with Epimenides of Crete and
Anacharsis the Scythian. Some say that they were nine and then they added
Anacharsis the Scythian and Myson of Chenae. However, they were reck-
oned to be seven and the two I mentioned above were dropped for the
5 reason I am about to mention. Some young men were standing next to a
fisherman and gave him money to cast his net into the water, and whatever
he hauled up by their luck would belong to them. He took it [the money]
from them, threw his net into the water, and hauled up a golden tripod. The
fisherman determined to deny to give it to them and argued against them
that he had only sold them a fish and not a golden tripod. They argued back
that he had committed himself to show them their luck by giving them
whatever he caught. As the dispute became prolonged, they agreed to con-
sult God (praise Him) and [said] they would do whatever He commanded.
10 He revealed to them to take the matter to one of the Seven Sages and accept
his verdict. First they came with the tripod to Thales, who turned the matter
over to Bias the sage. He justified this by saying “He is wiser than I.” Then
Bias turned it over to the third Sage, who turned it over to the fourth. So
each of them sent it on to the next until it had made the round of the Seven
Sages. And the seventh gave it back to Thales. He [Thales] gave the answer
that it should be placed in the temple of the God (Almighty and Great).
1 Cf. Rosenthal 1960–1, 132–58.

2 Rosenthal 1937, 40 f. (ND 1990, I); cf. Smith 1993, 225–8 (= Nr. 203aF).

Unauthenticated
‫‪440‬‬ ‫‪Al-Mubaššir ibn Fātik‬‬
‫ـﺒﻌﺔ ]اﻹﻃﺮﯾﺒﻮذ[ ﻟﻠﺴـﺒﻌﺔ اﳊﻜﲈء اذلﻳﻦ َﻣ َّﺮ ﻋﲆ أﯾﺪﳞﻢ وأﻣّﺎ‬

‫‪2‬‬ ‫‪1‬‬ ‫اذلي ﺑﺪاﻟﻔﺲ ﻓﺼﺎرت ﺳ ً‬
‫‪15‬‬ ‫اﻵﺧﺮون اذلﻳﻦ ﱂ ﯾ ّﺘﻔﻘﻮا ﻣﻌﻬﻢ ﰲ ﻫﺬا اﳌﻌﲎ ﻓﺄﻗ ُّﺮوا ﺑﻔﻀﻴةل ا ّﻟﺴﻦّ‬
‫‪Sim. (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.); (Thales’ prize/story of the‬‬
‫)‪tripod) Th 52 (q.v.‬‬
‫‪Th 510‬‬
‫‪Muḫtār al-ḥikam wa-maḥāsin al-kalim 302.5–8‬‬
‫وﺳـﺌﻞ اثﻟﻴﺲ اذلي ﻣﻦ أﻫﻞ ﻣﺎﻟﻄﻴﻪ ﱂ ﺻﺎر اذلﻳﻦ ﯾﻌﺎﻗﺒﻮن اﻟﺒﴩ ﻻ ﯾﻌﺎﻗﺒﻮﳖﻢ ﻋﲆ‬
‫ﻓﻜﺮﱒ اﻟﺮدﯾﺌﺔ وإﻧّـﲈ ﯾﻌﺎﻗﺒﻮﳖﻢ ﻋﲆ أﻓﻌﺎﳍﻢ ﻓﻘﻂ؟ ﻓﻘﺎل ﻣﻦ ِﻗـ َﺒﻞ أن اﻹﻧﺴﺎن ُﻗﺼِ ﺪ ﺑﻪ‬
‫ﻷن ﻻ ﯾﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﺮديء ﳑّﺎ ﯾﻔﻜﺮ ﻓﻴﻪ ﻻ أن ﻻ ﯾﻔﻜﺮ‬
‫)‪Sim. (wise sayings) Th 89 (q.v.‬‬
‫‪Th 511‬‬
‫‪Muḫtār al-ḥikam wa-maḥāsin al-kalim 314.8 f.‬‬
‫وﻗﺎل اثﻟﻴﺲ اﳌﻠﻴﴘ اﻟﻮاﺟﺐ ﻋﲆ اﻹﻧﺴﺎن ان ﯾﻌﲅ إذا ﺟﺎء ﻣﻦ أﻳﻦ ﺟﺎء وإذا ﺟﺎء ﱂ‬
‫ﺟﺎء وإذا اﻧﻘﻠﺐ إﱃ أﻳﻦ ﻳﻜﻮن اﻧﻘﻼﺑﻪ‬
‫‪1‬‬ ‫ﺳﺎﺑﻌﺔ ] ﺳـﺒﻌ ًﺔ‬

‫‪2‬‬ ‫اﻹﻃﺮﯾﺒﻮذ‬

Al-Mubaššir ibn Fātik 441
And thus they placed it in the temple of Apollo at Delphi.1 That is why they
became seven, because this matter passed among the seven wise men.2 As
15 far as the others, who did not agree with them, they proposed to settle the
matter by yielding to age.
In an appended chapter are contained maxims and sayings which are at-
tributed to various Greeks, including Thales.
Th 510
Thales’ wise sayings.
Selected Maxims and Excellent Sayings 302.5–8
Thales of Miletus was asked why those whose job it is to punish do not pun-
ish people for their evil thoughts but only for their evil deeds. He answered:
Because we should not expect of a man that he shall not think, but that he
should not do the evil deed that he is thinking.3
Th 511
Selected Maxims and Excellent Sayings 314.8 f.
Thales of Miletus said: A person must know, when he comes, from where
he comes and why he came, and when he returns [he must know] where he
going to return.
1 The letters DLFS can also lead us to think of Delos, but since in majuscule script the
endings are frequently abbreviated, the S at the end should be interpreted merely as
a mistaken completion by the translation.
2 ʿ
The wording in the editions and manuscripts (fa-şārat sābi atu l-itÖrībūd li-s-sab
ʿ ʿ
ati al-hÖukama’ alladīna marra alā aidīhim) gives no sense. With a small correction
and the deletion of al-itÖrībūd (“the tripod” if punctuated thus) as a secondary but
dispensable marginal gloss, which has found its way into a wrong location in the
text, I have conjecturally restored the sentence. The author or his original wanted
to justify the canonical number seven, even though a larger number of ancient
philosophers were known.
3 Essentially the same is found above under the Şiwān al-hÖikma Th 499 12.

Unauthenticated
442 Al-Mubaššir ibn Fātik – Peter Damian
Th 512
Muḫtār al-ḥikam wa-maḥāsin al-kalim 318.8 f.
‫وﻗﺎل اثﻟﻴﺲ ﻷﻣّﻪ وﻗﺪ ﻃﻠﺒﺖ إﻟﻴﻪ أن ﯾﱱ ّوج اﻣﺮأة ﻣﺎ آن ﱄ ﺑﻌﺪ ﻓﻠ ّﻤﺎ ﻃﺎل إﳊﺎهحﺎ‬
‫ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻗﺎل ﻗﺪ ﻣﴣ وﻗﺖ اﻟﱱوﱕ‬
Sim. (views on the family) Th 112 (q.v.) (cf. Th 237 [1.26]). Cf. Th 129,
Th 237 (Diog. Laert. 1.26), Th 368, Gnomologium Vaticanum (Th 564) no.
318.
Iohannes Mauropus
Th 512a
Epigramm 33.18 (ed. Lagarde)1
πῶς οὖν ἐκεῖνον τὸν Θαλῆν τις θαυμάσοι;
Peter Damian
Th 513
Epistulae 5.139–40 (ed. Migne PL 144.337A–B)
Philosophus quidam (92) nocte dum stellarum cursus, et meatus siderum
subtiliter rimaretur, in puteum repente corruit, et hianti, sicut dicitur, im-
manitate profundum et obscenis sordidum squaloribus plenum (93). Cui
nimirum philosopho domestica erat ancilla nomine Iambi, quae in domi-
5 num suum libere, ac prudenter invecta, per metrum Iambicum, quod ex
ea postmodum tale nomen accepit, super eo plausibiliter dixit: „Dominus,
inquit, meus ignorabat stercora, quae sub ejus pedibus erant, et nosse tent-
1 De Lagarde, P. Iohannis Euchaitorum Metropolitae quae in codice Vaticano Graeco

676 supersunt (= Abhandlungen historisch-philologischen Classe der königlichen
Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen 28), Göttingen 1882.

Unauthenticated
Al-Mubaššir ibn Fātik – Peter Damian 443
Th 512
Thales’ views on marriage and family.
Selected Maxims and Excellent Sayings 318.8 f.
When Thales’ mother asked him to marry a woman he said that it was not
yet the time to do that. When she persisted for a long time, he said: The time
for marrying has passed.
Iohannes Mauropus
(ca. 1000–between 1075 and 1081 CE)
Th 512a
Thales the proverbial genius.
Ironic interjection in a debate about the meaning of an epigram.
Epigrams 33.18 (ed. Lagarde)4

How, then could anyone admire that Thales?
Peter Damian (ca. 1007–1072 CE)

Th 513
Variant on the story of Thales’ fall into a well.
Letters 5.139–140
A certain philosopher (92) by night carefully investigating the courses of
the stars and the wanderings of the constellations suddenly fell into a well
that had a huge gaping mouth, the story goes, and was deep and dirty, full
of obscene filth (93).5 This philosopher had a housemaid named Iambe who
4 De Lagarde, P. Iohannis Euchaitorum Metropolitae quae in codice Vaticano Graeco

676 supersunt (= Abhandlungen historisch-philologischen Classe der königlichen
Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen 1882.
5 Cf. Blumemberg 1976, 30 ff.

Unauthenticated
444 Peter Damian – Michael Psellus
abat sidera.“ Hoc itaque modo fit in diebus nostris, fit rustici et insipientes
quique, qui nil pene noverunt, nisi vomeribus arva proscindere, porcos ac
10 diversorum [337B] pecorum captabula custodire, nunc in compitis ac triviis
ante mulierculas, et combubulcos suos, non erubescant de Scripturarum
sanctarum sententiis disputare: imo, quod turpe est dicere, in tota nocte
subant [f. qui tota nocte cubant] inter femora mulierum, die non verentur
tractare de sermonibus angelorum, et hoc modo sanctorum dijudicant verba
15 doctorum.
Sim. (Thales’ fall into the well) Th 19 (q.v.)
Michael Psellus
Th 514
Opuscula logica, physica, allegorica, alia 3.31–35 (ed. Duffy)
Ἓν μὲν οὖν εἶδος τῶν λόγωνÏ – ἢ εἰ βούλοιτό τις γένος καλεῖν – ἡ τῶν
Ἑλληνικῶν λόγων παιδεία τε καὶ συνάσκησις, ἧς διαιρεθείσης δόξαις ἑτε-
ρογνώμοσι προστάται τῶν παρ᾽ ἑκάστοις δοξῶν ἄλλοι ἄλλως ἐπέστησαν,
ὧν πάντων ἐπισημότερος Πυθαγόρας ἐγένετο, Θαλῇ μὲν συνακμάσας τῷ
5 Μιλησίῳ, πολὺ δὲ τὴν ἐκείνου σοφίαν διενεγκών‧
Sim. (dates) Th 171 (q.v.)
Th 515
Opusc. log., phys., alleg., alia 51.828–844
Φύσει δὲ πρῶτον τὸ συναναιροῦν καὶ μὴ συναναιρούμενον καὶ τὸ συ-
νεισφερόμενον καὶ μὴ συνεισφέρον δέ, ὡς ἐπὶ ζῴου καὶ ἀνθρώπου. εἰ οὖν
φαμεν Θαλῆν τὸν Μιλήσιον πρότερον ἐπιστῆσαι καὶ ἐπιγνῶναι, ὅτι ἐκ
τοῦ ἡλίου ἡ σελήνη τὸ φῶς δέχεται καὶ ὅτι μακρὰν ἐκείνου ἀφισταμένη
5 πλεῖον αὐτῆς τὸ φῶς καθορᾶται, πρὸς αὐτὸν δὲ ἐπανατρέχουσα καὶ τῇ
πρὸς αὐτὸν συνόδῳ τὴν πορείαν ποιουμένη ἄρξηται μειοῦσθαί τε καὶ τὸ
φῶς ἀποβάλλεσθαι καὶ τῷ σκιάσματι τῆς γῆς παρεμπεσοῦσα, τοῦ ἡλίου
κατὰ κάθετον αὐτῇ ὑπόντος ἐν τῷ ὑπὸ γῆν ἡμισφαιρίῳ, ἔκλειψιν παντελῆ
τοῦ ταύτης φωτὸς γίγνεσθαι, τῶν ἡλιακῶν ἀκτίνων ταύτῃ μὴ προσβα-

Unauthenticated
Peter Damian – Michael Psellus 445
5 spoke sharp words to her master freely and sensiblyi, in iambic verse, which
later took its name from her, and in a praiseworthy manner said from above,
“My master did not notice the dung that was lying under his feet and was
trying to learn about the constellations.” And happens like this in our own
days: rusticsii and fools who know practically nothing but how to plow
10 fields and watch pigs and guard the stables of different kinds of [337B]
beasts, now do not blush to dispute about the meanings of the Holy Scrip-
tures in the streets and crossroads in front of mere women and of their
fellow herdsmen. Indeed – and it is disgraceful to say it – all night long they
lie in heat between women’s thighs and yet by day they are not reluctant to
discuss the speeches of angels, and in this way they pass judgment on the
15 words of the holy doctors.
Michael Psellus (ca. 1018–ca. 1078 CE)

Th 514iii
Thales and Pythagoras.
Opuscula Logica, Physica, Allegorica, Alia 3.31–35
Education and training in Greek discourses is one kind – or genus, if you
prefer to call it by that name – of [philosophical] discourse. This was divided
into differing views, each view with its own champions. The best known of
these was Pythagoras, who flourished at the same time as Thales of Miletus,
5 but was far superior to him in wisdom.
Th 515iv
Thales’ explanation of eclipses.
Opuscula Logica, Physica, Allegorica, Alia 51.828–844
First in nature is that which simultaneously eliminates but is not simulta-
neously eliminated, and what does not simultaneously imply but is simul-
taneously implied, as holds in the case of animal and man. Now if we say
i W: in kluger Weise
ii W: ungebildete
iii W. does not translate this testimonium.
iv W. does not translate this testimonium.

Unauthenticated
446 Michael Psellus
10 λουσῶνÏ– τοῦτο δὲ τὸ πάθος ταύτῃ συμβέβηκεν ἐν μόνῃ πανσελήνῳ –, εἰ

οὖν πρώην ὁ Θαλῆς ἐπέστησε τῇ σεληνιακῇ ἐκλείψει, δηλονότι πρότερον
ἦν πρὸ αὐτοῦ τὸ ἐπιστητόν, ἤγουν ἡ σεληνιακὴ ἔκλειψις, καὶ ἡ ἐπιστήμη
αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἦν. οὐκοῦν καὶ χρόνῳ καὶ φύσει τὸ ἐπιστητὸν τῆς ἐπιστήμης
προϋπάρχει καὶ οὐχ ἅμα τοῖς πρός τί εἰσι. καὶ αἰσθητοῦ δὲ μὴ ὄντος οὐδὲ
15 αἴσθησίς ἐστι‧ ταύτης δὲ μὴ ὑπούσης οὐδὲν κωλύει αἰσθητὸν εἶναι πῦρ,
ἀέρα, ὕδωρ καὶ γῆν.
Sim. (eclipse/phases of the moon) Th 178 (q.v.); (relation between knowledge

and the knowable Th 244 (q.v.)
Th 516
Opuscula psychologica, theologica, daemonologica 13.32.18–23 (ed. O’Meara)
Τὴν ψυχὴν οἱ μέν φασιν ἀσώματον, οἱ δὲ σῶμα, καὶ τούτων οἱ μὲν ἁπλοῦν,
οἱ δὲ σύνθετον, καὶ τούτων οἱ μὲν ἐκ συνημμένων, οἱ δὲ ἀσυνάπτων. τῶν
δὲ ἁπλοῦν οἱ μὲν αἰθέριον ἤγουν οὐράνιον, ὡς Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικός,
οἱ δὲ πῦρ, ὡς Ἡράκλειτος (ὅθεν καὶ πυρίαν αὐτὴν καλεῖ), οἱ δὲ ἀερίαν, ὡς
5 Ἀναξιμένης καί τινες τῶν Στωικῶν, οἱ δὲ δι᾽ ὕδατος, ὡς Θαλῆς καὶ Ἵππων
ὁ ἄθεος.
Sim. (nature of the soul/magnet) Th 31 (q.v.); (the soul is water) Th 221
(q.v.) (cf. Th 440)
Th 517
Opusc. psych., theol., daem. 13.44.20–21
Θαλῆς ἐν παντὶ σώματί φησν εἶναι ψυχήν. πῶς οὖν ἐν πυρὶ καὶ ἀέρι τοῖς
καθαρωτέροις καὶ λεπτοτέροις οὐκ ἔστιν;
Sim. (the cosmos/the universe/everything has a soul) Th 32 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Michael Psellus 447
that Thales of Miletus was the first to notice and recognize that the moon
receives its light from the sun and that when it is far removed from it [the
5 sun] more of it [the moon] sees its [the sun’s] light, and when it returns back
to it [the sun] and makes its synodic cycle with respect to it [the sun], it
begins to wane and to lose its light, and when it falls into the earth’s shadow
because the sun is perpendicularly underneath it and is in the hemisphere
under the earth, a total eclipse of its light occurs, since the sun’s rays do not
10 strike it – this event happens only at full moon. Now if Thales long ago ob-
served the moon’s eclipse, clearly prior to him it (I mean lunar eclipse) was
knowable, and the knowledge of it did not exist. Therefore what is know-
able exists both in time and in nature before the knowledge of it, and is not
a simultaneous relative. However, if the perceptible does not exist neither
15 does perception, but if the latter does not exist nothing prevents there from
being perceptible fire, air, water and earth.
Th 516i
Thales’ views on the nature of the soul.
Opuscula psychologica, theologica, daemonologica 13.32.18–23
Some declare the soul to be incorporeal, others [declare it to be] body, and
of the latter some say it is simple and others that it is composite, and of the
latter some say that it composed of continuous things and others of dis-
continuous. Of those [who say that it is] simple, some [say it is] aetherial,
i.e., celestial, like Heraclides Ponticus, others fire, like Heraclitus (which is
5 why he calls it fiery), others airy, like Anaximenes and some Stoics, others
watery, like Thales and Hippo the atheist.
Th 517
Thales says that there is soul in every body. How, then, is it not in fire and
air [cf. Arist., De an. 1.5.411a9 f.], which are purer and finer?
i W. does not translate this testimonium.

Unauthenticated
448 Michael Psellus
Th 518
Opusc. psych., theol., daem. 13.70.8–12
Ἀριστοτέλης βούλεται τὰς τρεῖς ψυχὰς καὶ μὴ ἓν εἶναι, καὶ οὐχ ἓν κυρίως‧
τὰ τρία γὰρ ταῦτα μίαν ἐμψυχίαν ποιεῖ. τὰ λογικὰ κινεῖ νοῦς, τὰ δὲ ἄλογα
φαντασία, ὡς κρείττονα μέρη ψυχῆς λογικῆς καὶ τῆς ἀλόγου. Σωκράτης
ἐν τῇ ἐπὶ Δηλίῳ μάχῃ νυχθήμερον στὰς οὐκ ᾔσθετο διὰ τὸ ἐννοεῖν τι, καὶ
5 Θαλῆς ἔπεσεν εἰς φρέαρ.
Th 519
Theologica opuscula 6.69–71 (ed. Gautier)
Ἀλλὰ τίνες ‛οἱ καταφυγόντες ἐπὶ τὰς ὑλικὰς ὑποθέσεις’; οἱ μὲν καθ᾽ ἓν τῶν
στοιχείων‧ Θαλῆς μὲν γὰρ τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ παντὸς ᾐτιάσατο, τὸ δὲ πῦρ Ἀνα-
ξίμανδρος, τὴν δὲ γῆν Ἵππων‧
Sim. (water as the first principle) Th 29 (q.v.)
Th 520
Theol. opusc. 23.25–32
Μία μὲν οὖν αὕτη δόξα τῶν κακῶς ὑπειλημμένων περὶ τοῦ πρώτου αἰτίου.
ἕτεροι δὲ ταύτην ὡς ἄτοπον καὶ ἀνόητον παραγκωνισάμενοι, ἐφιστῶσι
δυνάμεις τῷ κόσμῳ τινάς‧ ἡ δὲ ὑπόληψις αὕτη πολυμερὴς καὶ τῷ ὄντι
πολύαρχος‧ τοῦτο γὰρ εὖ ἴστε, ὅτι μὴ μία τις κεκράτηκεν ἐπὶ πάντων
5 Ἑλληνικὴ δόξα, ἀλλὰ τοῖς σφῶν ἡγεμόσι διεμερίσθησαν, καὶ οἱ μὲν τοῖς
Πυθαγόρου, οἱ δὲ τοῖς Πλάτωνος, οἱ δὲ τοῖς Ἀριστοτέλους προστίθενται‧
καὶ ἄλλοι τὴν Ἰωνικὴν ἀσπάζονται αἵρεσιν, εἰσὶ δὲ οὗτοι οἱ ἀπὸ Θαλοῦ‧
Ἴων γὰρ οὗτος ὢν τὴν οἰκείαν δόξαν Ἰωνικὴν ἐπωνόμασε.
Sim. (Ionian school) Th 147 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Michael Psellus 449
Th 518i
Aristotle claims that there are three souls, not one, and not one in the strict
sense. For these three things make a single animate being. Mind moves the
rational parts, and imagination moves the irrational parts – as being the rul-
ing parts of the rational and irrational soul. Socrates did not perceive that he
was standing a night and a day during the battle at Delium because he was
5 thinking of something, and Thales fell into a well.
Th 519ii
Theologica opuscula 6.69–71
[On Basil’s Homilies on the Hexaemeron 1.2] Who are “those who take
refuge in material hypotheses”? Some of them [took refuge] in single ele-
ments. For Thales held water to be the cause of the universe, Anaximander
fire and Hippo earth.
Th 520
Thales as a representative of Ionian philosophy.
The erroneous doctrines on the first cause (On Greg. Or. 29,2).
Theologica opuscula 23.25–32
This is one of the badly conceived views about the first cause. Others who
have elbowed this aside as strange and foolish notice certain powers in the
cosmos. There are many versions of this belief and in fact it has many cham-
5 pions. Know well that there is not a single Greek doctrine that has won out
over all, but they are divided up among their own champions, and some
attach themselves to the views of Pythagoras, others to those of Plato, and
others to those of Aristotle, and still others embrace the Ionian school –
these are Thales and his followers, for beingiii an Ionian he called his own
doctrine Ionian.

ii W. does not translate this testimonium.
iii W.’s translation begins here.

Unauthenticated
450 Michael Psellus – Iohannes Italus
Th 520a
Commentaria in Aristotelis Physica 6.5–9 (ed. Benakis)1
[Ph. 1.2, 184b20] ὁμοίως δὲ ζητοῦσι, φησί, καὶ οἱ τὰ ὄντα ζητοῦντες, ἤγουν
κατὰ ταύτην τὴν ἀνελλιπῆ διαίρεσιν ζητοῦσι καὶ οὗτοι. ὄντα δὲ λέγει τὰ
ἐν τῇ ὕλῃ εἰδοπεποιημένα, ἃ δὴ καὶ ἁπλῶς στοιχεῖά φασιν, ὡς ὁ Θαλῆς
τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ Διογένης τὸν ἀέρα – ἢ καὶ Ἵππων ὁ ἄθεος – καὶ Ἡράκλειτος
5 τὸ πῦρ.
Th 520b
In Ph. 41.21–42.9
[Ph. 1.6, 189a34-b3] διόπερ εἴ τις τόν τε πρότερον πρότερος μὲν ἦν λόγος
ὁ ἐξ ἀναγκαίου παριστῶν τὰ ἐναντία ἀρχάς, δεύτερος οὗτος ὁ ζητῶν καὶ
τρίτον αὐτοῖς ὑποκείμενον. εἴ τις γοῦν διασώσειν μέλλει καὶ ἀμφοτέρους,
δεῖ ὑποτιθέναι καί τι τρίτον, ὥσπερ, φησί, καί τινες τῶν ἀρχαίων ἐποίη-
5 σαν, οἱ μὲν ὕδωρ εἰπόντες, ὡς Θαλῆς ὁ Μιλήσιος, οἱ δὲ πῦρ, ὡς Ἡράκλει-
τος ὁ Ἐφέσιος, οἱ δὲ τὸ μεταξὺ τούτων, λέγων τὸ μεταξὺ κατὰ μέν τινας
τὸν ἀέρα, ὡς Διογένης ἔλεγε καὶ Ἵππων ὁ ἄθεος, ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκεῖ λέγειν με-
ταξὺ τὸν Φιλόσοφον τούτων ἢ ἀέρος καὶ πυρὸς (πυρὸς μὲν πυκνότερον,
ἀέρος δὲ μανώτερον) ἢ ἀέρος καὶ ὕδατος (ἀέρος μὲ πυκνότερον, ὕδατος δὲ
10 μανώτερον)· φιλοσυντόμως δὲ οὕτως εἶπε καὶ περὶ ἀμφοτέρων.
Iohannes Italus
Th 520c (= Ar 249)
Quaestiones quodlibetales 137.5–10 (ed. Joannou)
(ϟαʹ. περὶ τῆς φυσικῆς ἀκροάσεως.) δοκεῖ τοίνυν τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων
ἀρχὴν εἰς φιλοσοφίαν ἔχειν Θαλῆς ὁ Μιλήσιος, ὃς καὶ τὴν διατριβὴν
περὶ τὴν Ἰωνίαν ἔσχεν, ὅθεν καὶ τὴν τούτου φιλοσοφίαν οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν
ἀρχαίων Ἰωνικὴν ἐκάλουν· μεθ’ ὃν Ἀναξίμανδρος φιλοσοφίας ἐραστὴς
1 Benakis, L. G. Michael Psellos. Kommentar zur Physik des Aristoteles (= Commen-

taria in Aristotelem Byzantina 5), Athen 2008.

