The alphabet, for Farabi, is the fossilized remains of ancient wisdom.
When we think of an alphabet, we think of learning to read. But for the great Islamic philosopher Abu Nasr al-Farabi (872–950 CE), letters were not just tools for literacy—they were the very building blocks of logic, metaphysics, and human understanding. Farabi - Harfler Kitabi
Thus, to study the letters of a language is to study the structure of reality itself. One of the most fascinating sections of The Book of Letters is where Farabi writes a hidden history of philosophy. He claims that ancient peoples (the Chaldeans, the Egyptians, the Greeks) did not write philosophy in books at first. They encoded it in their