Unauthenticated
Michael Psellus – Iohannes Italus 451
Th 520a
Commentary on Arisotle’s Physics 6.5–9
[Ph. 1.2, 184b20] “Also those who investigate the things that are,” he [Ar-
istotle] declares, “investigate in the same way,” that is, they too investigate
according to this exhaustive division. By “things that are” he means things
that are given form in matter, which he also simply calls elements, as Thales
conceived water, Diogenes air – or even Hippo the atheist – and Heraclitus
5 fire.
Th 520b
Commentary on Aristotle, Physics 41.21–42.9
[Ph. 1.6, 189a34–b3] Consequently if [one supposes that] the former [argu-
ment is true]. The prior argument was the one that presents the contraries as
principles, the second is the one that investigates a third thing as a substrate
for these. Now if anyone in fact intends to preserve both, it is necessary to
posit in addition a third thing, as, he declares, some of the ancients did, some
5 saying that it is water, like Thales of Miletus, others fire, like Heraclitus of
Ephesus, and still others what is intermediate between them, saying that
according to some the intermediate is air, as Diogenes said, and Hippo the
atheist, but it seems to me that by intermediate between them the Philoso-
pher is referring either to air and fire (denser than fire but rarer than air) or
10 air and water (denser than air but rarer than water), and he referred to both
cases in this way for the sake of brevity.
Iohannes Italus (ca. 1023–after 1083 CE)

Th 520c (= Ar 249)
Thales the first philosopher; representative of Ionian philosophy; his
association with Anaximander
Quodlibetal Questions 137.5–10
(91. On the Physics.) The earliest of all in philosophy seems to be Thales
of Miletus, who belongs to the Ionian school. This is why most of the
ancients called his philosophy Ionian. After him Anaximander became a
5 devotee of philosophy and had no small reputation among the Greeks for
having reached a more accurate understanding of it. After these came the

Unauthenticated
452 Iohannes Italus – Ṣāid al-Andalusī
5 γεγονώς, οὐκ ὀλίγην ἔσχεν ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησι δόξαν, ὡς ἀκριβέστερον τῶν

ἄλλων περὶ αὐτῆς διειληφώς· μετὰ δὴ τούτους Ἀναξαγόρας ἐπιγεγονὼς
ὁ φιλόσοφος καὶ τὴν Μίλητον καταλιπών, ἐπὶ τὰς Ἀθήνας ὥρμησε [...].
Sim. (first sage/philosopher) Th 29 (q.v.); (Ionian school) Th 147 (q.v.); (An-

aximander pupil/associate of Thales) Th 65a (q.v.)
Ṣāid al-Andalusī
Th 521
Ṭabaqāt al-umam 82.2–4 (ed. Bū Alwān))
‫ﻓﻬﺆﻻء اﶆﺴﺔ ﱒ ﺳﺎدة اﳊﻜﲈء ﻋﻨﺪ اﻟﻴﻮانﻧ ّﻴﲔ اﳌﻌﺘﻨﻮن ﺑﻌﲅ اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ وﳍﻢ ﻓﻼﺳﻔﺔ‬
‫ﻣﺸﻬﻮرون ﻏﲑ ﻫﺆﻻء ﻣﺜﻞ اثﻟﻴﺲ اﳌﻠﻄﻲ ﺻﺎﺣﺐ ﻓﻴﺜﺎﻏﻮرس‬
Th 522
Ṭabaqāt al-umam 94.9–11
‫ﻗﺪ ﰷن ﻗﺪﻣﺎء ﻫﺆﻻء اﻟﻔﻼﺳﻔﺔ ﯾﻨﺘﺤﻠﻮن اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ّﻴﺔ اﻟﱵ ﰷن ﯾﺬﻫﺐ إﻟﳱﺎ‬
‫ﻓﻴﺜﺎﻏﻮرس واثﻟﻴﺲ اﳌﻠﻄﻲ وﻋﻮا ّم اﻟﺼﺎﺑﺌﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻴﻮانﻧ ّﻴﲔ واﳌﴫﯾّﲔ‬
Sim. (natural philosophy) Th 81 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Iohannes Italus – Ṣāid al-Andalusī 453
philosopher Anaxagoras, who abandoned Miletus and set off for Athens
[...].
Sa’id al-Andalusi (1029–1070 CE)

Th 521
Thales as famous philosopher.
This historian, who lived in Spain, in a chapter on the sciences in Greek in
his work Tabaqat al-umam (Classes of Peoples), mentions five individuals,
namely, Empedocles, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, and then
continues:
Classes of Peoples 82.2–4

These five men were the chiefs of the wise among the Greeks who devoted
their attention to the knowledge of philosophy. And there were other fa-
mous philosophers, such as Thales of Miletus, the companion of Pythag-
oras.
Th 522
Thales as founder of natural philosophy.
Somewhat later in the text he says:
Classes of Peoples 94.9–11

The ancient philosophers adopted natural philosophy, as it was established
by Pythagoras and Thales of Miletus and also by the ordinary Sabians1 in
Greece and Egypt.
1 ”Sabians” was the name given to star-worshipping heathens whose religious center
until the eleventh century was located in the city HÖarrān in upper Mesopotamia.
Here the name is a synonym for the followers of all pre-Christian religions.

Unauthenticated
454 Iohannes Siceliotes – Eustratius
Iohannes Siceliotes
Th 523
Commentarius in Hermogenis librum περὶ ἰδέων 6.90.22–31 (ed. Walz)
Καί τις ἕτερος εἰς τὸν θεολόγον γράφων ἐγκώμιον τῇ φύσει πτηνὸν χιόνος
ψυχρότερον προοίμιον ὑπεστήσατο, ὡδί πως εἰπών‧ τὰ γὰρ πλείω ὡς
ἴλιγγον ποιοῦντα ἀφίημι, θείας μὲν ὑπόστασις οὐσίας καὶ φύσεως‧ λόγῳ
δὲ Γρηγόριος οὗτος τὸ ὕδωρ ὡς ὁ Θαλῆς πῦρ ἐποίησε, καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν
5 εἰς γῆν ἔκλινεν, οὐ καταλλήλως μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντη ἀνοήτως τῇ παρα-
βολῇ χρησάμενος, οὗ τὰ πονήματά τινες ἐξελίττοντες, χαλκοκορώνη φασὶ
τὰ μειράκια, καταβοῶσιν, οὐ γὰρ ἴσασιν, εἰ τὸ αἱρεθὲν φαίνεται μᾶλλον
τοῦ παραιρεθέντος‧
Sim. (transformations of water) Th 94 (q.v.)
Eustratius
Th 524
In Aristotelis ethicam Nicomacheam commentaria 20.331.4–16 (ed. Hey-
lbut)
[EN 6.7–8.1141b3] Διὸ Ἀναξαγόραν καὶ Θαλῆν καὶ τοὺς τοιούτους σοφοὺς
μέν, φρονίμους δ᾽ οὔ φασιν εἶναι, ὅταν ἴδωσιν ἀγνοοῦντας τὰ συμφέροντα
ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ περιττὰ μὲν καὶ θαυμαστὰ καὶ χαλεπὰ καὶ δαιμόνια εἰδέναι
αὐτούς φασιν, ἄχρηστα δὲ διότι οὐ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα ἀγαθὰ ζητοῦσιν. 〈ἡ δὲ
5 φρόνησις περὶ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα〉 καὶ περὶ ὧν ἔστι βουλεύσασθαι.
Δείκνυσι τὸ ῥηθέν, ὅτι ἑτέρα τῆς φρονήσεως ἡ σοφία, καὶ εἰσέτι διά τινος
ἑτέρας κοινῆς ὑπολήψεως‧ περὶ δὲ ἄνδρας ὁμολογουμένους σοφοὺς Ἀνα-
ξαγόραν τε καὶ Θαλῆν. ἰδοὺ γὰρ οὗτοι σοφοὶ μὲν λέγονται, φρόνιμοι δ᾽
οὔ, διότι ἀγνοοῦσι τὰ συμφέροντα ἑαυτοῖς. περὶ γὰρ τὰ ὑπὲρ τὸν βίον
10 τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τὴν κοινὴν αὐτῶν διαγωγὴν ἀπασχολήσαντες ἑαυ-
τοὺς τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον συμφερόντων ὑπερεφρόνησαν. οὗτοι γάρ, φησίν,
οἴδασι χαλεπὰ καὶ δαιμόνια καὶ περιττὰ καὶ θαυμαστά.
Sim. (wisdom without practical reason) Th 27 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Iohannes Siceliotes – Eustratius 455
Iohannes Siceliotes (end of the 11th cent. CE)

Th 523
The rhetorical skills of Gregory of Nazianzus are compared with Thales’
achievements in natural philosophy.
Commentary on Hermogenes’ On Forms 6.90.22–31

And someone else who wrote an encomium of the theologian [Gregory of
Nazianzus] began with an introduction winged in nature but more frigid
than snow, speaking as follows: “The majority of things I set aside because
they make me dizzy – the existence of divine substance and nature. Buti in
his discourse Gregory, like Thales, made water into fire, and he made the
5 heaven tilt towards the earth,” – but employing a comparison that is not
only inappropriate but also completely foolish. Some people on unrolling
his efforts say that they are boys with bronze crowns; they cry out because
they do not know if what has been taken appears more than what has been
taken away.
Eustratius (11th/12th cent. CE)

Th 524
Thales’ lack of practical wisdom.
Commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics 20.331.4–16 [EN 6.7–
8.1141b3–9: This is why they say that Anaxagoras, Thales and people like
them are wise but not sensible, when they see them ignorant of their own
advantage. They say that they know things that are extraordinary, wond-
rous, difficult and divine, but useless, because they it is not human goods that
5 they seek. But good sense is concerned with human matters] and things about
which it is possible to deliberate.]
The quotation shows that wisdom is different from good sense through an-
other common belief: with reference to Anaxagoras and Thales, men agreed
to be wise. For indeed these are said to be wise but not sensible, because
10 they are ignorant about their own advantage. For busying themselves about
things that are above the life and ordinary pursuits of humans they despised
i W. translates only the comparison with Thales.

Unauthenticated
456 Georgius Cedrenus – William of Conches
Georgius Cedrenus
Th 525
Compendium historiarum 1.275 (ed. Migne PG 121.312A)
Πρὸ τούτου δὲ γέγονε Θαλῆς, ὃς ἐπικεχείρηκε φιλοσοφίαν φυσικήν, ἀρχὴν
τοῦ παντὸς καὶ τέλος τὸ πῦρ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ εἶναι φήσας, καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν τὰ
πάντα συνίστασθαι‧ ἀφ᾽ ὧν καὶ τοὺς σεισμοὺς καὶ πνευμάτων συστροφὰς
καὶ ἄστρων κινήσεις γίνεσθαι. Ὅτι πρῶτος ὁ Θαλῆς τὸ τοῦ σοφοῦ ἔσχεν
5 ὄνομα, καὶ πρῶτος τὴν ψυχὴν εἶπεν ἀθάνατον, ἐκλείψεις τε καὶ ἰσημερίας
κατείληφε. Καὶ ἀποφθέγματα πλεῖστα κατέλιπε, καὶ τὸ θρυλούμενον,
„Γνῶθι σεαυτόν.“ Τὸ γάρ, „Ἐγγύα, πάρα δ᾽ ἄτη,“ Χίλωνος μᾶλλόν ἐστιν,
ἰδιοποιησαμένου αὐτὸ καὶ τὸ, „Μηδὲν ἄγαν.“
Sim. (dates) Th 171 (q.v.); (water as the first principle) Th 29 (q.v.); (earth-
quakes) Th 99 (q.v.); (winds) Th 178 (q.v.); (nature of the soul/magnet)
Th 31 (q.v.); (equinox) Th 106 (q.v.); (solar eclipse) Th 10 (q.v.); (wise say-
ings) Th 89 (q.v.); (the first sage/philosopher) Th 29 (q.v.)
William of Conches
Th 526
Dragmaticon Philosophiae 6.2.1 (ed. Ronca)
(Cap. 2: De forma terrae) Philosophus: Vt superius praediximus, terra est
elementum in medio mundi positum atque ideo infimum. In omni enim
sperico, quod medium est infimum est. Cum uero sit infima, non est quo
descendat: non est ergo necesse quod aliquo sustineatur. Sed quia de hoc
5 satis superius diximus, de hoc taceamus. Illud uero quod dicit Thales, terram
ab aqua ad modum nauis sustineri; uel quod dixerunt quidam, terram ruere,
nec sentiri, qua in infinitum ruit, quia apertissime est falsum, dedignamur
refellere.
Sim. (the Earth rests upon water) Th 30 (q.v.); (earthquakes) Th 99 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Georgius Cedrenus – William of Conches 457
the things that are advantageous to our life. For these men, he says, know
things that are difficult, divine, extraordinary and wondrous.
Georgius Cedrenus (11th/12th cent. CE)

Th 525
Thales as natural philosopher; fire and water as first principles; his
cosmology; Thales the Sage; his views on the nature of the soul;
explanation of eclipses and equinoxes; his wise sayings.
Compendium Historiarum 1.275
Before him [Pythagoras] was born Thales, who applied himself to natural
philosophy, declaring that fire and water are the beginning and end of the
universei, and that all thingsii consistiii of them, and that earthquakes, whirl-
winds, and the motions of stars are due to them (cf. Th 210). Thales was the
5 first to acquire the title “Sage” and the first to say that the soul is immortal,
and he understood eclipses and equinoxes. He left many sayings, including
the famous “Know thyself.” For “Give a pledge and disaster is at hand” is
due rather to Chilon, who made it his own (cf. Th 495), and “Nothing in
excess” as well.
William of Conches (ca. 1080–1154 CE)

Th 526
Thales’ cosmology.
Dragmaticon Philosophiae 6.2.1
(Chapter 2 On the shape of the earth.) Philosopher: As we said above, earth
is the element located in the middle of the world and therefore it is the low-
est.iv For in every sphere that which is in the middle is lowestv. But since it
is lowestvi, there is no lower place for it to fall: therefore it is not necessary
i W: das Prinzip des Alls und sein Ziel

ii W: Konkrete
iii W: entstehe
iv W: unendlich
v W: unendlich
vi W: unendlich

Unauthenticated
458 Ibn Bāǧǧa
Ibn Bāǧǧa
Th 526a (= Ar 250)
Kitāb al-kawn wa-l-fasād 44.2–7 (ed. Puig Montada)
ً ‫ﲨةل ﻛﱪﻣﺎﻧﻴﺪس وﻣﺎﻟﻴﺴﺲ وﻣﳯﻢ ﻣﻦ ﺟﻌﻠﻪ‬

‫ﻧﻮﻋﺎ ﻣﻦ‬ ً ‫ ﺣﱴ ﺟﺰم ﺑﻌﻀﻬﻢ ﻋﲆ إﺑﻄﺎهل‬...
‫الاﺳـﺘﺤﺎةل ﻛﺪﳝﻘﺮاﻃﻴﺲ واتﻟﻴﺲ وﻫﺮﻗﻠﻴﻄﺲ واﻧﻐﺴﻤﻨﺪروس وابﶺةل ﳁﻦ ﱂ ﳚﻌﻞ‬
1
‫ و ﻗﺪ ﻧﻘﺾ أرﺳﻄﻮ أﻗﺎوﯾﻠﻪ ﻫﺎؤﻻء ﲟﺎ ﻓﻴﻪ ﻛﻔﺎﯾﺔ وﻛ ّﺮر اﻟﻘﻮل ﻓﻴﻪ ﰲ‬. ‫اﻟﻮﺟﻮد ابﻟﻘﻮة‬
2
. ‫اﳌﻘﺎةل اﻷوﻟﻰ ﻣﻦ ﻛﺘﺎب اﻟﻜﻮن و اﻟﻔﺴﺎد‬
1 This is how the editor, Puig Montada, reads the names. Manuscript B has Anʿsmdrūs,
A has Anʿtmdrūs, M and even Anksāġūrs (= Anaxagoras)!
2 So Eichner 2005, 50, n. 27, for aqāwīlihī (Ed. Puig Montada).

Unauthenticated
Ibn Bāǧǧa 459
for it to be supported by anythingi. But since we already have said enough

5 about this, let us say no more. We do not stoop to refute Thales’ claim that
the earth is supported by water like a boat (cf. Th 99), or what others have
said, that the earth falls without being perceived [to fall] in that it is falling
ad infinitum,1 because it is most plainly false.
Ibn Bağğa (ca. 1085–1139 CE)

Th 526a (= Ar 250)
Thales on the nature of being
Ibn Bağğa (Avempace) is reputed as an exegete of the Arabic-Islamic phi-
losophy in Andalusia, which reached its peak in Ibn Rushd (Averroes). He
wrote numerous treatises, above all in mathematics and philosophy, and
wrote commentaries on several works of Aristotle. In his explication of De
Generatione et Corruptione2 he thoroughly discusses the concept of being
(al-kawnu) and in connection with this he comes to speak of the views of the
Greeks on this subject. These differed greatly from one another, as he says
in his introduction.
Book on Generation and Corruption 44.2–7

... so that some of them, such as Parmenides and Melissus, firmly resolved
on the abolition of it [viz. being], and others, such as Democritus, Thales
and Anaximander, view it as a certain kind of change, and as most of these
people denied being in potentiality. Aristotle has refuted the claims of these
[philosophers] sufficiently, and he repeats his own view in the first book of
On Generation and Corruption.
1 Cf. Sen. Quaest. nat. 7.14.3 f.

2 Cf. Puig Montada 2007.
i W: Sie muss also nicht gestützt werden.

Unauthenticated
‫‪460‬‬ ‫‪Aš-Šahrastānī‬‬
‫‪Aš-Šahrastānī‬‬
‫‪Th 527‬‬
‫)‪Kitāb al-milal wa-n-niḥal 2.119.2–5 (ed. al-Wakīl) (= Jolivet S. 179‬‬
‫اﳊﻜﲈء اﻟﺴـﺒﻌﺔ اذلﻳﻦ ﱒ أﺳﺎﻃﲔ اﳊﳬﺔ ﻣﻦ اﳌﻠﻄﻴﺔ وﺳﺎﻣﻴﺎ وأﺛﻴﻨﺔ وﱔ ﺑﻼدﱒ وأﻣﺎ‬
‫أﺳﲈؤﱒ ﻓﻬـﻲ اثﻟﻴﺲ اﳌﻠﻄﻲ وأﻧﻜﺴﺎﻏﻮرس وأﻧﻜﺴـاميﻧﺲ وأﻧﺒﺎدﻗﻠﻴﺲ وﻓﻴﺜﺎﻏﻮرس‬
‫وﺳﻘﺮاط وأﻓﻼﻃﻮن‬
‫‪Th 528‬‬
‫)‪Kitāb al-milal wa-n-niḥal 2.121.19–122.12 (= Jolivet 183.29–184.19‬‬
‫اﳌﺒﺪع اﻷ ّول أى ﻫﻮ ﻣﺒﺪأ اﻟﱰﻛﻴﺒﺎت‬ ‫ﻓﻈﻬﺮ ﲠﺬﻩ اﻹﺷﺎرات أﻧﻪ إﻧّﲈ أراد ﺑﻘﻮهل اﳌﺎء ﻫﻮ َ‬
‫ااﳉﺴﲈﻧ ّﻴﺔ ﻻ اﳌﺒﺪأ اﻷ ّول ﰲ اﳌﻮﺟﻮدات اﻟﻌﻠﻮﯾّﺔ ﻟﻜ ّﻨﻪ ﳌّـﺎ اﻋﺘﻘﺪ أنّ اﻟﻌﻨﴫ اﻷ ّول ﻫﻮ‬
‫ﻗﺎﺑﻞ ﰻ ﺻﻮرة أى ﻣﻨﺒﻊ اﻟﺼﻮر ّﳇﻬﺎ ﻓﺄﺛﺒﺖ ﰲ اﻟﻌﺎﱂ اﳉﺴﲈﱐ هل ﻣﺜﺎﻻ ﯾﻮازﯾﻪ ﰲ ﻗﺒﻮل‬
‫اﳌﺒﺪع اﻷ ّول ﰲ ّ‬
‫اﳌﺮﻛﺒﺎت‬ ‫اﻟﺼﻮر ّﳇﻬﺎ وﱂ ﳚﺪ ﻋﻨﴫا ﻋﲆ ﻫﺬا اﻟﳯﺞ ﻣﺜﻞ اﳌﺎء ﲾﻌهل َ‬
‫‪5‬‬ ‫وأﻧﺸﺄ ﻣﻨﻪ اﻷﺟﺴﺎم واﻷﺟﺮام اﻟﺴﲈوﯾّﺔ واﻷرﺿ ّﻴﺔ وﰲ اﻟﺘﻮراة ﰲ اﻟﺴﻔﺮ اﻷ ّول ﻣﳯﺎ أن‬
‫ﻣﺒﺪأ اﳋﻠﻖ ﻫﻮ ﺟﻮﻫﺮ ﺧﻠﻘﻪ ّاهلل ﺗﻌﺎﱃ ّﰒ ﻧﻈﺮ إﻟﻴﻪ ﻧﻈﺮة اﻟﻬﻴﺒﺔ ﻓﺬاﺑﺖ أﺟﺰاؤﻩ ﻓﺼﺎرت‬
‫ﻣﺎء ّﰒ اثر ﻣﻦ اﳌﺎء ﲞﺎر ﻣﺜﻞ ادلﺧﺎن ﳀﻠﻖ ﻣﻨﻪ اﻟﺴﻤﻮات وﻇﻬﺮ ﻋﲆ وﺟﻪ اﳌﺎء زﺑﺪ‬
‫ﻣﺜﻞ زﺑﺪ اﻟﺒﺤﺮ ﳀﻠﻖ ﻣﻨﻪ اﻷرض ّﰒ أرﺳﺎﻫﺎ ابﳉﺒﺎل وﻛﺄنّ اثﻟﻴﺲ اﳌﻠﻄﻲ إﳕّﺎ ﺗﻠ ّﻘﻰ‬
‫ﻣﺬﻫﺒﻪ ﻣﻦ ﻫﺬﻩ اﳌﺸﲀة اﻟﻨﺒﻮﯾّﺔ واذلي أﺛﺒﺘﻪ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻌﻨﴫ اﻷ ّول اذلي ﻫﻮ ﻣﻨﺒﻊ اﻟﺼﻮر‬
‫‪10‬‬ ‫ﺷﺪﯾﺪ اﻟﺸـﺒﻪ ابﻟﻠﻮح اﶈﻔﻮظ اﳌﺬﻛﻮر ﰲ اﻟﻜﺘﺐ اﻹﻟﻬ ّﻴﺔ إذ ﻓﻴﻪ ﲨﻴﻊ أﺣﲀم اﳌﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت‬
‫وﺻﻮر ﲨﻴﻊ اﳌﻮﺟﻮدات واﳋﱪ ﻋﻦ اﻟﲀﺋﻨﺎت واﳌﺎء ﻋﲆ اﻟﻘﻮل اﻟﺜﺎﱐ ﺷﺪﯾﺪ اﻟﺸـﺒﻪ‬
‫ابﳌﺎء اذلي ﻋﻠﻴﻪ اﻟﻌﺮش ) َوﰷنَ َﻋ ْﺮ ُﺷ ُﻪ ﻋ ََﲆ اﳌـﺎءِ(‬

Aš-Šahrastānī 461
Aš-Šahrastānī (1086–1153 CE)

Th 527
Thales the Sage.
The comprehensively organized Kitab al-milal wa-n-nihal (Book of Reli-
gions and Sects) of the Shiite Aš-Šahrastānī, written in 1127 CE, lists the
Seven Sages at the beginning of the chapter on Greek philosophers.
Book of Religions and Sects 2.119.2–5

The Seven Sages, who were the Pillars of Wisdom from Miletus, Samos and Ath-
ens, and that was their home. As far as their names go, they were Thales of Miletus,
Anaxagoras, Anaximenes, Empedocles, Pythagoras, Socrates and Plato.
Th 528
Water as the first created thing; Thales’ cosmogony.
There follows a somewhat abbreviated and altered extract from Pseudo-Am-
monius, which contains transpositions. In the edition of al-Wakil, Part 2,
p.119, 17–20 (cf. Jolivet, p.181, 2–8) corresponds to the passage in Rudolf,
chapter XIII, pp.6–9 (translation, p.90) and p.120, 1–13 (cf. Jolivet, p.181,
9–182,13) to the passage in Rudolf, chapter II, p.34, 3–35, 4 (translation,
p.80 f.) and p.120, 21–121, 18 (cf. Jolivet, p.182, 27–183, 28) to the passage
in Rudolf, chapter XIII, p.48, 17–50, 5; see above Th 483. Aš-Šahrastānī
appends some thoughts:
Book of Religions and Sects 2.121.19–122.12

From these remarks [Thales] seems to suggest that water was the first
created thing, that is, the principle of composition of bodies, not the first
principle of celestial beings. However, since he believed that the first el-
ement can take on every form, that is, it is the origin of all forms, he af-
firmed that there must be a similar and parallel [first principle] that can take
on every form in the corporeal sphere. He found no element as suitable
for that as water. So he made it the first created thing of the composite
5 things and from it originated all bodies, celestial as well as terrestrial. In
the first book of the Torah [it is stated] that the principle of creation is a
substance that is created by God (be He exalted). Then He looked upon
it with awe and its parts dissolved and they became water. Then from
the water steam erupted like smoke, and from it He created the heavens.
And foam emerged on the surface of the water, like the foam of the sea.
From it He then created the earth, and then He consolidated it with the

Unauthenticated
‫‪Th 529‬‬
‫)‪Kitāb al-milal wa-n-niḥal 2.167.9–13 (= Jolivet 259‬‬
‫وﻗﻴﻞ إنّ وﺟﻮد اﻟﺸﻌﺮ ﰲ أﻣّﺔ ﯾﻮانن ﰷن ﻗﺒﻞ اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ وإﻧّـﲈ أﺑﺪﻋﻪ أوﻣﲑوس واثﻟﻴﺲ‬
‫ﰷن ﺑﻌﺪﻩ ﺑﺜﻼﲦﺎﺋﺔ واﺛﻨﺘﲔ وﲦﺎﻧﲔ ﺳـﻨﺔ وأ ّول ﻓﻴﻠﺴﻮف ﰷن ﻣﳯﻢ ﰲ ﺳـﻨﺔ ﺗﺴﻌﲈﺋﺔ‬
‫وإﺣﺪى وﲬﺴﲔ ﻣﻦ وﻓﺎة ﻣﻮﳻ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ اﻟﺴﻼم وﻫﺬا ﻣﺎ أﺧﱪ ﺑﻪ ﻛﻮرﻟﺲ ﰲ ﻛﺘﺎﺑﻪ‬
‫وذﻛﺮ ﻓﻮرﻓﻮرﯾﻮس أنّ اثﻟﻴﺲ ﻇﻬﺮ ﰲ ﺳـﻨﺔ ﺛﻼث وﻋﴩﻳﻦ وﻣﺎﺋﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣكل ﲞﺘﻨﴫ‬
‫)‪Sim. (dates) Th 171 (q.v.‬‬

mountains.1 So it seems as if Thales of Miletus is taking his doctrine from

the prophetic niche.2 What he affirms about the first element, which is the
10 origin of the forms, is strikingly similar to the Preserved Tablet which is
mentioned in the Holy Scriptures.3 For in it are all factual judgments and
forms of all existing things and the knowledge of what comes-into-exis-
tence. And [the term] “water” in the second statement is strikingly similar
to the [term] “water” on which the [divine] throne stands: “His throne was
over the Waters.” (Q : 11:7)4
Th 529
Thales’ dates; the first Greek philosopher.
In 1127–1128 CE the Muslim savant and writer Aš-Šahrastānī composed his
Book of Sects and Creeds (Kitab al-milal wa-l-hihal) with the goal of pre-
senting objectively all the religious and philosophical ideas that were known
up to his time. At the end of the chapter on Homer is the following appendix.
Book of Sects and Creeds 2.167.9–13

It was said that among the Greek people there was poetry before philos-
ophy. It was invented by Homer, and Thales came after him by 382 years.
The first philosopher among them was alive in the 951st year after the death
of Moses (peace be upon him). That is what Cyril reported in his book, and
Porphyry claimed (Th 248) that Thales appeared in the 123rd year of the
era of Buhtnasar.5
1 For the deviations from the Biblical and Koranic reports, cf. Jolivet 1993, 184, n. 12.
2 Cf. Sure 24.35.
3 Sure 85.22.
4 Sure 11.7.
5 Cf. Smith 1993, 229 (= Nr. 204F).

Unauthenticated
‫)‪Th 529a (= As 217‬‬

‫)‪Kitāb al-milal wa-l-niḥal 253.13–15 (ed. Cureton) (= Th 527‬‬
‫اﳊﻜﲈء اﻟﺴـﺒﻌﺔ اذلﻳﻦ ﱒ اﺳﺎﻃﲔ اﳊﳬﺔ ﻣﻦ اﳌﻠﻄﻴﺔ وﺳﺎﻣﻴﺎ واﺛﻴﻨﻴﺔ وﱓ ﺑﻼدﱒ واﻣﺎ‬
‫اﺳﲈوﱒ ﻓﺜﺎﻟﻴﺲ اﳌﻠﻄﻲ واﻧﻜﺴﺎﻏﻮرس واﻧﻜﺴـاميﻧﺲ واﻧﺒﺬﻗﻠﺲ وﻓﻴﺜﺎﻏﻮرس وﺳﻘﺮاط‬
‫واﻓﻼﻃﻮن ‪.‬‬
‫)‪Th 529b (= As 220‬‬

‫)‪Kitāb nihāyat al-aqdām fī ʿilm al-kalām 5.5–10 (ed. Guillaume‬‬
‫وواﻓﻘﳤﻢ ﻋﲆ ذكل ﺟﲈﻋﺔ ﻣﻦ اﺳﺎﻃﲔ اﳊﳬﺔ وﻗﺪﻣﺎء اﻟﻔﻼﺳﻔﺔ ﻣﺜﻞ اثﻟﻴﺲ‬

‫واﻧﻜﺴﺎﻏﻮرس واﻧﻜﺴﲈﻧﻴﺲ وﻣﻦ اتﺑﻌﻬﻢ ﻣﻦ اﻫﻞ ﻣﻠﻄﻴﺔ وﻣﺜﻞ ﻓﻴﺜﺎﻏﻮرس واﻧﺒﺪﻗﻠﺲ‬
‫وﺳﻘﺮاط واﻓﻼﻃﻦ ﻣﻦ اﺛﻴﻨﻴﺔ وﯾﻮانن وﺟﲈﻋﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺸﻌﺮاء واﻟﻨﺴﺎك وﳍﻢ ﺗﻔﺼﻴﻞ‬
‫ﻣﺬﻫﺐ ﰲ ﻛﻴﻔﻴﺔ الاﺑﺪاع واﺧﺘﻼف رأي ﰲ اﳌﺒﺎدي الاول ‪.‬‬

Th 529a (= As 217)
Thales the Sage
The Greek philosophers from Thales to Porphyry are treated there as well.
Aš-Šahrastānī divides them into three groups. Alongside the so-called orig-
inal philosophers and Aristotle and his followers, he also recognizes a third
group:1
Book of Sects and Creeds 253.13–15

The seven Sages: They were the Pillars of Wisdom from Miletus, Samos
and Athens. These are their countries: their names were Thales of Miletus,
Anaxagoras, Anaximenes, Empedocles, Pythagoras, Socrates and Plato.
Th 529b (= As 220)
How closely religion and (Greek) philosophy belong together for Aš-Šah-
rastānī is shown in his work The end of the steps in knowledge (Kitab niha-
yat al-aqdam fi ‘ilm al-kalam), which is divided into 20 chapters and treats
the different foundations of religion. For the contrast with the philosophical
doctrines of the Greeks belongs to the tenor of this work. It must have been
composed later the Book of Sects and Creeds (Kitab al-milal wa-l-nihal; see
above As 217–219) because it refers to that work.2
The End Steps in the Science of Kalam 5.5–10

With them concur [on the one hand] the group of the Pillars of Wisdom and
the elders of philosophy like Thales, Anaxagoras and Anaximenes and the
inhabitants of Miletus who followed them, and like Pythagoras, Empedo-
cles, Socrates and Plato among the Athenians and Greeks, and [on the other]
a group of poets and ascetics. They have a detailed doctrine on the process
of creation and different views on the first principle.
1 On these three groups, see Overwien 2005, 155–6.

2 Cf. Monnot 1997, 215a–b.

Unauthenticated
466 Hugh of St. Victor – Heliodorus
Hugh of St. Victor

Th 530
Didascalion de studio legendi 3.2 (ed. Offergeld)
(Cap.2 De auctoribus artium) Theologus apud Graecos Linus fuit, apud
Latinos, Varro, et nostri temporis, Ioannes Scotus de decem categoriis in
Deum. Physicam naturalem, apud Graecos, Thales Milesius unus de septem
sapientibus repperit, apud Latinos, Plinius descripsit.
Sim. (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.); (first sage/philosopher)
Th 29 (q.v.)
Heliodorus
Th 531
Paraphrasis ethicae Nicomacheae 122.23–28 (ed. Heylbut)
[Arist. EN 6.8.141a20–b19] Ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων δὲ δῆλον, ὅτι σοφία ἐστὶ
νοῦς καὶ ἐπιστήμη, περὶ τὰ φύσει τιμιώτατα, ἅ εἰσι τὰ ἀναγκαῖα καὶ ἀεὶ
ὡσαύτως ἔχοντα. διὸ Ἀναξαγόραν καὶ Θαλῆν καὶ τοὺς τοιούτους σο-
φοὺς μὲν λέγουσι, φρονίμους δὲ οὐδαμῶς, διότι τὰ μὲν αὑτοῖς συμφέροντα
5 ἠγνόουν καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὸν βίον χρήσιμα, ἐγίνωσκον δὲ περιττά τινα καὶ
θαυμαστὰ καὶ χαλεπὰ καὶ δαιμόνια.
Sim. (wisdom without practical reason) Th 27 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Hugh of St. Victor – Heliodorus 467
Hugh of St. Victor (ca. 1096 –1141 CE)

Th 530i
Thales the Sage and founder of natural philosophy.
Didascalion de studio legendi 3.2 (written ca. 1127 CE)
(The orignators of the arts.) Linus was a theologian among the Greeks;
among the Latins, Varro; and in our time John Scotus, in On the Ten Ca-
tegories in Relation to God. Among the Greeks, Thales of Miletus, one of
the Seven Sages, discovered natural philosophy, and among the Latins Pliny
recorded it.1
Heliodorus (12th cent. CE)

Th 531ii
Paraphrase of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics 122.23–28 [EN 6.8.1141a20–
b19: Th 27]
It is clear from what has been said that wisdom is insight and knowledge of
things that are by nature most valuable, which are things that are necessary
and always in the same state. This is why they call Anaxagoras, Thales and
people like them wise, but in no way sensible, because they were ignorant
5 of what is to their own advantage and useful for life, but knew things that
are remarkable, admirable, difficult and divine.
1 Cf. Auctor incertus, Excerptiones allegoricae I 24 (Migne PL 177.202C).

ii W. does not translate this testimonium..

Unauthenticated
468 Iohannes Galenus Grammaticus – Iohannes Tzetzes
Iohannes Galenus Grammaticus
Th 532
Allegoriae in Hesiodi theogoniam 305.30–306.3 (ed. Flach)
Ἡσίοδος δὲ γεννᾷ τἆλλα ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ ἀρχαιότερον πάντων τὸ ὕδωρ
τίθησιν, ἀπὸ τῆς χύσεως παρονομάσας αὐτὸ χάος‧ χυτὸν γὰρ καὶ ῥυτὸν
τὸ [306] ὕδωρ. ἐξ αὐτοῦ δ᾽ οἶμαι καὶ τὸν Μιλήσιον Θάλητα τὴν δόξαν
ταύτην σφετερίσασθαι καὶ Πίνδαρον, ἄριστον τὸ ὕδωρ λέγοντα.
Sim. (water as the first principle) Th 29 (q.v.); (the water hypothesis goes
back to the first theologians/Homer) Th 29 (q.v.)
Iohannes Tzetzes
Th 533
Chiliades 2.872–80 (Ed. Leone)
Θαλῆς σοφὸς Μιλήσιος εἷς τῆς σοφῶν ἑπτάδος
τοῦ Ἀσσυρίου μαθητὴς ὑπάρχων Φερεκύδους,
ἐκλείψεις περιόδους τε σελένης εὗρε πρῶτος,
ἐν χρόνοις ὢν τοῖς τοῦ Λυδοῦ Κροίσου τοῦ πολυχρύσου,
5 ᾧ καὶ προεῖπεν ἔκλειψιν γενέσθαι σεληναίαν.
Οὗ γεγονότος ἅπαντας τότε πρὸς θάμβος ἦξεν·
ἀσύνηθες εἰσέτι γὰρ ἔκλειψις ἦν σελήνης.
Τινὲς μὲν τοῦτον ἔφασαν ἐφευρετὴν ὧν ἔφην.
οἱ δὲ τῷ Ἐνδυμίωνι πορσάπτουσιν ἐκεῖνα [...]
Sim. (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.); (eclipse/phases of the
moon) Th 178 (q.v.); (dates) Th 171 (q.v.)
Th 534
Chil. 11.77 f.
[...] οὗτος ὁ Πυθαγόρας,
σὺν τῷ Θαλῇ κατήκουσε τοῦ Σύρου Φερεκύδους (Th 5)

Unauthenticated
Iohannes Galenus Grammaticus – Iohannes Tzetzes 469
Iohannes Galenus Grammaticus

(? first half of the 12th cent. CE)
Th 532
Allegories on Hesiod’s Theogony 305.30–306.3
Hesiod generates the other things from water and posits water as the most
ancient of all things, changing its name to “chaos,” from “pouring” (chysis).
For water is something that is poured and is fluid. [306] From him, I believe,
Thales of Miletus appropriated this view as did Pindar, who said that water
is best (cf. Th 286, Th 583).
Iohannes Tzetzes (ca. 1110–1185 CE)

Th 533
Thales the Sage and astronomer; his dates; his prediction of an eclipse.
Chiliads 2.872–880
Thales of Miletus the sage, one of the Seven Sages,
a student of Pherecydes the Assyrian (cf. Th 498, Th 534),
was the first to discover the eclipses and periods of the moon.
He lived in the time of Croesus of Lydia, rich in gold,
5 to whom he even predicted that a lunar eclipse would take place.
When it did take place it struck everyone at the time with amazement,
for an eclipse of the moon was still an unfamiliar event.
Some declared that he was the discoverer of the things I have said,
but others ascribe them to Endymion [...]
Th 534
Thales and Pherecydes.
Chiliads 11.77 f.
[...] This Pythagoras
together with Thales was a student of Pherecydes of Syros (cf. Th 498,
Th 533).

Unauthenticated
470 Iohannes Tzetzes
Th 535
Commentarium in nubes 180a.1–b.1 (ed. Holwerda)
Τί δῆτ᾽ ἐκεῖνον τὸν Θαλῆν: ἐνταῦθα μηδὲν προσφυὲς εἰπεῖν ἔχοντες οἱ γρά-
ψαντες πρὸ ἐμοῦ φασιν ἅπερ φασίν. σὺ δὲ σαφῶς τε ὁμοῦ καὶ συντόμως
καὶ προσφυῶς τῇ ἐννοίᾳ νῦν ἄκουε. ὁ Θαλῆς οὗτος σοφὸς Μιλήσιος ἦν
ἰσόχρονος τῇ τῶν σοφῶν ἑπτάδι τῇ κατὰ Σόλωνα. καὶ πρῶτος Ἑλλήνων
5 σελήνης ἔκλειψιν, μᾶλλον δὲ ὑποσκίασιν μέλλουσαν γεγονέναι τοῖς περὶ
Ἀλυάττην προεῖπεν. καὶ τὸν Κροῖσον δὲ μὴ περαιωθέντα τὸν Ἅλυν πε-
περακέναι πεποίηκε μηνοειδέσιν 〈ἡμι〉κυκλίοις/ μηνισκοκύκλοις1 τῶν τά-
φρων ὀρύγμασιν. ὡς οὖν κἀνταῦθα ὁ Στρεψιάδης τὸ περὶ τῆς ἐνδείας καὶ
τῆς τοῦ ἱματίου κλοπῆς μηχάνημα τὸ γεγονὸς τάχα παρὰ τοῦ Σωκράτους
10 κατήκουσεν, ἐκπλήττεται καί φησι‧ τί δῆτα τὸν Θαλῆν ἐκεῖνον θαυμάζο-
μεν τοιαῦτα ἐπὶ τοῦ Κροίσου μηχανησάμενον, νῦν τοῦ Σωκράτους μηχα-
νωμένου τοιαῦτα; ἰστέον δέ σοι, ὅτι διττῶς γράφεται‧ Θάλης Θάλητος,
καὶ Θαλῆς Θαλοῦ.
Sim. Th 17; (dates) Th 171 (q.v.); (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20
(q.v.); (eclipse/phases of the moon) Th 178 (q.v.); (the crossing of the Halys)
Th 11 (q.v.); (solar eclipse) Th 10 (q.v.)
Th 536
Commentarium in plutum 9.1–42 (ed. Positano)
((Ὅς)) θεσπιῳδεῖ: ((ἀντὶ τοῦ)) χρησμολογεῖ, θεσμολογεῖ. τρίπους ἀνάκει-
ται τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι ὡς εἰδότι ((τὰ τῶν τριῶν χρόνων,)) „τά τ᾽ ἐόντα τά τ᾽
ἐσσόμενα πρό τ᾽ ἐόντα“. χρυσοῦς δὲ τρίπους ἀφ᾽ ἱστορίας τῆσδε‧ ἁλιεῖς
Μιλήσιοι βόλον ἐκ θαλάσσης ἐξεῖλκον ἰχθύων, Κῷοι δὲ διερχόμενοι τὸ ἀνα-
5 χθησόμενον ὠνοῦνται εἰς τύχην. ἀνήχθη (δὲ) χρυσοῦς τρίπους ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ
ἰχθύες. οὗ φανέντος καὶ φιλονεικούντων Κῴων καὶ Μιλησίων περὶ αὐτοῦ,
βαρὺν ἡ Μίλητος συρρήγνυσι πόλεμονÏ– ἁρμοδιαίτατον γὰρ ἦν τοῦτο-
καὶ ἡ Κῶς‧ παίζειν χρεὼν γὰρ καὶ γελᾶν γενειάδας σχεδεκδοτούντων καὶ
στυγούντων τὰς βίβλους. τρυχόμενοι δὲ τῷ πολέμῳ Κῷοί τε καὶ Μιλήσιοι
10 ἄμφω τινὰς στείλαντες τοῦτον ἀκούουσι τὸν χρησμόν‧ [...]
πρώτως οὖν (ὁ τρίπους) ἐδόθη Θαλῇ‧ ἐκείνου δὲ σοφώτερον ἕτερον εἶναι
λέγοντος ἑαυτοῦ, κἀκείνου δὲ ἕτερον, διὰ τῶν ἑπτὰ σοφῶν ὁ τρίπους
περιστρεφόμενος πάλιν εἰς τὸν Θαλῆν δευτέρως ἀνέκαμψεν‧ ὁ δὲ τοῦτον
ἀνέθετο τῷ Διδυμαίῳ Ἀπόλλωνι, ἐπιγράψας τούσδε τοὺς χωλιάμβους‧
1 μηνοειδέσιν 〈ἡμι〉κυκλίοις and μηνισκοκύκλοις are textual variants that are printed
one above the other in the edition.

Unauthenticated
Iohannes Tzetzes 471
Th 535
Thales the proverbial genius; a Sage; his dates; his prediction of an
eclipse; the crossing of the Halys.
Commentary on Aristophanes’ Clouds 180 [And why do we still [admire]
Thales?][Th 17].
Those who have written before me say what they say without having any-
thing appropriate to say. But listen now clearly and briefly and in a manner
appropriate to my thought. This Thales was a sage of Miletus, contempo-
rary with the Seven Sages in Solon’s time. He was the first Greek to predict
5 an eclipse of the moon, or rather he predicted a future darkening to Alyattes
and his men. And when Croesus was unable to cross the Halys, he made it
possible for him to cross it by digging semicircular channels in the form of
half-moons. So here too when Strepsiades hears that the trick having to do
with the lack of food and the theft of a cloak was the fast work of Socrates,
10 he is astonished and says, “Why do we admire that Thales for those tricks
he did in Croesus’s time, now that Socrates is doing tricks like these? Know
too that the name is written in two ways: Θάλης Θάλητος and Θαλῆς Θα-
λοῦ.
Th 536i
The story of the tripod.
Commentary on Aristophanes’ Wealth 9.1–42
Who sings in prophetic strain instead of “utters an oracle,” “utters a pro-
nouncement.” A tripod is dedicated to Apollo as knowing the events of the
three times: “things that are and that will be and that were before.” A golden
tripod, according to the following story. When some Milesian fishermen
were pulling up a catch of fish from the sea, by chance some Coans passing
5 by bought for their luck what would be brought up. But what was brought
up was not fish but a golden tripod. When it emerged and the Coans and
Milesians disputed about it, Miletus and Cos went to war, since that was the
most fitting thing to do. For it was necessary for the beards of editors and
book-haters to enjoy themselves and laugh. Worn out by the war, both the
10 Coans and Milesians sent some people and heard this oracle [...] Now [the
tripod] was first given to Thales, but when he said that another was wiser
than himself, and that one [said that] someone else [was], the tripod made
the round of the Seven Sages and came back to Thales a second time. He

Unauthenticated
472 Iohannes Tzetzes
15 «Θαλῆς με τῷ μεδεῦντι Νείλεω δήμου

δίδωσι, τοῦτο δὶς λαβὼν ἀριστεῖον».
οὕτω χρυσοῦς τρίπους ἦν τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι.
Sim. (Thales’ prize/story of the tripod) Th 52 (q.v.)
Th 537
Scholia in Lycophronem 145 (ed. Scheer)
Πήναις ἀτράκτοις νήμασι παρὰ τὸ πένω τὸ ἐνεργῶ πίνα δὲ τὸ ζῶον παρὰ
τὸ πῖνος, ὃ σημαίνει τὸν ῥύπον. δὴν τὸ πολυχρόνιον καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ δηναιὸς
καὶ δηναιά. πολυχρονίαν δὲ καὶ παλαιὰν τὴν θάλασσαν λέγει διὰ τὸ
πρῶτον εἶναι στοιχεῖον κατὰ Φερεκύδην καὶ Θαλῆν.
Th 538
Schol. in Lyc. 482
Ἀστρολογίαν γὰρ, ἐνιαυτόν, μῆνας, ἰσημερίας καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα Πᾶν Ἀρρκά-
δων βασιλεὺς ἢ Ἄτλας Λίβυς (879) εὗρεν ἀπὸ σελήνης τοὺς μῆνας συλλο-
γισάμενος, ὕστερον δὲ Θαλῆς.
Sim. (the seasons) Th 178 (q.v.); (equinox) Th 106 (q.v.); (Thales as represen-
tative of astronomy) Th 103 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Iohannes Tzetzes 473
dedicated it to Didymean Apollo and inscribed the following choliambic

verses:
15 To the one who rules the people of Neileus, Thales
presents me, this prize of excellence which he twice received [Th 52,
76–77]
And this is how the golden tripod came to be Apollo’s.
Th 537
Scholia on Lycophron Verse 145
Πήναις: threads on spindles, from πένω: to be active, but πίνα, the animal,
comes from πῖνος, which means filth. δήν: long-lasting, and from it come
δηναιός and δηναιά. He calls the sea long-lasting and ancient because ac-
cording to Pherecydes and Thales it is the first element.i
Th 538
Thales as astronomer.
Scholia on Lycophron Verse 482
Pan, the king of the Arcadians, or Atlas of Libya (879) discovered astron-
omy, the year, the months, the equinoxes and such things, calculating the
months by the moon. Thales came later.1
1 Cf. Schol. in Aesch. Prometheum vinctum 438d1–10 (ed. Herington). Unfortunately

the edition of the unknown part of the Iliad exegesis of Iohannes Tzetzes (Lolos
1981) was available to me for the first time only in the correction phase. Here are
found some references to Thales on the principle water or on the cause of the flooding
of the Nile.
i I follow W. in omitting some etymological conjectures of Tz.

Unauthenticated
474 John of Salisbury
John of Salisbury
Th 539
Epistolae 209 (ed. Millor/ Butler/ Brooke)
Ad tertiam progredior quaestionem: Quidnam sit mensa solis in sabulo,
quam famosissimam inter gymnosophistas scrutator veritatis, et litterarum
[0130C] diligentissimus persecutor Apollonius conspexit in sabulo, super
quo omnes consului, qui in Francia primatum videntur habere Scriptura-
5 rum, sed quia eos gentilis historia latuit, non multum reprehendo, si quod
non didicerant, docere nequiverunt. Quidam tamen imprudentiam suam
impudentius detexerunt, id solum inepta responsione persuadentes, quod
a doctoribus, quos diu et multa mercede conduxerant, nihil scire didicer-
unt. Historia autem haec quam veritate refertus et litteris Hieronymus in
10 praefatis apicibus tangit, apud Valerium Maximum reperitur in lib. IV, cap.
1, titulo De moderatione. Accidit enim, ut refert, quod a piscatoribus in
Milesia regione everriculum trahentibus, [0130D] quidam jactum emerat.
Extracta demum magni ponderis aurea Delphica mensa, orta controversia
est, illis se capturam piscium vendidisse affirmantibus, hoc econtra dicente
15 se emisse duntaxat fortunam jactus. Audita quaestione populus civitatis,
propter novitatem et magnitudinem rei, causam ad consultationem Del-
phici Apollinis censuit referendam. Consultus vero respondit ei dandam
esse, qui omnes alios sapientia antecederet, alioquin accipienti injucundam
fore et noxiam. Itaque quia Thales Milesius judicio auditorum, inter sep-
20 tem, quos tunc prae caeteris Graecia celebrabat, sapientissimus habebatur,
denuntiaverunt ei, ut jam dictae mensae possessionem adiret, qui, audita
consultationis forma et responso Apollinis, [0131A] prudenti humilitate,
non se, sed Biam Pyrenaeum, dixit Apollinis oraculo designatum. Aditus est
et iste priori similiter, et in eumdem modum conditionem in Mitylenaeum
25 Pittacum transtulit; interim mensa jacente in sabulo, et propter novitatem
eventus et moderationem sapientum: et quia nullus de populo praesumebat
invadere aurum, quod a se tanto studio sapientissimi removebant, casum
hunc non tam mirabilem quam stupendum, talium praeconatrix fama longe
lateque vulgavit. Mensa itaque famosissima facta est, dum ad singulos sa-
30 pientum septem sic ipsius procedebat oblatio, donec ventum est ad Solo-
nem, qui et titulum amplissimae sapientiae, et munus oblatum contulit in
Apollinem, in quo sol colitur, quia omnia contemplatur, [0131B] et cujus
virtus ignea sic penetrat universa, ut ei nihil possit esse absconditum: unde
et mensa solis dicta est, quam Apollonius in sabulo jacentem, dum litteras
35 persequeretur, inspexit.

Unauthenticated
John of Salisbury 475
John of Salisbury (ca. 1115–1180 CE)

Th 539i
Variant on the story of the tripod.
Letters 143
I proceed to the third question: What is the table of the sun in the sand,
renowned among the gymnosophists, which Apollonius, the investigator
of truth and the most careful student of learning, [0130C] noticed in the
sand. I have asked everyone in France who seems to have pre-eminence in
5 the Scriptures for advice about it, but because they are ignorant of pagan
history, I cannot blame them much for not being able to teach what they
had not learned. But some exposed their own imprudence quite impudently,
and by their inept answer succeeded only in persuading [me] that from
the teachers they employed for a long time and at a high wage they had
learned to know nothing. However, Jerome, who is so full of truth and
10 learning, refers to this story in the letter I mentioned earlier and it is found
in Valerius Maximus, book 4, chapter 1, under the heading On Moderation.
It happened, he relates, that when some fishermen in the area of Miletus
were drawing in their net [0130D], someone had bought the catch. Finally
a heavy golden Delphic table was pulled out, and a dispute arose, with the
fishermen maintaining that they had sold a catch of fish and the other claim-
15 ing that he had bought the luck of the catch, no more and no less. When
the people of the city had heard the dispute, they thought it best to refer
the case to Delphic Apollo for consultation in view of the strangeness and
importance of the matter. When asked, he [Apollo] replied that it should be
given to the one who excelled all others in wisdom; otherwise it would bring
unhappiness and harm to the recipient. And so, because Thales of Miletus
20 was considered in the judgment of the audience the wisest of the seven men
that Greece was then praising above the rest, they told him that he would
get the table. When he heard the form of the question and Apollo’s response,
[0131A] with prudent modesty he said that not he but Bias of the Pyrenees
had been designated by the oracle. That man was then approached in the
same way as before, and in the same way and on the same terms he passed
25 the gift on to Pittacus of Mitylene. In the meantime the table was lying in
the sand both because of the strangeness of the event and the modesty of the
Sages, and also because no one of the people ventured to lay hands on the
gold which the wisest people were so careful to keep away from themselves –

Unauthenticated
476 John of Salisbury – Philip of Harvengt
Sim. (Thales’ prize/story of the tripod) Th 52 (q.v.); (Thales, one of the Seven
Sages) Th 20 (q.v.)
Th 540
Policraticus 7.5 (ed. Webb)
(Cap. 5 De Ionico genere philosophorum, et auctoritate Socratis, et dogmate
Platonis, et opinione ejus post mortem. [0643D]) Alterum vero philosopho-
rum genus est, quod Ionicum dicitur, et a Graecis ulterioribus traxit origi-
nem. Horum princeps fuit Thales Milesius, unus illorum septem, qui dicti
5 sunt sapientes. Iste cum rerum naturam scrutatus, inter caeteros emicuisset,
maxime admirabilis exstitit, quod astrologiae numeris comprehensis, solis
et lunae defectus praedicebat. Huic successit Anaximander ejus auditor, qui
Anaximenem discipulum reliquit et successorem.
Sim. (Ionian school) Th 147 (q.v.); (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20
(q.v.); (solar eclipse) Th 10 (q.v.); (eclipse/phases of the moon) Th 178 (q.v.);
(Anaximander pupil/associate of Thales) Th 65a (q.v.)
Philip of Harvengt
Th 541
De institutione clericorum (Migne PL 203.1020B–D)
(De silentio clericorum cap. 45.) [...] Thales Milesius surrexisse, qui unus, et
primus septem Graeciae sapientium dicitur exstitisse, et pollens in physica
per id temporis claruisse, quo et Judaea laetabatur praedicto Ezechia jus-
tius imperante, et Roma recens condita Romulo dominante. Post Thaletem
5 Milesium sex alii fuisse memorantur, quibus illo priore addito septem sa-
pientes Graeciae nominantur, et isti sex illo claruisse tempore perhibentur,
cum jam filii Israel Babylonia captivi tenerentur. Horum autem nomina sunt
haec: Pittacus Mityleneus, Solon Atheniensis, Chilo Lacedemonius, Peri-
ander Corinthius, Cleobulus Lydius, Bias Prieneus. Isti quia vita et scientia

Unauthenticated
John of Salisbury – Philip of Harvengt 477
rumor, the herald of such things, spread far and wide the event, which was
not so surprising as astonishing. And so the table became very renowned
30 while the offer of it was made in turn to each of the Seven Sages, until it
came to Solon, who bestowed both the title of highest wisdom and the gift
as an offering to Apollo, in whom the sun is worshipped, because it sees all
things, [0131B] and whose fiery power so permeates all things that nothing
can be hidden from it; and this is why it is called the sun’s table, and Apol-
35 lonius gazed upon it as it lay in the sand while he was pursuing his learning.
Th 540i
Thales the Sage, the founder of Ionian philosophy; a natural
philosopher and astronomer; his prediction of eclipses; Thales and
Anaximander.
Policraticus 7.5
(On the Ionian school of philosophers, the authority of Socrates, the doc-
trine of Plato, and his reputation after death. [0643D]) There is another
school of philosophers, which is called Ionian and took its origin from the
more remote Greeks. Their founder was Thales of Miletus, one of the men
5 known as the Seven Sages. Since he investigated the nature of things and
had stood out among the rest, he was greatly admired because through his
understanding of astronomical calculation he predicted eclipses of the sun
and moon. His pupil Anaximander succeeded him and left Anaximenes as
his student and successor.
Philip of Harvengt (died in 1183 CE)

Th 541
Thales as Sage and natural philosopher; his dates.
On the Training of Clergymen ch. 45, (On the Silence of Clergymen) (Mi-
gne PL 203.1020B–D)
There appeared on the scene Thales of Miletus, who is said to have been
one of the Seven Sages of Greece, and indeed the first, and was famous for
being excellent in natural philosophy at that time, when Judea was thriving
under the just rule of the above-mentioned Ezechias and Romulus was rul-
5 ing the recently founded Rome. After Thales of Miletus, there are reported

Unauthenticated
478 Philip of Harvengt – Eustathius of Thessalonica
10 caeteris sunt praelati, generali quodam vocabulo sophi sunt appellati, non-
dum usu obtinente, ut qui docti litteris haberentur, ad distinctionem multi-
tudinis imperitae philosophi dicerentur. Dicti sunt etiam sophi, quod Latine
dicitur sapientes, Anaximenes, Xenophanes, Thaleti Milesio succedentes,
quin perscrutando rerum causas et naturas, eumdem magistrum imitantur,
15 in suo tamen sensu abundantes singuli diversa plurimum opinantur.
Sim. (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.); (dates) Th 171 (q.v.); (first
sage/philosopher) Th 29 (q.v.); Cf. Th 313–315
Eustathius of Thessalonica
Th 542
Commentarii ad Homeri Iliadem II 647 (ed. van der Valk)
Μίλητος δέ, ἡ Κρητικὴ αὕτη, προϋπῆρχε τῆς Ἀσιανῆς Μιλήτου, ἣν ἔκτι-
σεν ὁ παλαιὸς Σαρπηδὼν ἀγαγὼν οἰκήτορας καὶ καλέσας αὐτὴν κατὰ
τὸν Γεωγράφον ἐκ τῆς Κρητικῆς Μιλήτου. ὅτι δὲ πολλαὶ Μίλητοι, καὶ ὡς
πολλὰς ἀποικίας ἔστειλαν, δῆλον ἐκ τῶν ἱστοριῶν. καὶ ἡ μὲν Κρητικὴ οὐ
5 πολὺν ἔχει παρὰ τοῖς ἱστοροῦσι πλατυσμόν, ἡ δὲ Ἰωνικὴ πλουτίζεται τοῖς
κατ᾽ αὐτὴν σεμνώμασι, τοῖς τε ἄλλοις καὶ τῷ περὶ αὐτὴν μεγίστῳ ναῷ
ποτε, ὃς διέμεινε, φασί, χωρὶς ὀροφῆς διὰ τὸ μέγεθος, καὶ τοῖς σοφοῖς δέ,
ὧν εὐφόρησε, τῷ τε Θάλητι καὶ τῷ Φωκυλίδῃ [...].
Th 543
Comm. ad Il. XVIII 489
Ἐν οἷς τὸ ἄμοιρός ἐστι λουτρῶν Ὠκεανοῦ ἀντὶ τοῦ ἄδυτός ἐστι καὶ οὐ
δύνει εἰς Ὠκεανὸν οὔτε αὐτὴ ἡ καὶ μεγάλη καλουμένη καὶ Ἑλίκη, πρὸς ἣν
οἱ Ἕλληνες, ὡς εἴρηται, ναυτιλλόμενοι ἑλίκωπες δι᾽ αὐτὴν ἐλέγοντο, οὔτε
ἡ Κυνόσουρα ἡ ἐγγὺς αὐτῆς ἡ μικρά, ἥτις μεθ᾽ Ὅμηρον ὑπὸ Θαλοῦ τοῧ
5 Μιλησίου εὕρηται, πρὸς ἣν Φοίνικες ἔπλεον.
Sim. (constellations/discoverer of the Great/Little Bear) Th 52 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Philip of Harvengt – Eustathius of Thessalonica 479
to have been six others, and when the earlier one is added they are named
the Seven Sages of Greece. The six are said to have been famous at the time
when the children of Israel were being held captive in Babylonia. These
are their names: Pittacus of Mitylene, Solon of Athens, Chilon of Lace-
daimon, Periander of Corinth, Cleobulus of Lydia, Bias of Priene. Because
10 they surpassed the rest of mankind in their way of life and because of their
knowledge they are called “sophoi,” a general term, since the practice did
not yet exist of calling people considered learned in letters philosophers to
distinguish them from the ignorant masses. Anaximenes and Xenophanes,
who succeeded Thales of Miletus, were also called sophoi, which means sapi-
entes in Latin, because by investigating the causes and nature of things they
15 imitate their teacher, being outstanding in their intelligence even though
they individually hold very different views.
Eustathius of Thessalonica (ca. 1115–1195 CE)

Th 542i
Thales as a famous Milesian.
Commentary on Homer’s Iliad 2.647
The Cretan city of Miletus existed before the Miletus in Asia, which Sarpe-
don founded in antiquity, bringing settlers and calling it after the Cretan
Miletus, according to the Geographer.1 It is clear from the histories that
there were many cities named Miletus and that they founded many colonies.
5 The Cretan Miletus does not get much coverage in the historians, but the
Ionian [Miletus] is enriched by its majestic accomplishments, including the
largest ever temple in its vicinity – which remained roofless, as they say, be-
cause of its size – and the wise men, Thales and Phocylides, that it produced.
Th 543ii
Commentary on Homer’s Iliad 18.489
Where “without a share in the baths of Okeanos” means “never setting”
and neither does this [constellation, viz. Orion] set in the ocean nor the one
1 Strabo, 12.8.5


Unauthenticated
480 Eustathius of Thessalonica
Th 544
Commentarium in Dionysii periegetae orbis descriptionem, epistola 208.9–
17 (ed. Müller)
Ἦ γὰρ οὕτω μικροῦ πεποιήκασιν, ὅσοι τὴν τῆς οἰκουμένης πινακογρα-
φίαν μεμελετήκασιν, ὀνυχιαίῳ που τάχα τινὶ διαστήματι τὴν ἀπείρονα
περικλείσαντες, καὶ τὸ τοῦ κατὰ γῆν πληρώματος ἀπερίληπτον ἐπιπέδῳ
βραχυτάτῳ καὶ οὕτω μικροδιαστάτῳ ἐμπεριγράψαντες. Οὗ δὴ τολμή-
5 ματος κατάρξαι μὲν ἱστόρηται Ἀναξίμανδρος μαθητευσάμενος Θάλητι,
Ἑκαταῖος δὲ μετ᾽ αὐτὸν τῇ αὐτῇ τόλμῃ ἐπιβαλεῖν, μετὰ δε Δημόκριτος, καὶ
τέταρτος Εὔδοξος.
Sim. (Anaximander pupil/associate of Thales) Th 65a (q.v.)
Th 545
Comm. in Dion. Per. 354.12–19
Ἡρόδοτος δέ φησιν ὅτι ὁ Ἅλυς ὥριζε μέν ποτε τὴν Μηδικὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὴν
Λυδικὴν, ῥέει δὲ ἐξ Ἀρμενίου ὄρους διὰ τῆς γῆς τῶν Κιλίκων‧ παραμειβόμε-
νος δὲ Ματιανοὺς μὲν ἐν δεξιᾷ, ἑτέρωθεν δὲ Φρύγας, ῥέει πρὸς βορρᾶν,
ἔνθεν μὲν Συρίους Καππαδόκας ἀφεὶς, ἐξ εὐωνύμων δὲ Παφλαγόνας. Λέγει
5 δὲ καὶ ὅτι Θαλῆς ὁ Μιλήσιος ἔσχισέ ποτε τὸν Ἅλυν τῷ Κροίσῳ διὰ βαθείας
διώρυχος εἰς εὐδιάβατον.
Sim. (the crossing of the Halys) Th 11 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Eustathius of Thessalonica 481
that is called the Great [Bear] and Helike.1 It is said that Greek sailors sail
by it and were called Elikopes from it. Nor does Cynosure, the Little [Bear],
which is near it, [set in the ocean], which after Homer was discovered by
5 Thales of Miletus, and by which the Phoenicians used to sail.
Th 544i
Thales and Anaximander.
Commentary on The Description of the World by Dionysius Perigetes, Let-
ter 208.9–17
Those who have concerned themselves with mapping the inhabited world
have made it so small, enclosing the boundless [earth] in something the size
of a fingernail, and drawing the unsurroundable amount of the earth in a
5 tiny and small-dimensioned surface. Anaximander, the student of Thales
(cf. Th 576), is reported to have been the first to dare to do this, and after
him Hecataeus applied the same daring, and afterwards Democritus, and
Eudoxus was fourth.
Th 545ii
Thales and the crossing of the Halys.
Commentary on The Description of the World by Dionysius Perigetes
354.12–19
Herodotus declares that the Halys once was the border between the Median
and the Lydian empires. It flows from the Armenian mountain through
the land of the Cilicians. Passing through the Matians on the right and the
Phrygians on the other side, it flows towards the north, leaving the Syrian
5 Cappadocians on one side and the Paphlygonians on the left. He says also
that Thales of Miletus once divided the Halys for Croesus by means of a
deep channel in order to make it easy to cross.
1 Helike, lit. “twister,” from its revolving close to the Pole Star.


Unauthenticated
‫‪482‬‬ ‫‪Eustathius of Thessalonica – Niẓāmī‬‬
‫‪Th 546‬‬
‫‪Comm. in Dion. Per. 362.12–17‬‬
‫‪Περὶ δὲ τῆς πόλεως ταύτης καὶ τοιαῦτα γέγραπται‧ „Μίλητος πόλις‬‬
‫‪Ἰώνων ἐπιφανής. Ἐκλήθη δέ ποτε καὶ Λελεγὶς διὰ ἐποίκους Λέλεγας, καὶ‬‬
‫“‪Πιτύουσα δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐκεῖ πιτύων, καὶ διότι ἐκεῖ πρῶτον πίτυς ἔφυ.‬‬
‫‪Ἐκεῖθεν ἦν Θαλῆς ὁ Μιλήσιος, καὶ ῥήτωρ Αἰσχίνης, [...].‬‬
‫‪Niẓāmī‬‬
‫‪Th 547‬‬
‫)‪Iskandarname 125 f. (ed. Dastgirdi‬‬
‫ﮔﻔﺘﺎر واﻟﻴﺲ‬
‫ﻛﻪ ﻧﻮ ابد ﺷﻪ در هجﺎن ﻛﻬﻦ‬ ‫ﭼﻨﲔ راﻧﺪ واﻟﻴﺲ داان ﲯﻦ‬
‫ﺑﻪ داﻧﺶ ﭘﮋوﱓ ﺑﺮوﻣﻨﺪ ﺑـﺎد‬ ‫ﺑﻪ ﺗﻌﻠﲓ داﻧﺶ ﺗﻨﻮﻣﻨﺪ ابد‬
‫ﻛﻪ ﻫﺮﻛﺲ دﻫﺪ زاچنﻪ دارد ﻧﺸﺎن‬ ‫ﭼﻮ ﻓﺮﻣﻮد ﺳﺎﻻر ﮔﺮدﻧﻜﺸﺎن‬
‫‪5‬‬
‫ﻛﻪ ﺟﺰ آب ﺟﻮﻫﺮ ﻧﺒﻮد از ﳔﺴﺖ‬ ‫ﭼﻨﲔ ﮔﺸﺖ ﺑﺮ ﻣﻦ ﺑﻪ داﻧﺶ درﺳﺖ‬
‫ﻛﺰو آﺗﴙ در ﲣﻠﺨﻞ دﻣﻴﺪ‬ ‫ز ﺟﻨﺒﺶ ﳕﻮدن ﲜﺎﰃ رﺳـﻴﺪ‬
‫ﻫﻮاﰃ ﻓﺮو ﻣﺎﻧﺪ از او آﺑﺪار‬ ‫ﭼﻮ آﺗﺶ ﺑﺮون راﻧﺪ ﺑﺮق از ﲞﺎر‬
‫زﻣﲔ ﺳﺎزور ﮔﺸﺖ از آن ﺑﺴـﺘﮕﻰ‬ ‫ﺗﲀﺛﻒ ﮔﺮﻓﺖ آب از آﻫﺴـﺘﮕﻰ‬
‫هجﺎن از ﻃﺒﻴﻌﺖ ﻧﻮاﰃ ﮔﺮﻓﺖ‬ ‫ﭼﻮ ﻫﺮ ﺟﻮﻫﺮ ﺧﺎص ﺟﺎﰃ ﮔﺮﻓﺖ‬
‫‪10‬‬ ‫ﮔﺮﻩ ﺑﺴﺖ ﮔﺮدون و ﺟﻨﺒﺶ ﳕﻮد‬ ‫ز ﻟﻄﻔﻰ ﻛﻪ ﴎ ﺟﻮش آﳒﻤهل ﺑﻮد‬
‫ﻛﺰ آﰉ ﭼﻨﲔ ﭘﻴﻜﺮ آﻣﺪ ﭘﺪﯾﺪ‬ ‫ﻧﻴﻮﺷﺎﮔﺮ اﻳﻦ را ﳔﻮاﻫﺪ ﺷﻨﻴﺪ‬
‫دﻟﻴﲆ اﺳﺖ ﻗﻄﻌﻰ ﺑﺮ اﻳﻦ داﺳـﺘﺎن‬ ‫ﳕﻮدار ﻧﻄﻔﻪ ﺑﺮ راﺳـﺘﺎن‬

Eustathius of Thessalonica – Niẓāmī 483
Th 546i
Miletus is remembered because of Thales.
Commentary on The Description of the World by Dionysius Perigetes
362.12–17
The following is also written about this city. “Miletus, a notable city of
the Ionians. It was once called Lelegis too because its settlers were Lele-
ges, and Pituousa from the pine trees there, and because that is where the
pine first grew. It was the birthplace of Thales of Miletus and the orator
Aeschines.
Nizami (1141–before 1200)

Th 547
Water as the first principle; Thales’ cosmogony.
In the Persian Alexander epic the ruler invites the Seven Sages, including
Thales, who expounds his doctrine.
The Book of Alexander 125 f.

The Sayings of Thales
Thus spoke Thales, the man of knowledgeable words / – that a new shah
(king) came into an old world.
With the learning of knowledge become strong. / With the search for
knowledge become prolific.
As the head of the rebellious ones said, / everyone shows what they possess.
5 Through1 true knowledge it was proved to me / that in the beginning there
was no matter present except water.
Through violent movement it [the water] reached a state / in which fire was
blown out from a hole.
Because fire produced lightning from vapor / the air became saturated with
water.
The water was revealed because of its slowness. / From this bonding the
earth was formed.
Since every particular material reached a place / the world attained its har-
mony in accord with nature.
1 W.’s translation begins here.

Unauthenticated
484 Niẓāmī – Anonymous
Sim. (water as the first principle) Th 29 (q.v.); (transformations of water)

Th 94 (q.v.)
Anonymous
Th 548
Liber Aristotelis de inundacione Nili 3 (ed. Bonneau, cf. Fr. 248 R3, cf.
FGrHist III C 646 F 1.2)
Thales qui quidem de Ameo Milesius a ventis annualibus repulsum inquit
fluvium inundare: crescit enim si illi flant, et e regione fluit ipsorum. ac-
cidit autem contrarium: supernatat enim ad modicum desubtus, principium
autem repletionis videtur deorsum. adhuc idem alios oportebat pati magis
5 fluvios, qui ex opposito fluunt ipsis magis, et minores existentes faciles1 sunt
cogi a ventis. frequenter autem et annuales non flant, fluvius autem videtur
idem faciens.
Sim. (flooding of the Nile) Th 13 (q.v.)
1 faciles sunt may be a dittography for facile sunt.

Unauthenticated
Niẓāmī – Anonymous 485
5 From the benevolence of all these things that came to a boil / the revolving
firmament tied the knot and began to move.
A new student will not listen to this / – that from water such a body ap-
peared.
But showing a drop of semen to the truthful / is the proof of this story.
Anonymous (13th cent. CE)

Th 548
Thales’ explanation of the flooding of the Nile.
Aristotle’s Book on the Flooding of the Nile1 3
Thales of Miletus, the son of Ameus,2 says that the river [Nile] floods
when driven back by the annual [etesian] winds because it rises when they
blow and it flows in the opposite direction. However, what happens is the
opposite, [1] because it floods only a small amount from below [from its
mouths], and the origin of its flooding seems to be from above [from its up-
5 per course].3 Also, [2] other rivers ought to display the same phenomenon
to a greater degree that flow more directly against them [the winds] and that
(since they are smaller [than the Nile]) are easily driven back by the winds.
Also frequently [3] the annual winds do not blow, but the river is seen to
exhibit the same behavior.
1 On the authenticity of the treatise cf. now Jacobi/Luppe 2000, 15–8. Cf. also Steinmetz
1964, 278 ff., who argues for Theophrastus as the author of the text (as part of the
series of lectures περὶ ὑδάτων). The discussion continues, cf. Fowler (2000).
2 The Latin version “De Ameo” arose from a misunderstanding of the Greek Ἐξ-
αμίου.
3 Bonneau 1979, 9 translates it differently: “The Nile graduallyl overflows its banks
from below, and we see that the flooding begins from its lower reach.” Cf. n.4 ad loc.
“The force of the winds turns back the current at the surface of the river: this is not
what we observe.”

Unauthenticated
‫‪486‬‬ ‫‪Ibn al-Qifṭī‬‬
‫‪Ibn al-Qifṭī‬‬
‫‪Th 549‬‬
‫)‪Tarīḫ al-ḥukamā 26.8–10 (ed. Lippert‬‬
‫وﰷن ﺣﻜﲈء ﯾﻮانن ﯾﻨﺘﺤﻠﻮن اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ اﻷوﱃ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ّﻴﺔ اﻟﱵ ﰷن ﯾﺬﻫﺐ إﻟﳱﺎ ﻓﻴﺜﺎﻏﻮرس‬
‫ﻣﺘﺄﺧﺮوﱒ إﱃ اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ‬‫اﳌﻠﻄﻲ وﻋﻮا ّم اﻟﺼﺎﺑﺌﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻴﻮانﻧ ّﻴﲔ واﳌﴫﯾّﲔ ّﰒ ﻣﺎل ّ‬
‫واثﻟﻴﺲ ّ‬
‫اﳌﺪﻧ ّﻴﺔ ﻛﺴﻘﺮاط وأﻓﻼﻃﻮن وأرﺳﻄﻮﻃﺎﻟﻴﺲ وأﺷـﻴﺎﻋﻬﻢ وﻗﺪ ذﻛﺮ ذكل أرﺳﻄﻮﻃﺎﻟﻴﺲ ﰲ‬
‫ﻛﺘﺎﺑﻪ ﰲ اﳊﻴﻮان ﻓﻘﺎل ﻟـ ّﻤـﺎ ﰷن ﻣﻨﺬ ﻣﺎﺋﺔ ﺳـﻨﺔ وذكل ﻣﻨﺬ زﻣﻦ ﺳﻘﺮاط ﻣﺎل اﻟﻨﺎس ﻋﻦ‬
‫‪5‬‬ ‫اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌ ّﻴﺔ إﱃ اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ اﳌﺪﻧ ّﻴﺔ واﻧﳤـﻰ إﱃ أﻓﻼﻃﻮن رﺋﺎﺳﺔ ﻋﻠﻮم اﻟﻴﻮانﻧ ّﻴﲔ‬
‫)‪Sim. (natural philosophy) Th 81 (q.v.‬‬
‫‪Th 550‬‬
‫‪Tarīḫ al-ḥukamā 49.19–50.3‬‬
‫ﻓﺄﻣّﺎ ادلﻫﺮﯾّﻮن ﻓﻬﻢ ﻓﺮﻗﺔ ﻗﺪﻣﺎء ﲧﺪوا اﻟﺼﺎﻧﻊ اﳌﺪﺑّﺮ ﻟﻠﻌﺎﱂ وﻗﺎﻟﻮا ﺑﺰﲻﻬﻢ إنّ اﻟﻌﺎﱂ ﱂ ﻳﺰل‬
‫ﻣﻮﺟﻮدا ﻋﲆ ﻣﺎ ﻫﻮ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﺑﻨﻔﺴﻪ ﱂ ﻳﻜﻦ هل ﺻﺎﻧﻊ ﺻﻨﻌﻪ وﻻ ﳐﺘﺎر اﺧﺘﺎرﻩ وإنّ اﳊﺮﻛﺔ‬
‫ادلورﯾّﺔ ﻻ أ ّول ﻟﻬﺎ وإنّ اﻹﻧﺴﺎن ﻣﻦ ﻧﻄﻔﺔ واﻟﻨﻄﻔﺔ ﻣﻦ إﻧﺴﺎن واﻟﻨﺒﺖ ﻣﻦ ﺣ ّﺒﺔ واﳊ ّﺒﺔ‬
‫اﳌﻠﻄﻲ وﻫﻮ أﻗﺪم ﻣﻦ ّﻋﲅ ﲠﺬﻩ اﳌﻘﺎةل‬
‫ﻣﻦ ﻧﺒﺖ وأﺷﻬﺮ ﺣﻜﲈء ﻫﺬﻩ اﻟﻔﺮﻗﺔ اثﻟﻴﺲ ّ‬
‫‪5‬‬ ‫وﺳـﻴﺄﰐ ﺧﱪﻩ ﻋﻨﺪ اﲰﻪ ﰲ ﺣﺮف اﻟﺜﺎء إن ﺷﺎء ّاهلل ﺗﻊ وﻫﺬﻩ اﻟﻔﺮﻗﺔ وﻣﻦ ﯾﻘﻮل ﺑﻘﻮﻟﻬﺎ‬
‫وﯾﺘﺒﻌﻬﺎ ﻋﲆ رأﳞﺎ ﻳﺴ ّﻤﻮن اﻟﺰاندﻗﺔ‬

Ibn al-Qifṭī 487
Ibn al-Qifti (1172–1248 CE)

Th 549
Thales the Sage and natural philosopher.
The historian of science correctly places Thales in his history of the Sages as
an exponent of ancient natural philosophy.
History of Learned Men 26.8–10

The Greek sages adopted the earliest natural philosophy, as it was estab-
lished by Pythagoras, Thales of Miletus, and the ordinary Sabians1 in Greece
and Egypt. Then the later [philosophers] were more inclined toward polit-
ical philosophy – Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and their followers. In his book
“On Animals” Aristotle mentioned this when he said “It was a hundred
years from the time of Socrates when the people changed their inclination
5 from natural philosophy to political philosophy, ending up with Plato’s
leadership of the Greek sciences.2
In two other places Ibn al-Qifti explicitly notes the materialistic and atheis-
tic components of this early philosophy. Still Mulla Sadra Siraxi (1572–1640
CE), the influential exponent of late Persian neoplatonism, who, following
Pseudo-Ammonius, admits Thales into the series of ancient witnesses to the
truth, had to deal with this and says that the eternity of the world was first
attributed to the Presocratics by later philosophers, since they no longer un-
derstood their doctrines.3
Th 550
Thales’ materialist and atheist cosmology.
History of Learned Men 49.19–50.3
As for the materialists, they were a sect of the ancients who denied that
there was a maker and designer of the world and claimed that the world is
everlasting in and of itself and had no creator who created it, and no chooser
who chose it and that the circular motion [of the heavenly spheres] had no
beginning, and that man arises from semen and semen from a man, and a
plant arises from a seed and a seed from a plant. The most famous of the
1 See n. on Th 522.
2 Cf. De Partibus Animalium 1.1.642a26–31.
3 Paper by Horten 1913, 151, 4–28; cf. Baffioni 1991, 310 f.

Unauthenticated
‫‪488‬‬ ‫‪Ibn al-Qifṭī‬‬
‫)‪Sim. (natural philosophy) Th 81 (q.v.‬‬
‫‪Th 551‬‬
‫‪Tarīḫ al-ḥukamā 107.7–14‬‬
‫ـﻠﻄﻲ ﺣﻜﲓ ﻣﺸﻬﻮر ﰲ زﻣﺎﻧﻪ أﻗﺎوﯾهل ﻣﺬﻛﻮرة وآراءﻩ ﰲ اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ ﺑﲔ أﻫﻠﻬﺎ ﻣﺸﻬﻮرة‬ ‫اثﻟﻴﺲ اﻟـ َﻤ ّ‬
‫ﲱﺐ ﻓﻴﺜﺎﻏﻮرس وأﺧﺬ ﻋﻨﻪ ورﺣﻞ إﱃ ﻣﴫ وأﺧﺬ ﻋﻦ ﻋﻠﲈﲛﺎ ﻋﲅ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﺔ واﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ وﻫﻮ‬
‫ُﻮﺟ َﺪ هل ﺗﻌﺎﱃ ّاهلل اﻟﻌﻈﲓ واﺣﺘﺞّ هل أﲱﺎﺑﻪ أنّ اذلي ﲪهل ﻋﲆ‬
‫أ ّول ﻣﻦ ﻗﺎل إنّ اﳌﻮﺟﻮد ﻻ ﻣ ِ‬
‫ذكل ﻣﺎ ﺷﺎﻫﺪﻩ ﰲ ﻫﺬا اﻟﻌﺎﱂ ﻣﻦ الاﺧﺘﻼط ﻓﺘﺤ ّﻘﻖ أنّ اﳌﻮﺻﻮف ابﻟﺼﻔﺎت ُاﳊ ْﺴ َﲎ ﻻ‬
‫‪5‬‬ ‫ﺗﺼﺪر ﻋﻨﻪ ﻫﺬﻩ اﻷﻣﻮر اخملﺘﻠﻔﺔ ﻓﻘﺎل ﺑﺬكل وﻋﲆ ﻫﺬا اﻟﻘﻮل ﲨﻬﻮر أﻫﻞ اﻟﻬﻨﺪ‬
‫‪Sim. (Egyptian influence) Th 92 (q.v.) (cf. Th 311); (wise sayings) Th 89‬‬
‫)‪(q.v.‬‬

Ibn al-Qifṭī 489
Sages of this sect was Thales of Miletus, and he was the earliest to teach this
5 knowledge. Information about him will come under his name in the letter
Thā’ (God Almighty willing). This sect and those who affirm what they say
and follow their opinions are called heretics.
Th 551
Thales the Sage; his wise sayings; his association with Pythagoras and
Egypt; a natural philosopher and atheist.
In the previously announced chapter, he says:
History of Learned Men 107.7–14

Thales of Miletus was a famous sage of his time. His sayings were repeated
and his theses on philosophy are well known among philosophers. He was
a companion of Pythagoras and learned from him. He traveled to Egypt
and learned natural science and philosophy from the learned people there.
He was the first to declare that that existence has no creator (glorify God
almighty). His companions defended him by claiming that he was led to
this view because he observed that there are contradictions in this world
5 and thus he was convinced that these contradictions cannot emanate from
someone that is described by the most magnificent attributes. A great num-
ber of Indians claimed the same thing.

Unauthenticated
‫‪490‬‬ ‫‪Anonymous‬‬
‫‪Anonymous‬‬
‫‪Th 552‬‬
‫)‪Fiqar al-ḥukamā wa-nawādir al-qudamā wa-l-ulamā 276 f. (ed. Badawī‬‬
‫اثﻟﺲ اﳌﻨﻘﻮل ﻣﻦ ﺣﳬﻪ ﻣﺎ ﻗﻴﻞ ﻋﻨﻪ إﻧّﻪ ﻗﺎل ﻟﺘﻼﻣﺬﺗﻪ اﻋﻠﻤﻮا أن َﻣﻦْ ﻳﻜﱶ اﻷﰻ ﻻ‬
‫ﳚﺪ ّذلة اﻟﻌﺒﺎدة وﻣﻦ ﻳﻜﱶ اﻟﻨﻮم ﱂ ﳚﺪ ﰲ ﲻﺮﻩ ﺑﺮﻛﺔ وﻣﻦ أﺻﻠﺢ ﴎﻳﺮﺗﻪ أﺻﻠﺢ ّاهلل‬
‫أﻣﺮ وﻓﻴﻪ ﻫﻼﻛﻪ وﰼ ﻣﻦ ﻣﴪور ﺑﻨﻌﻤ ٍﺔ أو رﺗﺒﺔ وﱔ‬ ‫ﺗﻌﺎﱃ ﻋﻼﻧ ّﻴﺘﻪ وﰼ ﻣﻦ ﳏﺴﻮد ﻋﲆ ٍ‬
‫ﰻ ﻣَﻦ ﻃﻠﺐ ً‬
‫ﺷﻴﺌﺎ‬ ‫ﻣﻦ داﺋﻪ وإذا ﱂ ﯾﻘﻒ اﻹﻧﺴﺎن ﻋﻨﺪ ﻋﻠﻤﻪ ﳁﺎ ﻓﺎﺋﺪة ﻋﻠﻤﻪ وﻟﻴﺲ ّ‬
‫‪5‬‬
‫ً‬
‫ﻣﻜﺮوﻫﺎ ﯾﻨﺠﻮ ﻣﻨﻪ وﻋﺎﻗﺒﺔ اﻟﻜﺬب اﻟﻨﺪم وﻋﺎﻗﺒﺔ اﻟﻈﲅ اﻟﺒﻮار‬ ‫ﰻ ﻣﻦ ّ‬
‫ﺗﻮﰵ‬ ‫ﯾﻨﺎهل وﻻ ّ‬
‫اﳊﻖ وإن ﰷن ﻋﲆ ﻧﻔﺴﻪ وﺣﻔﻆ اﻹﻧﺴﺎن‬ ‫وإﺧﺮاب ادلاير واﻟﻌﺎﻗﻞ ﻣَﻦ ﻻ ﯾﻐﻀﺒﻪ ﻗﻮل ّ‬
‫ﻣﺎ ﰲ ﯾﺪﻩ أوﱃ ﻣﻦ ﺳﺆال اﻟﻨﺎس ﻣﺎ ﰲ أﯾﺪﳞﻢ وﻣَﻦ أﻗﺒﻠﺖ ادلﻧﻴﺎ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ َﻋ ّـﻠﻤﺘﻪ ﻏﻮاﻣﺾ‬
‫اﻷﺷـﻴﺎء وﻣَﻦ أدﺑﺮت ﻋﻨﻪ ﺳﻠﺒﺘﻪ ﳏﺎﺳﻦ ﻧﻔﺴﻪ وأﻛﺴﺒﺘﻪ ﻋﻴﻮب اﻟﻨﺎس وﻣﻦ أﲷﺮ ً‬
‫ﺷﻴﺌﺎ‬
‫ورب رأي أﻧﻔﻊ ﻣﻦ ﻣﺎل واﳌكل ابﺻﻄﻔﺎﺋﻪ اﻟﺮﺟﺎل أوﱃ‬‫ﻇﻬﺮ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﰲ ﻗﻮهل ووهجﻪ ّ‬
‫رﺟﻞ ﻳﺴ ّﺪ ﻣﺴ ّﺪ ﻏﲑﻩ‬ ‫ﰻ درﱒ ﻳﺴ ُّﺪ ﻣﺴ ّﺪ ﻏﲑﻩ وﻣﺎ ّ‬ ‫ﻣﻦ اﺻﻄﻔﺎﺋﻪ اﻷﻣﻮال ﻓﺈنّ ّ‬
‫‪10‬‬
‫ﻛﻞ ٍ‬
‫وﺻﺎﺣﺐ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﺎن ﻛﺮاﻛﺐ اﻷﺳﺪ ﳞﺎﺑﻪ اﻟﻨﺎس وﻫﻮ ﲟ ﻛﺮﻮﺑﻪ أﻫﻴﺐ وإذا ﰷﻧﺖ اﻟﻐﺎﯾﺔ‬

Anonymous 491
Anonymous (Gnomologium from before 1260 CE)

The work with the title Fiqar al-hukama wa-nawadir al-qudama wa-
l-ulama (Excerpts of the Sages and Anecdotes of Ancestors and of the
Learned), which was dedicated to Ayyubid ruler al-Malik an-Nasir Yusuf,
a great-grandson of Sultan Saladin, before the year 1260 CE, is preserved in
only one manuscript. It contains twenty chapters on famous Greeks and one
Persian. The Presocratics treated are Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Democritus
and Thales. By not mentioning his own name, the author gives an example
of how everyone can assemble a collection of this kind without ambitions as
a author. Under the name Thales, which is in the fifteenth place, there is a
lengthy piece of advice and two anecdotes whose content is as genuine as it
is trivial, and which show hardly any contact with the rest of the recorded
tradition.
Th 552
Excerpts of the Sages and Anecdotes of Ancestors and of the Learned 276 f.
Wise sayings are related about Thales that he said to his students:
Know that a glutton feels no joy in worship.
He who sleeps much feels no blessing in his lifetime.
If anyone improves himself inwardly, God (be He exalted) improves his
public standing.
How many are envied for something that would lead them to their ruin!
How many delight in a blessing or a title, and yet it is a disease to them.
If a man does not make use of his knowledge, what is the use of his knowl-
edge?
5 Not everyone who seeks for something obtains it, and not everyone who
tries to avoid evil is safe.
The consequence of lying is remorse and the consequence of injustice is ruin
and the destruction of the country.
Intelligent is he whom truthful speech does not make angry, even if it is
directed against himself.
A man should hold onto what he possesses rather than ask the people for
what they possess.
Becoming fortunate teaches one the mysteries of [possessing] things, and
becoming unfortunate robs him of his goodness and leaves him to gain the
vices of others.
If anyone conceals something, it comes out in his speech and on his face.

Unauthenticated
‫‪492‬‬ ‫‪Anonymous‬‬
‫وذلة ادلﻧﻴﺎ ﻗﻠﻴةل وﺣﴪﲥﺎ ﻃﻮﯾةل وﻟﻴﺲ اﻟﻮﱒ‬‫اﻟﺰوال ﳁﺎ اﳉﺰع ﻣﻦ ﺗﴫّف اﻷﺣﻮال ّ‬
‫ﰷﻟﻔﻬﻢ وﻻ اﳋﱪ ﰷﻟﻌﻴﺎن وﻟﻴﺲ اﻟﻌﺠﺐ ﻣﻦ ﺟﺎﻫﻞ ﯾﺼﺤﺐ ﺟﺎﻫﻼ ﺑﻞ اﻟﻌﺠﺐ ﻣﻦ‬
‫وﴍﻫﺎ اﻟﻄﻤﻊ وﺧﲑ اﻟالكم ﻣﺎ أﻏﲎ‬ ‫ﻋﺎﻗﻞ ﯾﺼﺤﺐ ﺟﺎﻫﻼ وﺧﲑ اﻷﺧﻼق اﻟﻮرع ّ‬
‫‪15‬‬ ‫ِﺟ ّﺪﻩ وﻫﺰهل وﺧﲑ اﻟﻨﺎس ﻣَﻦ أﺧﺮَجَ ا ِﳊ ْﺮص ﻣﻦ ﻗﻠﺒﻪ وﻋﴡ ﻫﻮاﻩ ﰲ ﻃﺎﻋﺔ رﺑّﻪ وﺛﻮب‬
‫اﻟﻌﺎﻓﻴﺔ ُ‬
‫أﺣﺴﻦ ﻣﺎ ﻟﺒﺴﻪ اﻹﻧﺴﺎن‬
‫واﳌﻨﻘﻮل ﻣﻦ ﻣﻠﺤﻪ وﻧﻮادرﻩ ﳁﻦ ذكل ﻣﺎ ﻗﻴﻞ ﻋﻨﻪ إنّ ﻣكل ﺑدلﻩ أراد أن ﻳﺮﺳﻞ ﺑﻌﺾ‬
‫ﻋﲇ أن أﻗﺪﻣﻪ ﻋﲆ اﳉﻴﺶ‬ ‫ﺟﻨﺪﻩ ﻟﻠﻐﺎرة ﻋﲆ ﺑﻌﺾ أﻋﺎدﯾﻪ ﻓﻘﺎل هل ّأﳞﺎ اﳊﻜﲓ ﻣﻦ ﺗﺸﲑ ّ‬
‫ﻟﳰﴤ إﱃ ﺑﻼد ﻋﺪ ّوي ﻳﺸﻦّ ﻋﻠﳱﺎ اﻟﻐﺎرات؟ ﻓﻘﺎل هل اﳊﻜﲓ َﻗ ِّﺪم ﻋﻠﳱﺎ ﻣَﻦ ﺗﻌﺮف أن‬
‫‪20‬‬ ‫ﺧﺼﺎل ﻣﻦ ﺧﺼﺎل اﳊﻴﻮاانت وﱔ ﲯﺎء ادلﻳﻜﺔ وﲝﺚ ادلﺟﺎج وإﻗﺪام‬ ‫ﻓﻴﻪ ﻋﴩة ٍ‬
‫اﻷﺳﻮد و َر َوﻏﺎن اﻟﺜﻌﺎﻟﺐ وﲪةل اﳋﲋﻳﺮ وﺻﱪ اﻟﳫﺐ ﻋﲆ اﳉﻮع وﺣﺮاﺳﺔ اﻟﻜﺮﰾ وﻏﺎرة‬
‫اذلﺋﺐ وﴭﺎﻋﺔ اﻟﳮﺮ وهمﺎﲨﺔ اﻟﻌﻘﺎب‬
‫ﯾﻮﻣﺎ رﺟﻼ ﻗﺪ ﻗﺒﺾ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﺎن ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﺑﻘﻮل ﻋﺪ ّو هل ﺳﻌﻰ‬ ‫وﻣﻦ ذكل ﻣﺎ ﻗﻴﻞ ﻋﻨﻪ إﻧّﻪ رأى ً‬
‫ﺑﻪ ﻋﻨﺪ اﳌكل ﻓﺒﺎﻟﻎ ﰲ ﴐﺑﻪ واﺳـﺘﺼﻔﺎﺋﻪ ﻷﻣﻮاهل ﻓﺴﻤﻌﻪ اثﻟﺲ اﳊﻜﲓ وﻫﻮ ﯾﺘﺄﻟّﻢ ﻟﻌﺪ ّوﻩ‬
‫‪25‬‬ ‫ﴍك وﺳﻌﺎﯾﺘﻚ ﻓﻴﻪ‬ ‫ﳑّﺎ ّﰎ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻣﻦ اﳌكل ﻓﻘﺎل هل اثﻟﺲ اﳊﻜﲓ أﻣﺎ و ّاهلل ﻟﻮ ﻛﻔﻰ ﻣﻦ ّ‬
‫ﻷﻏﻨﺎﻩ ذكل ﻋﻦ ﺗﺄﻟّـﻤﻚ هل اذلي ﻗﺪ ﳖﺠﺖ ﻓﻴﻪ ﻣﳯﺎج اﻟﺴـ ّﻨﻮر ﻣﻊ اﻟﻔﺄر ﻓﻘﻴﻞ هل وﻛﻴﻒ‬
‫ﰷن أﻣﺮﻫﲈ ّأﳞﺎ اﳊﻜﲓ؟ ﻓﻘﺎل ﻗﺪ ﺣﲄ أن ﻓﺄرة ﺳﻘﻄﺖ ﻣﻦ ﺳﻘﻒ ﻓﺄﲽﻲ ﻋﻠﳱﺎ ورآﻫﺎ‬
‫اﻟﺴـ ّﻨﻮر ﻓﺒﺎدر إﻟﳱﺎ ووﺿﻊ ﯾﺪﻩ ﻋﻠﳱﺎ وﺟﻌﻞ ﯾﻘﻠﳢﺎ وﯾﻘﻮل ﺑﺴﻢ ّاهلل ﻋﻠﻴﻚ ﺣﺎﺷﺎك ﻣﻦ‬
‫ﻋﲏ‬‫ﺳﻮ ٍء ﯾﻨﺎكل ﻓﻠ ّﻤﺎ أﻓﺎﻗﺖ ﻣﻦ ﻏﺸﻴﳤﺎ ورأﺗﻪ وﲰﻌﺖ ﻗﻮهل ﻟﻬﺎ ﻗﺎﻟﺖ هل ارﻓﻊ ﯾﺪك ّ‬
‫‪30‬‬
‫ﻋﲇ وأﻣﻨﺖ ﻣﻦ ّ‬
‫ﰻ ﺳﻮء‬ ‫ﴍك ﻗﺪ ّﲰﻰ ّاهلل ﺗﻌﺎﱃ َّ‬ ‫واﻛﻔﲏ ّ‬

Anonymous 493
Advice may be more beneficial than money.

10 It is more appropriate for a king to favor men than for him to favor money,
since every dirham can be replaced by another, but not every man can be
replaced by another.
The companion of the Sultan is like someone riding a lion: the people fear
him but he fears his mount even more.
If the end of life is extinction, then why do we regret changes in our situ-
ations?
The pleasure of this world is brief, and its grief is long.
Illusion is not like understanding, and what is reported is not the same as
what one sees.
It is not surprising when one ignorant person accompanies another, but it is
surprising when an intelligent person accompanies an ignorant one.
The highest virtue is piety and the worst [vice] is greed.
The best speech that which is valuable regardless whether it is spoken seri-
15 ously or humorously, and the best man is he who has cast out desire from
his heart and disobeys his passions in obedience to his Lord.
The garb of health is the best clothing a man can wear.
Amusing comments and interesting anecdotes are related about him. This
following one is told. The king of his country wanted to send an army to
conduct a raid against his enemy. So he said to him [Thales]: “O Sage, whom
do you advise me to lead the army, to march with to the land of my enemy
and launch an attack against it? The Sage said to him: “Appoint a person
20 that you know possesses ten traits of animals – the generosity of the rooster,
the meticulousness of the hen, the audacity of lions, the cunning of foxes,
the steadfastness of the wild boar, the patience of the dog against hunger,
the vigilance of the crane, the aggressiveness of the wolf, the courage of the
tiger, and the rapacity of the eagle.
It is also said about him that one day he saw a man who had been arrested
by the Sultan because one of his enemies had informed against him to the
Sultan. So he beat him severely and confiscated his money. Thales the Sage
25 heard him [the informer] moaning as if in agony for his enemy on account of
what the Sultan had done to him. Thales the Sage said to him: “If, by God, it
would have been enough with your malice and your slander, then the person
you informed against would not be in need of your suffering for him. Your
conduct is like that of the cat with the mouse.” Then someone said to him:
“How so, and what happened in that case, o Sage?” He said: “It was told
that a mouse fell from a roof and was knocked out. Then a cat saw it, ran to
it, put its paw on it and began to play with it, and said: “The name of God
be upon you! He will save you from the evil that has befallen you.” When

Unauthenticated
494 Albertus Magnus
Albertus Magnus
Th 553
Metaphysica 1.3.3 (ed. Geyer)
(Cap. 3. De opinione Thaletis philosophi, qui aquam omnium dixit esse
principium, et de rationibus eius [Arist. Metaphys. 1.3.983b20]) Thales
enim Milesius, qui unus fuit de septem sapientibus, quos Apollo probavit,
〈et〉 huiusmodi philosophiae maior princeps fuisse videtur, eo quod in ea
5 maxime floruit et magis efficaces et proprias induxit rationes, aquam ait
esse omnium principium. Quia vero vidit, quod principium, etsi sit sub-
iecto unum, virtute tamen multiplex esse oportuit, ideo terram super aquam
esse dixit 〈et〉 id quod virtute omnia est, per hoc quod in centro ponitur,
aequalem ad omnia habere respectum. In minori enim mundo, qui est ani-
10 mal, sicut declaratum est in VIII PHYSICORUM, locus medius datur nu-
trimento, et quod est in minori, per convenientiam causatur ab eo quod in
maiori, et ideo aquae ut nutrienti omnia dixit locum esse medium. Procul
dubio enim iste fuit de opinantibus mundum esse animal, sicut fere omnes
opinabantur antiqui.
15 Quod autem sit principium omnium, forsitan inde opinatur, quia nutrimen-
tum omnium est umidum. Nutrimentum enim oportet esse immanativum
ei quod nutritur, et receptivum figurarum et formarum eius quod nutritur.
Et ideo oportet ipsum esse ‘terminabile termino alieno et non terminabile
proprio’, et ideo verissime dixit umidum actu esse nutrimentum omne. Cum
20 autem etiam incorporabile ei quod nutritur, sit nutrimentum omne, umidum
autem aeris, cum sit spirituale, non sit incorporabile, ideo dixit umidum
aquae nutrimentum esse et non aereum. Adhuc, quia nutrimentum ad om-
nem nutriti corporis movetur partem, quod non facit aer, qui levis est in
duobus elementis et ascendit, in uno tantum descendens.
25 Omnia autem iste Thales nutriri dixit, eo quod omnia capiunt augmen-
tum. Non enim augmentum est sine nutrimento. Ignem enim videmus ali
umido, et cum deficit umidum, non remanet nisi cinis et deficit ignis. Adhuc
autem aerem videmus ali nubibus, quae sunt aqua formam aeris accipientes.
Terram etiam videmus umore cibatam producere, quae producit, similiter
30 autem solem et lunam et planetas et universaliter astra umore nutriri Oce-

Unauthenticated
Albertus Magnus 495
the mouse came to and saw and heard what the cat was saying, it said to it:
30 “Take your paw away from me and spare me your harm. The name of God
(be He exalted) was pronounced over me and thus I am safe from all harm.”
Albertus Magnus (ca. 1193–1280 CE)

Th 553
Thales the Sage; water as the first principle; Thales’ cosmology;
Metaphysics 1.3.3 (On the view of Thales the philosopher, who said that
water is the principle of all things, and on his theories [Arist. Metaphys.
1.3.983b20])
For Thales of Miletus, who was one of the Seven Sages approved by Apollo
and seems to have been the most important founder of this kind of philos-
5 ophy since he had the most outstanding success in it and introduced more
effectivei theories of his own, said that water is the principle of all things.
Indeed, since he saw that even if a principle is one in subjectii, nevertheless
it must potentially be multiple, he said that the earth is above water and
that that which is potentially all things has an equal distance from all things
10 because it is located in the center. For in the microcosm, which is alive, as is
stated in the eighth book of the Physics [Alb., Phys. l. 8 tr. 1 c. 9], the central
location is given to the nutriment, and what is in the smaller is brought
about consistently with what is in the larger, for this reason too he said that
the central location belongs to water as that which nourishes all things. For
he was doubtless among those who believed that the world is alive, as almost
all the ancientsiii believed.
15 That it [water] is the principle of all things he may have believed because
the nourishment of all things is moist. For nourishment must be capable of
flowing into that which is nourished and capable of receiving the figures
and forms of that which is nourished. Therefore it must be “something
that is determinable by the limit of something else and not determinable by
its own [limit],”1 and therefore he said most truly that all nourishment is
20 moist in actuality. Moreover, since all nourishment can become corporeal in
that which is nourished, but the moisture of air, since it is breathy, cannot
1 Cf. Arist. GC 2.2.329b30–31.
i W: nachhaltiger
ii W: dem zugrunde Liegenden nach
iii W: älteren Philosophen

Unauthenticated
496 Albertus Magnus
ani et paludum Maeotidarum et ideo deprimi impleta et elevari vacua et

aliquando cursu directa et aliquando esse stationaria, aliquando autem ret-
rocedentia. Id enim quod influit et effluit subiecto manente, est nutrimen-
tum secundum materiam, ut probatur in libro PERI GENESEOS; umidum
35 aquae solum influit in omnia alia et effluit in pluviis et roribus; ergo ipsa
est nutrimentum omnium aliorum. Propter hoc etiam iste diluvium dicebat
ex huiusmodi causa fieri; multis enim temporibus minutissimis guttis aquae
paulatim ingredientibus in alia elementa, paulatim dixit suspendi, et tandem
vincentibus aquae partibus effluere de sublimi et imo et ex omnibus, et sic
40 inundare diluvium.
Cum igitur istis rationibus omnia dixerit nutriri aquae umido, intulit, quod
cum ex eodem materiali principio generentur omnia et nutriantur, quod il-
lud idem omnium generationis est idem umidum aqueum. Cum autem ipsa
veritate cogeretur dicere duo esse, in quibus est vita, umidum et calidum,
45 dixit calidum non esse per se vitae causam, sed umidi passionem; quaecum-
que autem est passio subiecti alicuius, secundum naturam principiatur a
subiecto sicut a causa, et sic non calidum est causa vel principium, quia cal-
idum vitale causatur ab umido; et ideo umidum simpliciter est principium;
et ideo dicebat animal isto umido vivere. Nutrimenti autem actum ponebat
50 vitae principium, quia cum Dionysio philosopho et pluribus aliis dicebat
vitam esse motum generis nutribilis, quod est naturam assequens; et calidum
naturale, quod est digerens, dicebant esse passionem umidi, sicut paulo ante
diximus. Ex quo enim fit aliquid sicut ex materia et subiecto, hoc dicebat
esse omnium entium principium. Hac igitur de causa eam quae dicta est,
55 accepit opinionem.
Amplius, vidit iste Thales, quod semina spermatica cunctorum umidam
habent naturam. Cum enim semen sit, quod figuras suscipit generatorum,
oportet, quod potentia ipsius secundum bene suscipere determinetur; po-
tentia autem bene suscipiendi est umidum; spermatis igitur natura deter-
60 minatur umido, et hoc quidem est in animatis omnibus. Sed quia potentiae
factorum non sunt in eis nisi ex potentiis principiorum, videtur Thaleti,
quod umidum sit principium, ex quo fiunt omnia; omnium autem umido-
rum prima natura, quae est materia, est aqua; igitur aqua est primum prin-
cipium omnium. Haec igitur Thaletis est positio, et hanc propter inductas
65 et similes istis dixit rationes.
Sim. (water as the first principle) Th 29 (q.v.); (the Earth rests upon water)
Th 30 (q.v.); (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Albertus Magnus 497
become corporeal, he said that nourishment is the moisture of water, not

the airy [moisture]. In addition, [nourishment cannot be air]i since nour-
ishment moves to every part of the body that is nourished, which air does
not do since it is light in two elements and rises, while it descends in only
one.
25 Thales said that all things are nourished because all things undergo
growth. For there is no growth without nourishment. For we see that fire
is nourished by the moist and when the moist perishes nothing but ash
remains and the fire perishes. We also see that air is nourished by clouds,
which are water receiving the form of air. In addition we see that the earth
30 produces its products when it is fed by moisture and likewise the sun, moon,
planets and the stars in general are nourished by the moisture of the Ocean
and of the marshes of Maeotia, and this is why they are lower when they are
full and are higher when they are empty, and sometimes move forward in
their course, sometimes are stationary, and sometimes move backwards. For
what flows in and out while its subjectii persists is nourishment in respect
of matter, as is proved in the book On Generation [Alb., de gen. et corr. l.1
35 tr. 3 c. 14]); only the moisture of water flows into all other things and flows
out in rain and dew; therefore it [water] is the nourishment of all other
things. For this reason he [Thales] said that floods are due to the following
cause: when tiny droplets of water over a long time gradually enter the
other elements, he said, they gradually come to be in a state of suspensioniii
and finally, when the parts of water become dominant they pour from on
40 high and from the depths and from all directions, and this is how flooding
overwhelms.
Since on the basis of these arguments he said that all things are nour-
ished by the moisture of water, he inferred that since all things are generated
and nourished by the same material principle, the [principle] of the genera-
tion of all things is that same thing – the same moisture of wateriv. However,
since he was compelled by the truth itself to say that there are two things on
45 which life depends, the moist and the hot, he said that the hot is not per se
the cause of life, but is an affection of the moist; but whatever is an affection
of some subjectv, by its nature has the subjectvi for a principle like a causevii,
i W: [ist das Wasser die Nahrung]

ii W: das zugrunde Liegende
iii W: does not translate in alia elementa, paulatim dixit suspendi
iv W: dasselbe feuchte und wässrige sei
v W: eines anderen zugrunde Liegenden
vi W: dem zugrunde Liegenden
vii W: wie von einer Ursache principiiert

Unauthenticated
498 Albertus Magnus
Th 554
Meteora 3.2.4 (ed. Hossfeld)
(Cap. 2. De opinionibus eorum, qui dixerunt aquam esse causam terraemo-
tus) In genere autem causae istius, sed non in modo causalitatis, convenit
philosophus, qui in libris Arabicis corrupti nominis est. Et dicitur Irhiminis
de civitate, quae vocatur Xius, secundum veritatem autem vocatur Metro-
5 dorus, qui de civitate vocata Chius fuit. Hic enim dixit quod terra aliquando
post humefactionem vehementer exsiccatur et ideo scinditur; et cum postea
venit pluvia, influit aqua pluens in concavitates eius et occultatur in ea et con-
gregatur in aliquo loco tanta quod terra natat super aquas illas; et cum postea
declinat aqua sub terra ad concavitatem aliam, tunc terra, quae nataverat su-
10 per aquam, descendit vel declinat ad latus, et illa concussio est terraemotus. In
idem fertur opinio ‘Thalis Milesii’, qui dixit ‘totam terram’ esse ‘subiectam’
humore et totum ‘Oceanum’ esse sub terra et superiorem terram esse, quam

Unauthenticated
Albertus Magnus 499
and so it is not the case that the hot is a cause or principle, because vital heat
is causedi by the moist; and therefore the moist is unqualifiedly a principle;
and this is why he said that what is alive lives by means of the moist. He
50 also posited that the actuality of nourishment is the principle of life because
he agreed with the philosopher Dionysius and many others1 that life is the
motion of a kind {of thing} that depends on nourishment and that is acting
in accord with its natureii; and they said that natural heat, which distributes,
is an affection of the moist as we said a little earlier. For he said that that
from which something comes to be as from its matter and subjectiii is the
55 principle of all things-that-are. Therefore for this reason he accepted the
view which has been stated.
More fully, Thales saw that spermaticiv seeds of all things have a moist
nature. For since seed is that which takes on the shapes of the beget-
tors, it is necessary that its potentiality be determined so as to be able
to take on [those shapes] well; but the potentiality of taking on well is
60 the moist; therefore the nature of seed is determined by the moist, and
this is found in all living things. But since the potentialities of products
are only in them in consequence of the potentialities of their principles,
it seems to Thales that the moist is the principle from which all things
come to be; but the first nature of all moist things, which is their mat-
ter, is water; therefore water is the first principle of all things. Therefore
this is the view of Thales, and he stated it both because of the arguments
65 that have been mentioned and because of other arguments similar to
these.
Th 554
Thales’ explanation of earthquakes.
Meteorology 3.2.4 (Chapter 2. On the views of those who said that water is
the cause of earthquakes)
The philosopher whose name is corrupted in the Arabic books is in agree-
ment on the kind of that cause but on not the manner of causation . He is
said to be Irhiminis from a city which is called Xius, but in truth he is called
1 Arist. Top. 6.10.148a26–28.
i W: principiiert
ii W: Bewegung sei, die natürlicherweise mit Ernährung zusammengehört
iii W: einem zugrunde Liegenden
iv W: generativen

Unauthenticated
500 Albertus Magnus
sit, ‘aqua’, et ideo ‘portari’ terram ab aqua sicut quoddam ‘magnum’ ‘navi-
gium’ quod, cum propter offensionem aquae ex vento vel ex hoc quod im-
15 pingit in aliquid, inundat vel ad unam partem declinat; tunc fit terraemotus.
Th 555
Meteora 3.2.5
(Cap. 5. De improbatione omnium opinionum ponentium ex aqua esse ter-
raemotum) ARISTOTELES autem nimis breviter tangit horum improbatio-
nem, et ideo oportet nos addere dictis eius, sicut addidimus, ubi enumeratae
sunt opiniones. Ponit autem DICTUS PHILOSOPHUS duas rationes, quae
5 sunt contra omnes opiniones istas in communi. Quarum una est quod, si ex
aqua esset terraemotus, tunc fieret terraemotus in omni terra, quia aut omnis
terra natat super aquas, ut dicit THALES, aut infunditur aquis, ut dicunt alii.
Sed hoc est falsum, quia non in omni terra invenitur terraemotus. Secunda
ratio contra omnes PHILOSOPHOS PRAEHIBITOS est, quia si terraemo-
10 tus esset ex infusione aquae sub terra, tunc numquam siccus locus humec-
tari posset, nisi terra ibi moveretur; quod iterum patet esse falsum, quia lo-
cus siccus humectatur et humidus exsiccatur absque eo quod fiat terraemo-
tus. Est autem specialiter contra DEMOCRITUM, quia si ipse verum dicit,
tunc loca fontium saepissime tremere deberent, et hoc non invenitur. Adhuc,
15 numquam terraemotus deberet esse sine aqua. Et hoc non verum esse osten-
detur INFRA, ubi dicetur quod tempore Herculis non aqua, sed cinis exivit
de terraemotu, qui fuit iuxta Corinthum. Adhuc autem, terraemotus deberet
semper esse cum ruinis terrae, quod iterum non semper invenitur; quia nos
videmus quod hoc quod aqua cavat, ruit in praeceps et tremit tandem stans
20 in eodem loco. Contra Metrodorum autem Chium est quod terra non est
elementum, cuius proprium sit natare super aquas; sed potius terra descendit
in aquas, et ideo nihil est, quod dicit terram subiectam esse aquis et secun-

Unauthenticated
Albertus Magnus 501
5 Metrodorus who was from the city called Chios. For he is the one who
said that the earth after being moistened sometimes becomes very dry and
in consequence splits apart; and afterwards, when rain comes and the rain
water flows into its [the earth’s] cavities and is concealed in it, and so much
amasses in some place that the earth floats on that water; and afterwards
when the water sinks beneath the earth towards another cavity, then the
10 earth which had floated above the water descends or sinks sideways, and
the shaking that results is an earthquake. Thei view of “Thales of Miletus”
points to the same thing. He said that “the whole earth” is “supported” on
moisture and that the whole “Ocean” is under the earth and that the earth is
higher up than “water” is, and therefore the earth “is carried” by water like
some “large ship”(cf. Th 101), which, when struck by water that is driven
15 by wind or by something that strikes against something, causes flooding or
sinks in one direction; then an earthquake occurs.
Th 555
Meteorology 3.2.5 (On the refutation of all views of those who positii that
earthquakes are due to water.)
Aristotle touches too all too briefly on the refutation of these people and
for this reason we should supplement what he said as we did in recounting
5 their views. The aforementioned philosopher poses two general arguments
which hold against all those views. One of them is that if earthquakes were
due to water, earthquakes would occur everywhere on earth, because either
all the earth floats on water as Thales says, or it is inundated with water as
others say. But this is false, because earthquakes are not found [to occur]
everywhere on earth. The second argument against all the philosophers re-
10 ferred to is thatiii if earthquakes are due to an influx of water underneath
the earth, then no dry place can become moist without the earth quaking
there; but once more it is obvious that this is false, because dry places be-
come moist and moist places become dry without earthquakes occurring.
Moreoveriv there is [an argument] specifically against Democritus, that if
he is saying the truth, then places where there are springs should tremble
i W.’s translation begins here.

ii W: der Ansichten all derer, die behaupten
iii W: Die zweite Überlegung richtet sich gegen alle angeführten Philosophen, weil
iv W.’s translation skips from here to the discussion of Thales.

Unauthenticated
502 Albertus Magnus
dum aquae cursum declinare. Adhuc autem, in loco fisso maxime secundum
Metrodorum deberet fieri terraemotus, quia ibi plurimas aquas recipit in-
25 fluentes terrae. Sed contrarium huius invenitur per experimentum, quia lo-
cus multarum fissurarum minime tremit. Contra positionem vero THALIS
est quod naturalis ordo elementorum est quod aqua sit super terram. Ergo
aqua non est integraliter nec quantum ad radicem primam in terra. Adhuc,
subtilioris elementi maior est locus. Sed aqua subtilius est elementum quam
30 terra. Ergo maior est locus aquae quam terrae. Ergo aqua non est in terra,
sicut dicit Thales Milesius. Adhuc autem, cum omnis terra sit subiecta aquis
secundum Thalem, omnis terra deberet habere motum, qui est terraemo-
tus. Adhuc autem, si motus terrae est sicut motus navigii, non deberet esse
terraemotus nisi ad latus unum vel utrumque. Et hoc non videmus, quia
35 INFRA ostendemus quod motus terraemotus plurimae materiae est sur-
sum et deorsum. Adhuc autem, secundum Thalem aqua exiens a terraemotu
non deberet nisi superfundi lateri uni motae terrae; et aliud deberet elevari
ab ipsa, sicut in navi unum latus deprimitur sub aqua et aliud elevatur ab
ipsa.
Th 556
De causis et processu universitatis a prima causa 1.1.2 (ed. Fauser)
(Cap. 2. De dictae positionis improbatione) Epicurus autem ‘supercurans’
vel ‘super cutem’ interpretatur. Sortitus autem est hoc nomen eo quod primi
philosophantes Epicurei fuerunt ‘supercurantes’ dicti a communi plebe,
quae non nisi conferentia cogitat, eo quod de supervacuis, ut eis videbatur,
5 rebus scrutarentur et de superfluis quaererent. Superflua enim reputabant,
quaecumque ad vitae domesticae utilitatem non referebantur. Propter quod
in VI ETHICORUM dicit ARISTOTELES [EN6.7. 1141b3–8] de Anax-
agora et Thalete, quorum uterque Epicureus fuit, quod ‚omnes mirabantur

Unauthenticated
Albertus Magnus 503
15 most frequently, and this is not found. Additionally there should never be
earthquakes without water. And this will be shown not to be true below,
where it will be said that in the time of Hercules ash, not water, was expelled
by an earthquake that occurred near Corinth. And also earthquakes should
always be accompanied by landslides, which again is not always found; we
see that things that water hollows out collapse suddenly and tremble but
20 remain in the same place. Against Metrodorus of Chios is [the argument]
that earth is not an element which has as a property that it floats on water;
instead earth descends in water and this is why there is nothing that says that
earth is supported by water and that it sinks because of the flow of water.
Also, moreover, according to Metrodorus earthquakes should particularly
occur in places with fissures because there [the earth] receives large amounts
25 of water flowing into the earth. But the opposite of this is found in expe-
rience because a place with many fissures trembles very little. Against the
view of Thales is [the argument] that the natural order of elements is that
water is above earth. Therefore water is not entirely or originally rooted in
earthi. Also the place of the rarer element is larger. But the element water
30 is rarer than earth. Therefore the place of water is larger than that of earth.
Therefore water is not in the earth as Thales of Miletus says. And in addition
if all the earth is supported by water, as Thales holds, all the earth ought to
have the motion which is earthquake. And in addition, if the motion of the
earth is like the motion of a ship, earthquakes should be to one side or the
35 other. But we do not see this, because we will show below that the motion
of an earthquake [is the motion] of very much matter up and down. And
in addition, according to Thales the water that comes out in an earthquake
should inundate only one side of the earth that is movedii, and the other side
should be raised up by it as in a boat one side sinks beneath the water and
the other side is raised up by it.
Th 556iii
On Causes and the Procession of the Universe from the First Cause 1.1.2,
ch. 2, On the refutation of the stated view.
[The name] Epicurus is interpreted as “Overcaring” [“supercurans”] or
“Above the skin” [“super cutem”]. He was allotted this name because the
i W: nicht grundsätzlich und nicht einer ersten Wurzel nach

ii W: über die Erde
iii W. does not translate this testimonium.

Unauthenticated
‫‪504‬‬ ‫‪Albertus Magnus – Barhebraeus‬‬
‫‪eos tamquam res admirabiles scientes et de conferentibus nullam habentes‬‬

‫‪10‬‬ ‫‪prudentiam‘.‬‬
‫)‪Sim. (wisdom without practical reason) Th 27 (q.v.‬‬
‫‪Barhebraeus‬‬
‫‪Th 557‬‬
‫‪Weltgeschichte 51.1–8 (ed. Ṣālḥānī); cf. DK I 75.22–5.‬‬
‫واﻋﲅ أﻧّ ُﻪ ﻗﺪ ﯾﻮﺟﺪ ﻓامي ﯾﻔﺘﺶ ﻋﻨﻪ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻜﺘﺐ اﺧﺘﻼف ﻛﺜﲑ ﰲ ﺗﻮارﱗ ﺳـﲏ اﻟﻔﻼﺳﻔﺔ‬
‫اﳌﻠﻄﻲ ﻫﻮ أ َّول ﻣﻦ ﺗﻔﻠﺴﻒ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻴﻮانﻧ ّﻴﲔ وأنّ اﻟﺸﻌﺮ ﻇﻬﺮ‬
‫ﻓﺬﻛﺮ ﰲ ﺑﻌﻀﻬﺎ ان اثﻟﻴﺲ ّ‬
‫ﰲ أﻣّﺔ ﯾﻮانن ﻗﺒﻞ اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ ﲟﺎﺋﺘﲔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺴـﻨﲔ وأﺑﺪﻋ ُﻪ أوﻣﲑوس وذﻛﺮ ﻛﲑﯾﻠﻮس ﰲ‬
‫ﻛﺘﺎﺑﻪ اذلي ر َّد ﻓﻴﻪ ﻋﲆ ﯾﻮﻟﻴﺎﻧﻮس ﻓامي انﻗﺾ ﺑﻪ اﻹﳒﻴﻞ أنّ ﻛﻮن اثﻟﻴﺲ ﻗﺒﻞ اﺑﺘﺪاء‬
‫‪5‬‬ ‫ﻣكل ﲞﺘﻨﴫ ﺑامثن وﻋﴩﻳﻦ ﺳـﻨﺔ وﻗﺎل ﻓﺮﻓﻮرﯾﻮس إنّ اثﻟﻴﺲ ﻇﻬﺮ ﺑﻌﺪ ﲞﺘﻨﴫ ﲟﺎﺋﺔ‬
‫ﺳـﻨﺔ وﺛﻠﺚ وﻋﴩﻳﻦ ﺳـﻨﺔ وﻗﺎل آﺧﺮ إنّ أ ّول ﻣﻦ ﺗﻔﻠﺴﻒ ﻓﻴﺜﺎﻏﻮرس‬
‫)‪Sim. (the first sage/philosopher) Th 29 (q.v.); (dates) Th 171 (q.v.‬‬

Albertus Magnus – Barhebraeus 505
first Epicurean philosophers were called “overcaring” by the common

people, who think about nothing that is not advantageous, because as they
thought, they [the Epicureans] were examining empty things and investi-
5 gating unnecessary things. For they considered unnecessary anything that
is not related to the usefulness of domestic life. This is why Aristotle says
in the sixth book of the Ethics [EN 6.7. 1141b3–8 (Th 27)] about Anaxagoras
and Thales, each of whom was an Epicurean, that “all wondered at them
10 as if they knew wonderful things but had no sense about what is advanta-
geous.”
Barhebraeus (1225/6–1286 CE)

Th 557
Thales’ dates.
This monophysite Syrian bishop, who is heavily dependent in his numerous
non-theological writings on Arabic literature, has the following passage in
his History of the World:
History of the World 51.1–8

Know that when one investigates the books about the chronology of the
philosophers there is a major discrepancy. In some it is mentioned that
Thales of Miletus was the first of the Greeks to practice philosophy and
that poetry arose among the Greeks about two hundred years before phi-
losophy, and that it was invented by Homer. In the book in which he re-
futes Julian’s criticism of the Gospels, Cyril claims that Thales was alive
5 about 28 years before the beginning of Buhtnasar’s1 reign and Porphyry2
says (Th 248) that Thales was alive 123 years after Buhtnasar. Someone else
says that Pythagoras was the first to practice philosophy.
1 Cf. Smith 1993, 229 (= no. 204F).

2 Ibid.

Unauthenticated
506 Georgius Pachymeres – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa
Georgius Pachymeres
Th 557a (= Ar 274)
In Aristotelis Metaphysicam commentarium 15.20–17.3 (ed. Pappa)
(= As 239)
[Metaph. 1.3, 983b20–23] (κεφάλαιον γʹ. περὶ τῆς ὑλικῆς αἰτίας καὶ τῶν
περὶ αὐτῆς δοξῶν τῶν παλαιῶν.) Θαλῆς μὲν ὁ Μιλήσιος ὕδωρ φησὶν εἶναι
τὴν ὑλικὴν αἰτίαν, διὸ καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐφ’ ὕδατος ἀπεφαίνετο εἶναι, λαβὼν
ἴσως τὴν ὑπόληψιν ταύτην ἐκ τοῦ πάντων ὁρᾶν τὴν τροφὴν ὑγρὰν
5 οὖσαν1 (κἂν γὰρ ξηρὰν προσφερώμεθα, ἀλλ’ ὑγραινομένη τρέφει), καὶ
αὐτὸ τὸ θερμὸν βλέπειν ἐκ τούτου γινόμενον, ὅτι εἰ μὴ ἔστι τις ὑγρότης
ἐν τῇ ὑποκειμένῃ τῷ πυρὶ ὕλῃ, οὐκ ἂν ἐπιλάβηται ταύτης τὸ πῦρ ὡς τῆς
φλογὸς ἐξ ὑγρότητος γινομένης. ᾠήθη δὲ οὕτω καὶ τοὺς παλαιοὺς λέγειν,
ὡς Ὅμηρος· Ὠκεανόν τε θεῶν γένεσιν καὶ μητέρα Τηθύν, καί· ὅρκος παρ’
10 ἐκείνῳ θεῶν ἡ Στὺξ ἐστίν. Ἀναξιμένης δὲ ἀέρα καὶ Διογένης πρὸ τούτου,
Ἵππασος δὲ ὁ Μεταποντῖνος πῦρ καὶ σὺν τούτῳ Ἡράκλειτος ὁ Ἐφέσιος
[...]. [...] ἐπεὶ καὶ οἱ τὰς ἀτόμους φάσκοντες καὶ τὰ ἄπειρα σχήματα
Ἀβδηρίται, Δημόκριτός τε καὶ Λεύκιππος, καὶ ὁ τὸ μεταξὺ ἢ ἀέρος καὶ
πυρός, ἢ ἀέρος καὶ ὕδατος, ἀέρος μὲν πυκνότερον, ὕδατος δὲ μανώτερον
15 Ἀναξίμανδρος, ὑλικὴν αἰτίαν ἐτίθουν ταῦτα.
Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa

Th 557b (=As 234)
ʿUyūn al-anbāʾ fī ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbāʾ 36.11–14 (ed. Müller)
‫وﰷن ﰲ ذكل اﻟﺰﻣﺎن اﯾﻀﺎ وﻣﺎ ﻗﺒهل ﺟﲈﻋﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻋﻈﲈء اﻟﻔﻼﺳﻔﺔ واﰷﺑﺮﱒ ﻋﲆ ﻣﺎ ذﻛﺮﻩ‬
‫اﲮﺎق ﺑﻦ ﺣﻨﲔ ﻣﺜﻞ ﻓﻮاثﻏﻮرس وذﯾﻮﻓﻴﻠﺲ واثون اﻧﺒﺎدﻗﻠﺲ واﻗﻠﻴﺪس وﺳﺎورى‬
. ‫وﻃاميانوس واﻧﻜﺴـاميﻧﺲ ودﳝﻘﺮاﻃﻴﺲ واثﻟﻴﺲ‬
Sim. (dates) Th 171 (q.v.)
1 Cf. Th 29.

Unauthenticated
Georgius Pachymeres – Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa 507
Georgius Pachymeres (1242–after 1307 CE)

Th 557a (= Ar 274, As 239)
Commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics 15.20–17.3
[Metaph. 1.3, 983b20–23] (Chapter 3. On the material cause and the views
of the ancients on it.) Thales of Miletus declared water to be the material
cause; this is why he declared that the earth rests on water. He may have got
5 this idea from seeing that the nourishment of all things is moist. (For even
if we eat something dry, it nourishes us when it is moistened), and from
seeing that the hot itself comes to be from this because unless there is some
moisture in the matter that is the substrate for fire, it will not catch fire since
the flame arises from moisture. He thought that the ancients too spoke in
this way, as Homer said “Ocean the origin of the gods and Tethys their
10 mother” and he states that Styx is the oath of the gods. But Anaximenes
and before him Diogenes [declared it to be air], Hippasus of Metapontum
fire, and along with him Heraclitus of Ephesus [...]. [...] Since also the men
from Abdera, Democritus and Leucippus, who speak of the atoms and the
infinite shapes, and Anaximander who speaks of the intermediate, either
15 between air and fire or between air and water, denser than air and rarer than
water, posited these as the material cause.
Ibn Abi Usaybi’a (d. 1270 CE)

Th 557b (=As 234)
Thales the famous philosopher
The physician Ibn Abi Usaybi‘a is remembered above all us for his compre-
hensive biographical work Sources of Information on the Classes of Physi-
cians (Uyun al-anba’fi tabaqat al-atibba’), which treats of 380 physicians
from antiquity until his own time.1 Among his numerous sources belongs the
Chronicle of Physicians (Ta’rih al-atibba) of Ishaq ibn Hunayn the trans-
lator (d. 910 CE), dated to 902/903 CE. It in turn is based on a chronicle
(Ta’rih) of John the Grammarian, of whom nothing at all is known from the
Greek tradition. The present passage is concerned with the period between
1 Cf. Ullmann 1970, 231–2.

Unauthenticated
508 Theodorus Metochites – Sophonias
Theodorus Metochites
Th 557c
Semeioseis Gnomikai 14.2.2 (ed. Hult)1
καὶ Θάλητά φασι καὶ Πυθαγόραν πάνυ τοι πλεῖστον ἢ πάντες ῾Έλληνες
καὶ Πλάτωνα μάλ᾿ αὖθις ἐπ᾿ Αἰγύπτου περὶ τὸ μαθηματικὸν γενομένους
αὐτοὺς κομιδῇ πονῆσαι [...].
Sim. (Egyptian influence) Th 92 (q.v.)
Sophonias
Th 558
In Aristotelis libros de anima paraphrasis 23.1.14.19–21 (ed. Hayduck)
[de an. 1.2.404b27] Ἔοικε δὲ καὶ Θαλῆς, ἐξ ὧν ἀπομνημονεύουσιν, ἐκ τῶν
ἀρχῶν τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ κινητικὸν ὑπολαβεῖν, εἴπερ τὸν Μάγνητα λίθον
ἔμψυχον εἶπεν, ὅτι κινεῖ τὸν σίδηρον‧ λίθου δὲ καὶ πάντων ἀρχὴ κατ᾽
αὐτὸν τὸ ὕδωρ.
Sim. (nature of the soul/magnet) Th 31 (q.v.); (water as the first principle)
Th 29 (q.v.)
1 Hult, K. Theodore Metochites on Ancient Authors and Philosophy. Semeioseis gno-

mikai 1–26 & 71 (= Studia Graeca et Latina Gothoburgensia 65), Göteborg 2002.

Unauthenticated
Theodorus Metochites – Sophonias 509
Plato and Asclepius II, the alleged teacher of Hippocrates. Famous physicians
are first listed before saying:1
Sources of Information on the Classes of Physicians 36.11–14

As Ishaq ibn Hunayn recounts, at this time and even earlier there was a
group of great and leading philosophers as, for example, Pythagoras, Dio-
cles, Theon, Empedocles, Euclid, Sawuri (?), Timaeus, Anaximenes, Dem-
ocritus, Thales.
Theodorus Metochites (1270–1332 CE)

Th 557c
Thales the geometer
Didactic comments 14.2.2
They say that Thales and, more than the rest of the Greeks, Pythagoras,
later Plato went to Egypt to learn mathematics and they very worked hard
at it.
Sophonias (turn of the 14th cent. CE)

Th 558
Paraphrase of Aristotle’s De Anima 14.19–21
From what they record, it seems that Thales too supposed that of the prin-
ciples the soul also causes motioni, sinceii in fact he stated that the magnet is
animate because it moves iron; but according to him, water is the principle
of the magnet and of all things.
1 The present passage is not found in the version of this Chronicle of physicians which
Rosenthal 1954 edited on the basis of a manuscript in Istanbul, since the text it
contains is incomplete.
i W: bewegungsfähig
ii W: falls

Unauthenticated
510 Sophonias – Thomas Triclinius
Th 559
In de an. 36.9–11
[de an. 1.5.411a7] Ἐσχάτη δὲ δόξα καὶ τελευταία περὶ ψυχῆς ἥδε‧ ἐν γὰρ
τῷ ὅλῳ τινὲς αὐτὴν μεμῖχθαί φασι, καὶ ἅπαν σῶμα ἔμψυχον εἶναι ὑπέλα-
βον, ὅθεν καὶ Θαλῆς ᾠήθη πάντα πλήρη θεῶν.
Sim. (the cosmos/the universe/everything has a soul) Th 32 (q.v.); (all things
full of gods/daimons) Th 72 (q.v.)
Anonymous
Th 560
De Lesbo – De Nilo Fr 1 (FGrHist III C 647 F 1.1 = Cod. Laur. 56.1 [13./14.
Jh.] fol. 12)
Θαλῆς ὁ Μιλήσιος, εἷς τῶν ζ σοφῶν, φησὶ διὰ τοὺς ἐτησίας γίνεσθαι τὴν
ἀναπλήρωσιν‧ πνεῖν γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἐναντίους τῶι ποταμῶι, καὶ τὰ στόματα
κεῖσθαι κατὰ τὴν πνοὴν αὐτῶν‧ τὸν μὲν οὖν ἄνεμον ἐξ ἐναντίας πνέοντα
κωλύειν τὴν ἔκβασιν τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἐκπίπτειν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, τὸ δὲ κῦμα
5 προσπῖπτον ἀντίον τοῖς στόμασι καὶ οὔριον ὂν ἀνακόπτειν τὸν ποταμόν,
καὶ 〈τὴν〉 ἀναπλήρωσιν οὕτως φησὶ γίνεσθαι τοῦ ποταμοῦ.
Sim. (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.); (flooding of the Nile)
Th 13 (q.v.)
Thomas Triclinius
Th 561
Scholia in Aristophanis nubes 180 (ed. Koster)
{2Th2Tr1ƒ2} ὁ Θαλὴς [Th2] [Θαλῆς Tr1ƒ2] οὗτος Μιλήσιος ἦν, εἷς τῶν ἑπτὰ
σοφῶν. οὗτος ἄκρος μηχανικὸς ἦν. στρατεύοντος [Th2Tr1] δὲ [Th2] [στρα-
τεύσαντος Tr2 γὰρ Tr1ƒ2] τοῦ Κροίσου πρὸς Κῦρον καὶ μὴ δυναμένης τῆς
στρατιᾶς αὐτοῦ διαβῆναι τὸν Ἅλυν ποταμὸν μέγιστον ὄντα τοιόνδε τι μη-
5 χανᾶται. ἄνω τῆς στρατιᾶς ἰὼν τέμνει τὸν ποταμὸν ἑτέρωσε ῥεῖν‧ οὐ πάντα,
ἀλλὰ τὸ ῥεῖθρον αὐτοῦ σχισθὲν τὸ μὲν ἓν εἰς τὴν ἀρχαίαν πορείαν ἐχώρει, θά-
τερον δὲ ὥσπερ ὑπ᾽ ἀγκάλης εἶχε τὴν στρατιάν‧ καὶ οὕτως ἐπεραιώθησαν.
ἐποίησε δὲ τὴν εἰς δύο τομήν, ἵνα καὶ [Tr1ƒ2] ἐπανιόντες περαιωθήσωνται.

Unauthenticated
Sophonias– Thomas Triclinius 511
Th 559
Paraphrase of Aristotle’s De Anima 36.9–11
The lasti and final view on the soul is the following. Some declare that it is
intermingled in the universeii and suppose that every body is animate.iii This
is why Thales too believed that all things are full of gods (cf. Th 32).
Anonymous (13th/14th cent. CE)

Th 560
Thales the Sage; his explanation of the flooding of the Nile.
De Lesbo-De Nilo fragment 1
Thales of Miletus, one of the Seven Sages, declares that the flooding is due to
the etesian winds. For they blow against the river and its mouths lie facing
their blast. Now the wind, blowing in the opposite direction, prevents the
5 outflow of the river from entering the sea, and the waves striking against
the mouths and driven by a favorable windiv drive the river back, and this is
how, he declares, the flooding of the river occurs.
Thomas Triclinius (turn of the 14th cent. CE)

Th 561
Thales the Sage; the crossing of the Halys.
Scholia on Aristophanes’ Clouds 180
“Thales.” This man was a Milesian, one of the Seven Sages. He was an out-
standing engineer. When Croesus was conducting a campaign against Cyrus
i W: äußerst
ii W: mit dem All
iii W: das All ein beseelter Körper sei
iv W: erfolgreich

Unauthenticated
512 Thomas Triclinius – Nicephorus Gregoras
Sim. (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.); (the crossing of the Halys)
Th 11 (q.v.)
Manuel Philes
Th 562
Carmen 149.206–211 (ed. Miller)
Θαλῆς ὁ δεινὸς φυσικοὺς εὑρεῖν λόγους
Συζῆν γυναιξὶ τοὺς σοφοὺς οὐκ ἠξίου‧
Τὰς γὰρ περιττὰς ἐπτοεῖτο φροντίδας,
Μήπως ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν ὡς ἐπὶ πλοῦ φορτίδων,
5 Ἀθυμίας λαίλαπος ἀντιπνευσάσης,
Τοῦ νοῦ βαρηθὲν κινδυνεύσῃ τὸ σκάφος.
Sim. (views on the family) Th 112 (q.v.)
Nicephorus Gregoras
Th 563
Byzantinae historiae (Historia Romana) 8.383 (ed. Migne PG 148.569C)
Ἦ σοφὸς ἦν ἄρ᾽ ἐκεῖνος, ὃς πρῶτον ἐν γνώμῃ τόδ᾽ ἐβάστασε καὶ γλώσσῃ
διεμυθολόγησεν, εἴτε Θαλῆς ὁ Μιλήσιος ἦν, εἴτε Πλάτων ὁ Ἀρίστωνος,
εἴτε καὶ ἄμφω, παρὰ θατέρου ἅτερος ἐκδεξάμενος, τό γ᾽ ἑαυτὸν μακαρίζειν
ἐκθύμως, ὅτι μὴ βάρβαρος, ἀλλ᾽ Ἕλλην γεγένηται.
Sim. (wise sayings) Th 89 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Thomas Triclinius – Nicephorus Gregoras 513
and his army could not cross the river Halys since it was very wide, he
5 [Thales] contrived the following means. He wenti upstream from the army
and cut off the river so as to flow on the other side [of the army] – not all
of it, but the stream was divided there and one part kept going in its old
channel while the other held the army as if in a bent arm. And that is how
they crossed. He divided it into two parts so that they could cross again on
their way back.
Manuel Philes (ca. 1275–1345 CE)

Th 562
Thales’ views on marriage and family.
Poem 149.206–211
Thales who was clever at discovering accounts of nature
thought it was not right for sages to live with women.
For he was fearful about having excessive cares,
that because of these, as on a voyage of a freight boat
5 when a violent storm of despondency blows against it,
the vessel of his mind might be weighed down and in danger.
Nicephorus Gregoras (ca. 1294–ca. 1359 CE)

Th 563
Byzantine History (Historia Romana) 8.383 (ed. Migne PG 148.569C)
Indeed that man was wise “who first conceived this in his judgment and
expressed it clearly with his tongue”1 – whether it was Thales of Miletus
or Plato, the son of Aristo, or both, the one receiving it from the other – to
count himself blessed from the bottom of his heart that he was born not a
foreigner but a Greek (cf. Th 237 [Diog. Laert. 1.33]).
1 Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 888.
i W. does not translate ἰών

Unauthenticated
514 Nicephorus Gregoras
Th 563a
Florentios sive De sapientia 798–805 (ed. Leone)1
[ΝΙΚ.] «καὶ μήν», φησὶ Νικαγόρας, «Ἀριστοτέλους καὶ Πλάτωνος καὶ Θα-
λοῦ καὶ Πυθαγόρου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων φιλοσόφων αἱ γλῶσσαι μέχρις ἡμῶν
οὐκ ἄλλως ἂν ἐπεδήμουν, εἰ μὴ ὡς διὰ πορθμείου τινὸς δι᾿ αὐτῆς. αὕτη
γᾶρ ὁπλίζει τὴν γλῶτταν καὶ ἄρρενα πρὸς τὸ λέγειν καὶ γράφειν ποιεῖ
5 καὶ ταύτης ἄνευ νοῦς ἀνεκλάλητος ἡ σοφία· διὸ καὶ τῆς ἐκείνων σοφίας καὶ
γλώττης αὕτη τὰς βίβλους ἐμπιπλῶσα διαπερᾶν ποιεῖ τὸν αἰῶνα μετὰ
τῆς μνήμης αὐτῶν. [...]»
Th 563b
Epistula 21.1–13 (ed. Leone)2
Θαλῆν τὸν Μιλήσιον ἔγωγε πάλαι ἀκούων ἑαυτὸν μακαρίζοντα καὶ
χάριτας ὅλας ἀποδιδόντα τῇ τύχῃ ὅτι μηδὲν τῶν θηρίων ἀλλ᾿ ἄνθρω-
πος ἐγεγόνει, ἐς τοσούτον ἀπειπάμην συνθέσθαι τἀνδρὶ ὡς ἐγγὺς ἤδη
καθῆσθαι τοῦ καὶ πολλοῦ γε ἐλλείπειν μὴ μέμφεσθαι. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἅμα τῷ
5 γίνεσθαι ἄνθρωπον ἀνάγκῃ καὶ ἀγαθὸν εἶναι ἑπόμενον ἦν, εὐκτὸν ἂν ἦν
καὶ πρός γε δὴ τοῦ μακαρίζεσθαι οὐκ ἂν ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐνέδει· νῦν δ᾿ ἴσμεν
πολλοὺς μηδὲν μήτ᾿ οἴκοθεν μήτ᾿ ἐκ γειτόνων χρηστὸν κεκτημένους· οἷς
πολλῷ δήπου βέλτιον ἂν ἦν δυοῖν θάτερον, ἢ θηρίου φύσιν ἀλλάξασθαι
ἢ πεσόντας ἐν βραχεῖ πολλὴν ἐπιθεῖναι γῆν, τοῦ ζῶντας πολὺν πρὸς τῶν
10 δρώντων καρποῦσθαι τὸν γέλωτα, ὡς εὔδηλον εἶναι τοὐντεῦθεν μὴ ἂν
ἀσφαλῶς ἔχειν δοκεῖν, εἴ τις ἁπλῶς οὑτωσὶ μακάριον ἑαυτὸν ὅτι ἄνθρω-
πος ἥγηται καὶ οὐδὲν ἐπεφύκει θηρίον, ἀλλ᾿ εἰ ἄνθρωπος γενόμενος καὶ δι᾿
ἃ μακαρίζεται ἄνθρωπος, ἔτυχεν ἔστιν ὦν.
1 Leone, P. L. M. Fiorenzo o Intorno alla sapienza (= Byzantina et Neo-Hellenica

Neapolitana 4), Naples 1975.
2 Leone, P. L. M. Nicephori Gregorae Epistulae II, Matino 1982.

Unauthenticated
Nicephorus Gregoras 515
Th 563a
Florentius or On Wisdom 798–805
“Indeed, “ said Nicephorus, “the words of Aristotle, Plato, Thales, Pythag-
oras and the other philosophers would not still be with us without some
conveyance through it [grammar]. For this is what equips the tongue and
5 makes a man strong in speaking and writing, and without this wisdom is
intelligence that cannot be expressed. This is why it has filled books with
their wisdom and words and enables them to pass through the ages together
with the memory of those men.
Th 563b
Thales the Sage; his wise sayings
Letter 21.1–13
Long ago when I heard that Thales of Miletus considered himself fortunate
and attributed all his blessings to luck because he had been born a human
being and not a beast, I so strongly refused to assent with the man that I was
5 close to finding fault with him. For if being born a human being necessarily
implies being good too, it would be something to wish for and truly nothing
else would be required in order to be blessed. But as it is, we know many
people who have obtained nothing useful either from themselves or from
their neighbors. For them it would be far better either to a beast or to die
10 soon and be buried deep than to live a long life and reap the mockery of the
successful. So it is very clear from this that it is not safe to think that some-
one believes himself to be so fortunate just because he is a human being and
because he was not born a beast, but only if after being born a human being
he obtains some of the things that make a human being blessed.

Unauthenticated
516 Gnomologium Vaticanum
Gnomologium Vaticanum
Th 564
Gnomologium Vaticanum 316–321 (ed. Sternbach)
Θαλῆς ὁ σοφὸς ἐρωτηθεὶς εἰ λανθάνει τις ποιῶν τι τὸν θεὸν εἶπεν‧ „οὐδὲ
διανοούμενος“. [317] Ὁ αὐτὸς ἐρωτῶντος αὐτόν τινος εἰ ὀμόσῃ, ὅτι οὐκ
ἐμοίχευσεν, ἐκέλευσε μὴ ὀμόσαι φήσας τὸν ὅρκον μεῖζον αὐτὸν βλάψειν
ἢ τὸ ἔργον. [318] Ὁ αὐτὸς παρακελευομένης αὐτῷ τῆς μητρὸς γῆμαι
5 οὔπω ἔφησεν ὥραν εἶναι, ὕστερον δὲ ἀναγκαζόμενος παρεληλυθέναι ἔφη
τὴν ὥραν. [319] Ὁ αὐτὸς ἀποσκοπῶν ποτε νύκτωρ εἰς τὰ μετέωρα καὶ
διὰ τοῦτο κατενεχθεὶς εἴς τι φρέαρ, πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνου φωνὴν τὸ προσε-
δρεῦον αὐτῷ θεραπαινίδιον ἐλθὸν καὶ διὰ κλιμακίου μόλις ἀνελκύσαν τὸν
δεσπότην εἶπεν‧ „ὦ Θαλῆς, τὰ ἐν οὐρανῷ σκοπῶν τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς οὐχ ἑώρα-
10 κας“. [320] Θαλῆς ἐρωτηθεὶς (a) τί πρεσβύτατον τῶν ὄντων εἶπε‧ „θεός‧
ἀγέννητος γάρ“‧ (b) κάλλιστον‧ „κόσμος‧ ποίημα 〈γὰρ〉 τοῦ θεοῦ“‧ (c) μέ-
γιστον‧ „[ὁ] τόπος‧ ἅπαντα γὰρ χωρεῖ“‧ (d) ταχύτατον‧ „[ὁ] νοῦς‧ διὰ
παντὸς γὰρ τρέχει“‧ (e) ἰσχυρότατον‧ „ἀνάγκη‧ κρατεῖ γὰρ ἁπάντων“‧ (f)
σοφώτατον‧ „χρόνος‧ ἀνευρίσκει γὰρ πάντα“. [321]. Ὁ αὐτὸς ἐρωτηθεὶς
15 (a) τί δύσκολον ἔφη‧ „τὸ ἑαυτὸν γνῶναι“‧ (b) τί εὔκολον‧ „τὸ ἄλλῳ ὑποθέ-
σθαι“‧ (c) τί δὲ ἥδιστον‧ „τὸ ἐπιτυγχάνειν“‧ (d) τί δὲ θεῖον‧ „τὸ μήτε ἀρχὴν
μήτε τελευτὴν ἔχον“‧ (e) τί δὲ δύσκολον εἴη τεθεαμένος, „γέροντα [ἔφη]
τύραννον“‧ (f) πῶς ἄν τις ἀτυχίαν ἄριστα φέροι‧ „εἰ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς χείρονα
πράττοντας βλέποι“‧ (g) πῶς ἂν ἄριστα καὶ δικαιότατα βιώσαιμεν, „ἐὰν ἃ
20 τοῖς ἄλλοις [ἔφη] ἐπιτιμῶμεν αὐτοὶ μὴ δρῶμεν“‧ (h) τίς εὐδαίμων‧ „ὁ τὸ μὲν
σῶμα ὑγιής, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν εὔπορος, τὴν δὲ φύσιν εὐπαίδευτος“.
Sim. (wise sayings) Th 89 (q.v.); (views on the family) Th 112 (q.v.); (Thales’
fall into the well) Th 19 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Gnomologium Vaticanum 517
Gnomologium Vaticanum (14th cent. CE)

Th 564
Thales’ wise sayings; his views on marriage and family; his fall into a
well.
Gnomologium Vaticanum 316–321
When asked whether anyone does anythingi without god knowing, Thales
the Sage replied, “not even if he is just thinking [of doing it]” (cf. Th 96,
Th 207, Th 237 [Diog. Laert. 1.36]). [317]
When someone asked him whether he should swear that he had not com-
mitted adultery, he told him not to swear, declaring that the oath would
harm him more than the deed (cf. Th 237 [Diog. Laert. 1.36]).
5 [318] When his mother encouraged him to marry, he said that it was not
yet the right time, and later when he was being pressed [by her] he said that
the right time had passed (cf. Th 129, Th 237 [Diog. Laert. 1.26], Th 368).
[319] Once he was gazing at the sky at night and as a result fell down a well,
his young servant girl who was attending him came when he called and with
difficulty managed to pull her master up with the help of a ladder. “Thales,”
she said, “because you were looking at things in the sky you did not see the
things on the earth” (cf. Th 19 and similia).
10 [320] Thales said, when asked What is the oldest of existing things? “God,
for he is unbegotten” (cf. Th 90).
What is most beautiful? “The cosmos, for it is the creation of god.”
What is largest? “Place, for it has room for everything” (cf. Th 51).
What is swiftest? “Intelligence, for it quickly moves through everything.”
What is strongest? “Necessity, for it rules all things” (cf. Th 54, Th 341,
Th 395).
What is wisest? “Time, for it finds everything out” (cf. Th 342, cf. also the
lists in Th 121, Th 237 [Diog. Laert. 1.35]).
15 [321] The same man said, when asked What is difficult? “To know oneself”
(cf. Th 362).
What is easy? “To tell someone else what to do.”
What is most pleasant? “Success” (cf. Th 362).
What is divine? “That which has neither beginning nor end” (cf. Th 207,
Th 210).
What had he seen that is hard to findii? “An aged tyrant” (cf. Th 119, Th 128).
i W: Unrecht
ii W: unerquicklich

Unauthenticated
518 Georgius Gemistus Plethon – Minyes
Georgius Gemistus Plethon
Th 564a
ΝΟΜΩΝ ΣΥΓΓΡΑΦΗ 1.2 (ed. Alexandre)
(β΄. περὶ ἡγεμόνων τῶν βελτίστων λόγων.) [...] τούς τε ἑπτὰ ἑκείνους τοὺς
κατὰ Ἀναξανδρίδην τε καὶ Ἀρίστωνα βασιλεύοντας Λακεδαιμονίων μάλι-
στα ἀκμάσαντας· Χίλωνά τε τὸν Σπαρτιάτην, καὶ Σόλωνα τὸν Ἀθηναῖον,
καὶ Βίαντα τὸν Πριηνέα, καὶ Θαλῆν τὸν Μιλήσιον, [...].
Sim. (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.)
Tesimonia of Uncertain Date:

Euanthes of Miletus
Th 565
FHG III 2*, cf. Th 237 (Diog. Laert. 1.29)
Minyes
Th 566
FHG II 335.3, cf. Th 237 (Diog. Laert. 1.27)

Unauthenticated
Georgius Gemistus Plethon – Minyes 519
20 How should a person best endure misfortune? “If he sees his enemies even
worse off.”
What is the best and most just way to live? “If we do not do what we blame
others for doing.”
Who is happy? “He who is healthy in body, wealthy in soul, and well edu-
cated in nature” (cf. also the lists in Th 37 [Diog. Laert. 1.36]).
Georgius Gemistus Plethon (ca. 1355/60–1452 CE)
Th 564a
Thales the Sage
Collection of Laws 1.2
(2. On the best guides for speeches) [...] Those seven men who flourished
during the reigns of Anaxandrides and Ariston at Sparta: Chilon of Sparta,
Solon of Athens, Bias of Priene, Thales of Miletus, [...]
Testimonia of uncertain Date:

Euanthes of Miletus (date uncertain)
Th 565
FGH III 2*, cf. Th 237 (Diog. Laert. 1.29)
According to Diogenes Laertius, Eudoxus and Euanthes say that Thales was
honored by a friend of Croesus as the wisest of the Greeks.
Minyes (date uncertain)

Th 566
FGH II 335.3, cf. Th 237 (Diog. Laert. 1.27)
As Diogenes Laertius relates, Minyes reports that Thales had close connec-
tions with Thrasybulus, the tyrant of Miletus.

Unauthenticated
520 Anonymous Commentary on Aristotle's Categories – Anonymous
Anonymous Testimonia of Uncertain Date:

Anonymous Commentary on Aristotle's Categories
Th 567
Paraphrasis categoriarum 36.16–21 (ed. Hayduck)
[Cat. 7.8a3] Εἰ δὲ ὡς αἰσθητὰ καὶ ἐπιστητά, κατ᾽ ἐνέργειαν μὲν οὔ (πῶς
γάρ, μὴ οὔσης αἰσθήσεως καὶ ἐπιστήμης;) δυνάμει δέ‧ εἰ δὲ τοῦτο, εἴη ἂν
δήπου δυνάμει καὶ ἡ ἐπιστήμη καὶ ἡ αἴσθησις, πρὸς ἃς ταῦτα λέγονται,
συνυπάρχουσαι. εἰ γὰρ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ Θαλοῦ ἦν ἡ σελήνη, ὡς πρᾶγμα ἦν,
5 οὐχ ὡς ἐπιστητόν‧ εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐπιστητὴ δυνάμει κατὰ τὴν ἔκλειψιν, καὶ ἡ τῆς
ἐκλείψεως ἐπιστήμη δυνάμει δήπουθεν ἦν.
Sim. (eclipse/phases of the moon) Th 178 (q.v.); (relation between knowledge

and the knowable) Th 244 (q.v.)
Anonymous
Th 568
Εἰς τοὺς ἑπτὰ σοφούς (Anecdota Graeca ed. Boissonade I 143; cf. Tziat-
zi-Papagianni (1994) 438–9)
[...]
῞Υστατος αὖτε Θαλῆς εἶπεν ἀπηλεγέως‧
Ἐγγύῃ ἀγχίθυρος ναίει κακομήχανος ἄτη.

Unauthenticated
Anonymous Commentary on Aristotle's Categories – Anonymous 521
Anonymous Testimonia of uncertain date

Anonymous Commentary on Aristotle’s Categories
(date uncertain)
Th 567i
Paraphrase of Aristotle’s Categories 36.16–21
But if [perceptibles and knowables are taken] as perceptibles and know-
ables not actually (for how [could they be actually] if there is no perception
or knowledge?) but potentially – if this [is done], of course both knowl-
edge and perception, with reference to which these things [perceptibles and
knowables] are spoken, will coexist potentially. For even if before Thales
5 the moon existed, it existed as a thing but not as a knowable; but if it was
also potentially knowable with respect to its eclipse, of course there was also
potentially knowledge of the eclipse.
Anonymous (date uncertain)

Th 568
Poem on the Seven Sages (Anecdota Graeca I 143)
Last in turn spoke Thales straight out:
“Next door to a pledge dwells mischievous ruin.”

Unauthenticated
522 Anonymous (date uncertain) – Anonymous (date uncertain)

Th 569
Anthologia Latina 942 (ed. Riese)
Quod cernunt oculi, deus est: fons nempe deorum est.
Maiestas caeli vertitur orbe suo.
Terra gerit gremio sese caelique suoque
Et finem ingentis monstrat uterque globi.
5 At quae se pelago tradit natura videndam,
Luminibus dicit: ‘non ego finem habeo.
Omnia me circum, super, omnia fundit aquae lex:
Sic nusquam immensi terminus Oceani est.
Hic oculos igitur rerum in primordia mittis,
10 Exspirant omnes hic numeri atque notae:
Nascitur hinc quicquid moritur retroque recedit;
Huc redit, aeterno quicquid in orbe perit.
Hoc perimit flammas elementum, alit evocat auget,
Omnis abest sapiens aque Thalete procul.’

Th 569a
Fr. 2b Wehrli2 (Anecdota Graeca ed. I. Bekker [1814] I 233, 15)
γνῶθι σαυτὸν· ἀπόφθεγμα· οἱ δὲ Χείλωνός φασιν. Ἕρμιππος δὲ Δελφὸν
εὐνοῦχόν φησιν εἰρηκέναι τὸ γνῶθι σαυτὸν καὶ ἐν τῷ ναῷ έπιγράψαι.
Χαμαιλέων δὲ Θαλοῦ φησιν εἶναι τὴν γνώμην ταύτην.
Sim. Th 200; (wise sayings) Th 89 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Anonymous (date uncertain) – Anonymous (date uncertain) 523

Th 569
Thales the Sage; water as the first principle.
Anthologia Latina 942
What the eyes perceive is god; in fact it is the source of gods.
The majesty of the heavens turns in its orb.
The earth moves in the bosom of itself and of the heaven
And each of them shows a limit of the huge sphere.
5 But Nature who yields herself to be seen in the sea
Says to the shining stars: “I have no limit.
Everything that is around me and above me – everything the law of
water pours forth.
Thus nowhere is there a limit of immense Ocean.
Here, therefore, do you direct your eyes to the ultimate origins of things,
10 Here all numbers and signs breathe their last:
From here is born all that dies and returns again;
To here returns all that perishes in the eternal orb.
This element destroys flames, and nourishes them, calls them forth, and
makes them grow.
Every Sage is far removed from Thales.”

Th 569a
Fr. 2b Wehrli2, (Anecdota Graeca ed. I. Bekker (1814) I 233, 15)
Thales’ wise sayings
“Know thyself.” A saying. Some attribute it to Chilon. Hermippus declares
that the eunuch Delphus stated it and had it inscribed on the temple. Cha-
maeleon declares that this maxim is Thales’.

Unauthenticated
524 Anonymous (date uncertain) – Anonymous (date uncertain)

Th 569b
CPF I 1* (29 Chamaeleon 1T), p.403 (PSI 1093, 31-33 [II.3] (2nd cent. CE)
Χαμαιλ[έων δὲ Θα]λῆν τὸν [Ἑξαμύο]υ

Th 569c
CPF I 1* (1 Lista dei scolarchi), p.81 f. (PDuke inv. G 178) col. I (4th cent.
CE)
φιλοσό]φων ἀρ[χηγέται
[...]
Θάλης Μι]λή[σι]ος, ̓[Αναξί]μανδρ[ος Μιλ]ή[σι]ος, ̓[Αναξιμέ]νης Μι-
λήσ(ιος,) [Ἀναξαγόρα]ς ἐκ Κλαζομενῶν, [Ἀρχέλαο]ς Ἀθηναῖος, [Φερεκύδ]
ης Σύριος, [Παρμεν]ίδης Ἐλεά[τη]ς, [Διογένης ἐξ Ἀπολλω]νίας

Th 569d
CPF I 1*** (102 Thales 1T), p.817 (PMilVogliano I 18, col. VI 10-19)
Diegesis of Callimachus’ poems.
ὁ δὲ ἐλθὼν εἰς Μίλητον ἐδίδου τοῦτο Θάλητι ὡς διαφέρ[ο]ντι τῶν ἄλλων·
ὁ δὲ ἀπέπεμψε πρὸς Βίαντα τὸν Πριηνέα ... [τὸ δὲ ἔκπωμα] ὑπὸ τούτου
[π]εμφθὲν [ἦλθε πάλιν εἰς Θάλητα· ὁ] δὲ ἀνατίθ[ησι] τῷ [Δ]ιδυμ[εῖ Ἀπ]
ό[λλωνι δὶς λαβ]ὼν ἀριστε[ῖο]ν.
Sim. (story of the tripod) Th 52 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Anonymous (date uncertain) – Anonymous (date uncertain) 525

Th 569b
CPF I 1* (29 Chamaeleon 1T), 403 (PSI 1093, 31-33 [II.3] (2nd cent. CE)
Chamaeleon Thales, son of Hexamyas1
...

Th 569c
CPF I 1* (1 Lista di scolarchi) p.81 f. (PDuke inv. G 178P (4th cent. CE)
col. I
Thales a famous philosopher
The leading figures of philosophy ... Thales of Miletus, Anaximander of
Miletus, Anaximenes of Miletus, Anaxagoras of Clazomenae ... Archelaus
of Athens, Pherecydes of Syros, Parmenides of Elea, Diogenes of Apollonia

Th 569d
CPF I 1*** (102 Thales 1T) (PMilVogliano I 18, col. VI 10-19) (2nd cent.
CE)
The story of the tripod
Diegesis of Callimachus’ poems.
When he came to Miletus he gave it to Thales on the grounds that he sur-
passed the others; but he in turn sent it away to Bias of Priene. [...] by him
the cup was sent back to Thales. And he dedicated it to Didymean Apollo
after twice receiving the prize.
1 “Chamaeleon” is nominative, “Thales” is accusative.

Unauthenticated
526 Scholia in Apollonium Rhodium
Scholia, chronologically arranged

by their approximate date:
Scholia in Apollonium Rhodium
Th 570
Scholia in Apollonii Rhodii Argonautica 1.496–8 (ed. Wendel)
Ὁ δὲ Θαλῆς ἀρχὴν ὑπεστήσατο πάντων 〈τὸ〉 ὕδωρ, λαβὼν παρὰ τοῦ ποι-
ητοῦ λέγοντος [H 99]‧ ‘ἀλλ᾽ ὑμεῖς πάντες ὕδωρ καὶ γαῖα γένοισθε’.
Th 571
Schol. in Argon. 4.269–71a
Θαλῆς δὲ ὁ Μιλήσιός φησιν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐτησίων συνελαυνόμενα τὰ νέφη κατὰ
τὰ ὄρη τῆς Αἰθιοπίας αὐτόθι ῥήγνυσθαι‧ ὅταν δὲ τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἐξεναντίας
συστῶσιν αἱ πνοαὶ προσπίπτουσαι τῇ θαλάσσῃ, ἐκ τῆς ἀποπεμπομένης
πλήσμης τὰς ὑπερχύσεις ἀναδέχεσθαι τὸν Νεῖλον.
Sim. (flooding of the Nile) Th 13 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Scholia in Apollonium Rhodium 527
Scholia, chronologically arranged by their

approximate date:
Scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes (9th/11th cent. CE
The scholia were already constituted in the 2nd cent.
BCE but go back to grammatical works of the time
of Augustus)1)
Th 570
Scholia on the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes 1.496–498
Thales postulated water as the principle of all things, taking the idea from the
poet [Homer] who said “but may you all become water and earth” (Il. 7.99).
Th 571
Thales’ explanation of the flooding of the Nile.
Scholia on the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes 4.267–271a
Thales of Miletus declares that clouds driven by the etesian winds against
the mountains of Ethiopia are shattered there.2 But when the winds fall
on the sea and unite to oppose the river, the Nile overflows because of the
floodwaters that are driven back.
1 Cf. Wendel 1932, 105 ff2.

2 Cf. The explanation in Aristotle, Liber de Inundatione Nili, line 135 (Steinmetz 1964,
284 f.).

Unauthenticated
528 Scholia in Homerum – Scholia in Aratum
Scholia in Homerum
Th 572
Scholia in Iliadem 7.455.1–2 (ed. Erbse)
Ἐννοσίγαι᾽ εὐρυσθενές: κατὰ γὰρ Θαλῆν ὕδατι ὀχεῖται ἡ γῆ‧ ὅθεν καὶ χά-
σματα γίνεται.
Scholia in Aratum
Th 573
Scholia in Aratum 26–27 (ed. Martin)
(Ἄρκτοι ἅμα τροχόωσιν) ἀντὶ τοῦ ἅμα τρέχουσι. διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ ἅμαξαι
ὠνομάσθησαν. διτταὶ γάρ εἰσιν, ὧν τὴν μὲν μείζονα Ναύπλιος εὗρε, τὴν δ᾽
ἐλάττονα Θαλῆς ὁ σοφός. λέγει δὲ τὴν ἐλάττονα εἰκόνα εἶναι κυνός, ἥτις
ἦν Καλλιστοῦς, ὅτι συγκυνηγὸς ἦν τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι. ἀποθανούσης δὲ αὐτῆς
5 ἀπέθανε. τὸ δὲ ὄνομα ἔχει διὰ τὸ οὐρὰν κυνὸς ἔχειν.
Sim. (constellations/discoverer of the Great/Little Bear) Th 52 (q.v.)
Th 574
Scholia in Aratum 39
(Τῇ δ᾽ ἄρα Φοίνικες) τῇ Κυνοσούρᾳ τῇ μικρᾷ‧ βραχεῖα γὰρ οὖσα ἐν τῷ
αὐτῷ στρέφεται, καὶ ἔστι μᾶλλον εὐσύνοπτος, οὐ τῇ λαμπηδόνι (ἀμυδρὰ
γάρ), ἀλλὰ τῷ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ στρέφεσθαι. ἡ γὰρ ἑτέρα ἐν τῇ περιφορᾷ μεί-
ζων κυκλουμένη οὐκ ἔστιν εὐσύνοπτος διὰ τὸ πολυφερές. πεπίστευνται
5 δὲ ὡς ἀκριβέστεροι Φοίνικες τὰ ναυτικὰ καὶ ἐμπειρότεροι τῶν Ἑλλήνων
πρὸς τὴν ἐλάσσω βλέποντες. ὁ γὰρ εὑρετὴς αὐτῆς Θαλῆς εἰς Φοίνικας
ἀνάγει τὸ γένος.
Sim. (constellations/discoverer of the Great/Little Bear) Th 52 (q.v.);

(Phoenician ancestry) Th 12 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Scholia in Homerum – Scholia in Aratum 529
Scholia on Homer (2nd cent. CE)

Th 572
Scholia on Iliad 7.455.1–2
“Mighty Earth-shaker.” For according to Thales the earth rides on water,
and this is the source of chasms [earthquakes?].1
Scholia on Aratus (2nd/3rd cent. CE)

Th 573i
Scholia on Aratus’s Phaenomena 26–27
The Bears revolve together which means “run together.” This is why they
were named Wains, for there are two of them, the larger of which Nauplius
discovered and Thales the Sage the smaller. He says that the smaller one
has the image of a dog that belonged to Callisto who hunted together with
5 Artemis, and it died when she did. It has this name because it has the tail of a
dog.
Th 574ii
Scholia on Aratus’s Phaenomena 39
The Phoenicians [steer their ships] by the other one – by the small Cynosure.
For being small, it turns round in the same place and is easier to spot – not
because of its brightness (for it is dim) but because it turns round in the same
place. For the other one is larger in its revolution and is not easy to spot
5 because it moves a great deal. The Phoenicians are trusted as being more
accurate in things nautical and more experienced than the Greeks, and they
look to the smaller one. For Thales, the discoverer of this [constellation], is
descended from Phoenicians.
1 Cf. [Plut.] Plac. Phil. 3.15.896D11.


Unauthenticated
530 Scholia in Aratum – Scholia in Platonem
Th 575
Scholia in Aratum 172 (ed. Martin)
(Καὶ λίην κείνων) οὐκ ἀνώνυμοι, φησίν, αἱ ῾Υάδες αἱ ἐπὶ τοῦ μετώπου τοῦ
Ταύρου.
Θαλῆς μὲν οὖν δύο αὐτὰς εἶπεν εἶναι, τὴν μὲν βόρειον, τὴν δὲ νότιον, Εὐρι-
πίδης δὲ ἐν τῷ Φαέθοντι τρεῖς, Ἀχαιὸς δὲ τέσσαρας‧ Μουσαῖος ε᾽‧ Ἱππίας
5 δὲ καὶ Φερεκύδης ἑπτά.
Sim. (Thales as representative of astronomy) Th 103 (q.v.).
Scholia in Dionysium Periegetam
Th 576
Scholia in Dionysii periegetae orbis descriptionem, vita 428.7–9 (ed. Müller)
Τίνες πρότερον ἐν πίνακι τὴν οἰκουμένην ἔγραψαν; Πρῶτος Ἀναξίμαν-
δρος‧ δεύτερος Μιλήσιος Ἑκαταῖος‧ τρίτος Δημόκριτος Θαλοῦ μαθητής‧
τέταρτος Εὔδοξος.
Scholia in Platonem
Th 577
Scholia in Platonis Timaeum 20d,ter,col.1 (ed. Greene)
Τῶν ἑπτά. σοφοί Θαλῆς Σόλων Χίλων Πιττακός Βίας Τελεόβουλος
(l. Κλεόβουλος) Περίανδρος [Ti.20d,ter,c2,1] πατέρες τούτων Ἑξαμύου
[…] [Ti.20d,ter,c3,1] πατρίδες Μιλήσιος […].
Sim. (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.).

Unauthenticated
Scholia in Aratum – Scholia in Platonem 531
Th 575
Scholia on Aratus’s Phaenomena 172
And very often is [the name ] of those [stars spoken]. Not nameless, he [Ara-
tus] says, are the Hyades, which are found on the forehead of Taurus. Now
Thales says that there are two of them, one towards the north and one
towards the south, whereas in the Phaethon Euripides says that there are
5 three, Achaeus that there are four, and Musaeus five, while Hippias and
Pherecydes say that there are seven.
Scholia on Dionysius Periegetes (turn of the 5th

cent. CE)
Th 576
Thales’ relation to Democritus.
Scholia on the Description of the World by Dionysius Periegetes, Life of
Dionysius 428.7–9
Who had previously drawn the inhabited world on a tablet? Anaximander
was first. Hecataeus of Miletus was second. Third was Democritus, the stu-
dent of Thales (cf. Th 544). Eudoxus was fourth.
Scholia on Plato (after Proclus, 5th cent. CE)

Th 577i
Thales the Sage.
Scholia on Plato, Timaeus 20d, ter, col.1 (ed. Greene, p. 280)
“Of the seven.” The Sages: Thales, Solon, Chilon, Pittacus, Bias, Teleobulus,
Periander [Ti.20d,ter,c2,1]. Their fathers were Examyas ... [Ti.20d,ter,c3,1]
Their native lands were Miletus ...

Unauthenticated
532 Scholion in Aristotelem – Scholia in Platonem
Scholion in Aristotelem
Th 577a
Scholion in de Caelo 4.2.309b 29–31
῾Ωσαύτως δὲ συμβαίνει κἄν τις ἄλλως διορίζῃ, μεγέθει καὶ σμκρότητι
ποιῶν βαρύτερα καὶ κουφότερα θάτερα τῶν ἑτέρων κτλ.
Θαλοῦ, φ‹ησί›, εἶναι ταύτην τὴν δόξαν. ἐλέγχει δὲ αὐτὴν ὅτι τῆς αὐτῆς
ὕλης λέγει ἄμφω τό τε πυκνὸν καὶ τὸ μανόν. οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἡ αὐτὴ ὕλη τῶν
5 βαρέων καὶ τῶν κούφων, ἐπεὶ ἔδει πολὺ πῦρ γῆς ὀλίγης εἶναι βαρύτερον
ὡς ὁμόϋλα μέν, πλέον δὲ τὸ πῦρ.
Δοκεῖ πιθανὴ εἶναι ἡ Θαλοῦ δόξα, ἐπειδὴ ἐν έκάστῳ τῶν δ' στοιχείων
ἔστιν ἀποτεκεῖν ἄλλο. εἰ γὰρ πυκνωθείη τὸ πῦρ γίγνεται ἀήρ, τοῦτο δὲ
ὕδωρ, τοῦτο δὲ γῆ, ἀνάπαλιν δὲ ἐὰν μανωθῇ ἡ γῆ, γίνεται ὕδωρ εἶτα
10 ἀὴρ εἶτα πῦρ· πλὴν οὕτως κατὰ ταύτην τὴν ὑπόθεσιν οὐκ ἔσται ἁπλῶς
κοῦφον καὶ βαρὺ ἁπλῶς. εἰ γὰρ τῆς αὐτῆς ὕλης εἰσί, πρός τι εἰσὶ κοῦφα
και βαρέα. διὸ συνᾴδει αὕτη τῇ τοῦ Πλάτωνος τῷ μεγέθει διακρινούσῃ
καὶ ἔσται πολλὰ λεπτὰ ὀλίγου πυκνοῦ βαρύτερα, ὡς εἶναι πολὺ πῦρ γῆς
ὀλίγης βαρύτερον καὶ οὐδὲν κατὰ φύσιν βαρύ.
Scholia in Platonem
Th 578
Scholia in Platonem, Res publica 600A1–10 (ed. Greene)
Θάλεω. Θάλης Ἐξαμύου Μιλήσιος, Φοῖνιξ δὲ καθ᾽ Ἡρόδοτον (s. Th 12).
οὗτος πρῶτος ὠνομάσθη σοφός‧ εὗρεν γὰρ τὸν ἥλιον ἐκλείπειν ἐξ ὑπο-
δρομῆς σελήνης, καὶ μικρὰν ἄρκτον αὐτὸς ἔγνω καὶ τὰς τροπὰς πρῶτος
Ἑλλήνων, καὶ περὶ μεγέθους ἡλίου καὶ φύσεως, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄψυχα ψυχὴν
5 ἔχειν ὁπωσοῦν ἐκ τῆς μαγνήτιδος καὶ τοῦ ἠλέκτρου. ἀρχὴν δὲ τῶν στοι-
χείων τὸ ὕδωρ‧ τὸν δὲ κόσμον ἔμψυχον ἔφη καὶ δαιμόνων πλήρη. ἐπαι-
δεύθη ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ὑπὸ τῶν ἱερέων. τούτου τὸ γνῶθι σαυτόν. ἐτελεύτησεν
δὲ μονήρης, γηραιός, γυμνικὸν ἀγῶνα θεώμενος, ὑπὸ καύματος ἐκλυθείς.
Sim. (Phoenician ancestry) Th 12 (q.v.); (the first sage/philosopher)

Th 29 (q.v.); (solar eclipse) Th 10 (q.v.); (discoverer of the Great/Little
Bear) Th 52 (q.v.); (sun’s orbit/solstices) Th 93 (q.v.); (size/diameter
of the sun) Th 178 (q.v.); (nature of the soul/magnet) Th 31 (q.v.); (wa-

Unauthenticated
Scholion in Aristotelem – Scholia in Platonem 533
Scholion in Aristotelem (6th cent. CE)

Th 577a
Scholion in Aristotelis de Caelo 4.2.309b29–31
“The same result follows if someone distinguishes these things differently,
making things heavier or lighter than others...” He declares that this is the
view of Thales, and he refutes it because it claims that both the dense and the
5 rare have the same matter. For the matter of heavy things and light things
is not the same, since in that case a lot of fire would be heavier than a little
earth, since they have the same matter and the fire has more.
Thales’ view seems to be plausible, since each element can give rise to an-
other. For if fire is condensed it becomes air, and this [if condensed] be-
comes water, and this becomes earth; and contrariwise if earth is rarefied
10 it becomes water, then air, then fire. But on this hypothesis nothing will
be unqualifiedly light or heavy. For if they have the same matter light and
heavy are relatives. This is why this concords with Plato’s view which dis-
tinguishes on the basis of magnitude, and many light things will be heavier
than a little of something that is dense, and so a lot of fire is heavier than a
little earth and nothing is naturally heavy.
Scholia on Plato (after the 6th cent. CE, possibly by

Hesychius1)
Th 578
Thales’ Phoenician ancestry; Thales as Sage and astronomer; his view
on the nature of the soul; water as the first principle; his association
with Egypt; his wise sayings.
Scholia on Plato’s Republic 600A1–10
“Thales.” Thales of Miletus, the son of Examyas, was a Phoenician accord-
ing to Herodotus (cf. Th 12). He was the first to be called a sage. For he
discovered that the sun is eclipsed because the moon is beneath it in its
coursei, and he was the first of the Greeks to recognize the Little Bear and
the solstices and to study the size of the sun and its nature, and to claim
5 that even inanimate things somehow possess soul, judging from magnets
1 Cf. Greene 1938, 272.
i W: weil der Mond in den Weg kommt

Unauthenticated
534 Scholia in Platonem – Scholia in Basilium
ter as the first principle) Th 29 (q.v.); (the cosmos/the universe/eve-

rything has a soul) Th 32 (q.v.); (Egyptian influence) Th 92 (q.v.);
(wise sayings) Th 89 (q.v.); (circumstances of his death) Th 237 (1.39)
(q.v.)
Scholia in Basilium
Th 579
Scholion in Basil. Hom. in Hexaem. 1.2 (zu PG 29.8A11) (ed. Pasquali)
Τοῖς τοῦ κόσμου στοιχείοις] οἱ περὶ Θαλῆν Ἡράκλειτον Διογένην τὸν
Ἀπολλωνιάτην καὶ ὅσοι τὰ στοιχεῖα τῶν ὄντων ἀρχὰς ἀπέλιπον· Θαλῆς
μὲν γὰρ ὕδωρ...
Th 580
Scholion in Basil. Hom. in Hexaem. 1.2 (zu PG 29.8A13/14)
Συνέχειν τὴν φύσιν τῶν ὁρατῶν] ὅτι δὲ ἐκ πλειόνων τὸν κόσμον καὶ τὴν
ὕλην συνεστάναι λέγουσιν οἱ πάντες Ἑλλήνων σοφοί, φανερόν ἐστιν‧
αὐτίκα γοῦν ὁ μὲν Πυθαγόρας τῶν ἀρχῶν τὰ στοιχεῖα ἀριθμοὺς καλεῖ,
Στράτων ποιότητας, Ἀλκμαίων ἀντιθέσεις, Ἀναξίμανδρος ἄπειρον, Ἀνα-
5 ξαγόρας ὁμοιομερείας, Ἐπίκουρος ἀτόμους, Διόδωρος ἀμερῆ, Ἀσκληπιά-
δης ὄγκους, γεωμέτραι πέρας, Δημόκριτος ἰδέας, Θαλῆς ὕδωρ, Ἡράκλειτος
πῦρ, Διογένης ἀέρα, Παρμενίδης γῆν, Ζήνων Ἐμπεδοκλῆς Πλάτων πῦρ
ὕδωρ γῆν ἀέρα, Ἀριστοτέλης καὶ πέμπτον ἀκατονόμαστον.

Unauthenticated
Scholia in Platonem – Scholia in Basilium 535
and amber. He held that water is the principle of the elements, that the cos-
mos possesses soul and is full of daimons. He was educated in Egypt by the
priests. “Know thyself” is his. He died a lonely old man while watching an
athletic contest, done in by the heat.
Scholia on Basil (beginning of the 7th to end of the

9th Centuries CE1)
Th 579i
Scholia on Basil’s Homilies on the Hexaemeron 1.2 “[Some took refuge in
material hypotheses, attributing the cause of the universe] to the elements of
the cosmos.”] (PG 29.8A11)
Thales, Heraclitus, Diogenes of Apollonia and their associates, and others
who bequeathed the elements as principles of things-that-are: for Thales
[bequeathed] water [...].
Th 580ii
Scholia on Basil’s Homilies on the Hexaemeron 1.2 “Comprise the nature of
things visible.’(PG 29.8A13/14)
It is clear that all the Greek sages say that the cosmos and matter consist of
more than one thing. Pythagoras calls the elements of principles numbers;
Strato, qualities; Alcmeon, oppositions; Anaximander, the infinite; Anax-
5 agoras, homoeomeries; Epicurus, atoms; Diodorus, things without parts;
Asclepiades, masses; geometers, limit; Democritus, ideas; Thales, water;
Heraclitus, fire; Diogenes, air; Parmenides, earth; Zeno, Empedocles and
Plato, fire, water, earth and air, and Aristotle added a fifth, unnamed ele-
ment. (cf. Th 310).
1 For the dating see Pasquali 1910, 216.


Unauthenticated
536 Scholia in Lucianum – Scholia in Hesiodum
Scholia in Lucianum
Th 581
Scholia in Lucianum 1.7 (ed. Rabe)
Τυράννους σοφούς περὶ Περιάνδρου τοῦ Κυψέλου λέγει, ὃς τῶν ἑπτὰ μὲν
παρ᾽ Ἕλλησι σοφῶν εἷς, Κορίνθου δὲ τῆς πρὸς τῷ Ἰσθμῷ Πελοποννήσου
τύραννος ἦν. τούτου καὶ ἀπόφθεγμα ἐν Δελφοῖς ἀνέκειτο τοῦτο ‘θυμοῦ
κράτει’. ἦσαν δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων σοφῶν ἀποφθέγματα, ἃ καὶ αὐτὰ Πυθοῖ
5 ἀνέκειτο, ταῦτα‧ Κλεοβούλου Λινδίου ‘μέτρον ἄριστον’, Χείλωνος Λακε-
δαιμονίου ‘γνῶθι σαυτόν’, Πιττακοῦ δὲ τοῦ Μιτυληναίου ‘μηδὲν ἄγαν’,
Σόλωνος Ἀθηναίου ‘τέλος ὅρα μακροῦ βίου’, Βίαντος δὲ Πριηνέως ‘οἱ πλέ-
ονες κακοί’, Θάλητος Μιλησίου ‘ἐγγύα, πάρα δ᾽ ἄτα’.
Sim. (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.); (wise sayings) Th 89 (q.v.)
Th 582
Schol. in Luc. 29.34.7–8
Τὰ πρὸ τοῖν ποδοῖν τὸ τῆς Θρᾴττης τοῦτο ἐκεῖνο, ὃ εὐφυῶς ἐκείνη ἀπέ-
σκωψεν εἰς Θάλητα τὸν φυσικόν.
Scholia in Hesiodum
Th 583
Scholia in theogoniam 116b.14–16 (ed. di Gregorio)
καὶ Φερεκύδης δὲ ὁ Σύρος καὶ Θαλῆς ὁ Μιλήσιος ἀρχὴν τῶν ὅλων τὸ ὕδωρ
φασὶ εἶναι, τὸ ῥητὸν τὸ τοῦ Ἡσιόδου ἀναλαβόντες.

Unauthenticated
Scholia in Lucianum – Scholia in Hesiodum 537
Scholia on Lucian (11th cent. CE ?)

Th 581i
Thales the Sage; his wise sayings.
Scholion on Lucian 1.7
(Phalaris 1) Wise tyrants. He is speaking of Periander, the son of Cypselus,
who was one of the Seven Sages of the Greeks. He was tyrant of Corinth,
which is next to the Isthmus of the Peloponnese. His saying “Master anger”
is inscribed at Delphi. There were sayings of the other Sages too which
5 were also inscribed at Delphi: “Measure is best” (Cleobulus of Lindos),
“Know thyself” (Chilon of Lacedaimon), “Nothing in excess” (Pittacus of
Mitylene), “Look to the end of a long life” (Solon of Athens), “Most people
are bad” (Bias of Priene), “Give a pledge and disaster is at hand” (Thales of
Miletus).
Th 582
Thales’ fall into a well.
Scholion on Lucian 29.34.7–8
What is in front of your feet. This is that comment of that Thracian woman
with which she cleverly made fun of Thales the natural philosopher.
Scholia on Hesiod (12th cent. CE ?)

Th 583
Scholion on Hesiod’s Theogony 116b.14–16
Pherecydes of Syros and Thales of Miletus declare that water is the principle
of all things, adopting Hesiod’s statement (cf. Th 286, Th 532).

Unauthenticated
538 Scholia in Pindarum – Scholia in Aristophanem
Scholia in Pindarum
Th 584
Scholion in Pindari Epinicia Olympica 1.1d (ed. Drachmann)
ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ: ἀρχὴ γὰρ τῶν ὅλων κατὰ Θαλῆν τὸ ὕδωρ.
Scholia in Aristophanem
Th 585
Scholia vetera in nubes 180.1–181.1 (ed. Holwerda)
Τὸν Θαλῆν οὗτος ἐγένετο τῶν ἑπτὰ σοφῶν εἷς, Μιλήσιος τὸ γένος, ὃς
πρῶτος τὰ περὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐξεῦρεν.
Sim. (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.); (Thales as representative
of astronomy) Th 103 (q.v.)
Th 586
Scholia recentiora anonyma in nubes 180b (ed. Koster)
Ὁ Θαλῆς […] [3] γὰρ Κροίσου […] [6] θάτερον δὲ πρὸς τὰ ὄπισθεν μέρη
τῆς στρατιᾶς‧ καὶ οὕτω σμικρυθέντος τοῦ ῥείθρου ἡ στρατιὰ διέβη ῥᾳδίως
τὸν ποταμόν. ἐποίησε […] [8] περαιωθήσωνται.
Sim. (the crossing of the Halys) Th 11 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Scholia in Pindarum – Scholia in Aristophanem 539
Scholia on Pindar (before the 13th cent. CE)

Th 584
Scholion on Pindar’s Olympian Odes1.1d
Water is best (Pindar, Ol. 1.1); for according to Thales water is the principle
of all thingsi.
Scholia on Aristophanes (13th/14th cent. CE)

Th 585
Scholia vetera on Aristophanes’ Clouds 180.1–2 (Th 17)
Thales. He was one of the Seven Sages, a Milesian by birth, who was the first
to make discoveries about events in the sky.
Th 586ii
Scholia on Aristophanes’ Clouds 180b
Thales [...] [3] for of Croesus [...] [6] one of the two to the rear of the army;
and when the stream was diminished in this way the army easily crossed the
river. He made [...] [8] them to cross.
i W. does not translate τῶν ὅλων


Unauthenticated
540 Scholia in Aristophanem
Th 587
Scholia in nub. 180c alpha
Οὗτος ὁ Θαλῆς εἷς ἦν τῶν ζʹ σοφῶν, μάντις, ὅστις διὰ τέχνης μαθηματικῆς
ἐποίησεν εὑρεθῆναι εἰς τὸν Ἅλυν, μὴ δυνάμενον περάσαι ἐν τῷ ἑτέρῳ μέρει
τοῦ ποταμοῦ τὸ φοσάτον.
Sim. (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.); (the crossing of the Halys)
Th 11 (q.v.)
Th 588
Scholia in nub. 180d alpha
Ὁ Θαλῆς οὗτος ἦν εἷς τῶν ζʹ σοφῶν, Μιλήσιος ὤν‧ ἦν δὲ πρῶτος ἐν ἐκείνοις
διδάξας τοῖς καιροῖς περὶ τῶν οὐρανίων‧ ἀλλὰ καὶ γεωμέτρης ἄριστος [μη-
χανικὸς δὲ ἄκρος] ἦν καὶ μηχανικὸς πάνυ. [φυσικός.]
Sim. (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.)
Th 589
Scholia in nub. 180d beta
Οὗτος ὁ Θαλῆς Μιλήσιος ἦν, εἷς ὢν τῶν παλαιῶν ἑπτὰ σοφῶν, ὃς ἐδίδαξε
πρῶτος τὰ μαθηματικά‧ ἦν δὲ καὶ ἄκρος μηχανικός.
Sim. (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.); (the first sage/philosopher)
Th 29 (q.v.)
Th 590
Scholia in nub. 180e
Τὸν Θαλῆν τὸν μετεωροσκόπον, τὸν παλαιὸν γεωμέτρην ἤγουν τὸν
φιλόσοφον, τὸν σοφόν.
Sim. (Thales as representative of astronomy) Th 103 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Scholia in Aristophanem 541
Th 587
Scholia on Aristophanes’ Clouds 180c
This Thales was one of the Seven Sages. He was a prophet who through
mathematical skill caused there to be found for the Halys, when the phosa-
ton was unable to cross in the other part of the river.1
Th 588
Thales the Sage, the astronomer, geometer and engineer.
Scholia on Aristophanes’ Clouds 180d. alpha
This Thales was one of the Seven Sages, a Milesian. He was the first among
them [the Sages] and he taught about the celestial bodies with reference to
the seasonsi. He was also the best geometer and a superb engineer.
Th 589
Thales as mathematician and engineer.
Scholia on Aristophanes’ Clouds 180d. beta
This Thales was a Milesian, one of the Seven Sages of old, who was the first
to teach mathematicsii. He was also an outstanding engineer.
Th 590
Thales as astronomer, geometer, philosopher and Sage.
Scholia on Aristophanes’ Clouds 180e
Thales – the astronomer, the ancient geometer, that is, the philosopher, the
sage.
1 The corrupt text of this scholion may be partially remedied by understanding

φοσάτον as a corruption of στρατόν (“army”).
i W: die rechten Zeitpunkte am Himmel

ii W: Naturwissenschaft

Unauthenticated
542 Scholia in Aristophanem – Scholia in Homerum
Scholia in Aristophanem
Th 591
Scholia in Aves 1009.1–5 (ed. Holwerda)
Ἄνθρωπος Θαλῆς: Ἐν σαρκασμῷ φησιν. ἔστι δὲ ὁ Θαλῆς οὗτος εἷς τῶν
ἑπτὰ φιλοσόφων, ἐπὶ γεωμετρίᾳ διαβεβοημένος.
Sim. („The man’s a Thales!“) Th 18 (q.v.); (originator of Greek geometry)

Th 178 (q.v.); (Thales, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.)
Scholia in Homerum
Th 592
Scholia in Iliadem 18.487.4–11 (ed. Heyne)
Ἄρκτον θ᾿, ἣν καὶ Ἄμαξαν ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσιν. αὕτη τε ἡ μεγάλη ἡ καλου-
μένη καὶ Ἅμαξα, διὰ τὸ εἰς ἁμάξης τύπον κατηστερίσθαι. καὶ ἐγγὺς ἐκείνης
ἡ μικρὰ ἡ Κυνόσουρα καλουμένη διὰ τὸ ὡς κυνὸς ἔχειν ἀνακεκλασμένην
τὴν οὐράν. ἧς Ὅμηρος οὐ μέμνηται, ὡς ὕστερον εὑρεθείσης ὑπὸ Θαλοῦ
5 τοῦ Μιλησίου ἑνὸς τῶν ἑπτὰ σοφῶν.
Sim. (constellations, discoverer of the Great/Little Bear) Th 52 (q.v.); (Tha-

les, one of the Seven Sages) Th 20 (q.v.)

Unauthenticated
Scholia in Aristophanem – Scholia in Homerum 543
Scholia on Aristophanes
(beginning of the 14th cent. CE)
Th 591
Thales the philosopher and geometer.
Scholia on Aristophanes’ Birds 1009
The man’s a Thales! He says it sarcastically. This Thales is one of the Seven
Philosophers and was renowned for his knowledge of geometry.
Scholia on Homer (date uncertain)

Th 592
Scholia on Homer, Iliad 18.487
And the Bear, which they also call ‘the Wain’ as an alternative name. This
one that is called the Great [Bear] and the Wain, becausei it is a constellation
formed in the outline of a wagon, and near it is the Little [Bear], which is
called “Cynosure” becauseii it has its tail bent like a dog’s. Homer does not
mention this [constellation] because it was discovered later by Thales of
5 Miletus, one of the Seven Sages.
i W. does not translate this clause.

ii W. does not translate this clause.

Unauthenticated
544

Unauthenticated

421

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Ṣiwān al-ḥikma 421

Siwan al-hikma (The Vessel of Wisdom)

1 Cf. Daiber 1984, 36–68.

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‫وﺗﺄﻟﻴﻒ اﻷﺷﻌﺎر واﳋﻄﺐ واﻷﻣﺜﺎل واﻟﺮﺳﺎﺋﻞ إﱃ أن ﳒﻢ اثﻟﻴﺲ ابﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ وﻛﺬكل ﻋﲅ‬

‫‪Brought to you by | provisional account‬‬

The Vessel of Wisdom 398–416

1 A famous pre-Islamic poet of the sixth cent. CE.

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‫ﳛﺲ ﺑﺄﻧّﻪ ﻻﺑﺲ ً‬

‫‪Brought to you by | provisional account‬‬

1 This is also found under al-Mubassir; cf. below Th 510.

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Pseudo-Ğābir ibn Ḥayyān

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Pseudo-Gabir ibn Hayyan (mid-10th cent. CE)

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Constantine VII Porphyrogennetus

Sim. (Thales’ prize/story of the tripod) Th 52 (q.v.)

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Constantine VII Porphyrogennetus (906–959 CE)

i W. does not translate this testimonium..

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‫‪1‬‬ ‫‪Also translated in Smith 1993, 220 f. (no. 194bT).‬‬

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Ibn an-Nadim (died 995 or 998 CE)

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‫وﻗﺪ زﰪ ﺑﻌﺾ اﻟﻨﺎس أنّ ﻫﺬﻩ اﻷدوار ﰷﻧﺖ ُﺗ ْـﺴـ َﺘـ ْﻌ َﻤ ُﻞ ُ‬

‫‪Brought to you by | provisional account‬‬

Al-Biruni (973–1048 CE)

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‫ﻣﻦ ﻣﺒﺪﲛﺎ ﰷﻧﺖ أﺑﺴﻂ ّ‬

‫)‪Ibn Sina (Avicenna‬‬

‫‪Brought to you by | provisional account‬‬

Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) (before 980–1037 CE)

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‫‪Brought to you by | provisional account‬‬

Questions and Answers 32.3–9

1 Cf. Gutas 1988, 97–8.

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‫‪Al-Mubaššir ibn Fātik‬‬

‫‪Brought to you by | provisional account‬‬

Al-Mubassir ibn Fatik (11th cent. CE)

1 Cf. Rosenthal 1960–1, 132–58.

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‫ـﺒﻌﺔ ]اﻹﻃﺮﯾﺒﻮذ[ ﻟﻠﺴـﺒﻌﺔ اﳊﻜﲈء اذلﻳﻦ َﻣ َّﺮ ﻋﲆ أﯾﺪﳞﻢ وأﻣّﺎ‬

‫‪1‬‬ ‫ﺳﺎﺑﻌﺔ ] ﺳـﺒﻌ ًﺔ‬

‫‪Brought to you by | provisional account‬‬

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1 De Lagarde, P. Iohannis Euchaitorum Metropolitae quae in codice Vaticano Graeco

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Epigrams 33.18 (ed. Lagarde)4

Peter Damian (ca. 1007–1072 CE)

4 De Lagarde, P. Iohannis Euchaitorum Metropolitae quae in codice Vaticano Graeco

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Sim. (Thales’ fall into the well) Th 19 (q.v.)

Sim. (dates) Th 171 (q.v.)

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Michael Psellus (ca. 1018–ca. 1078 CE)

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10 λουσῶνÏ– τοῦτο δὲ τὸ πάθος ταύτῃ συμβέβηκεν ἐν μόνῃ πανσελήνῳ –, εἰ

Sim. (eclipse/phases of the moon) Th 178 (q.v.); (relation between knowledge

Sim. (the cosmos/the universe/everything has a soul) Th 32 (q.v.)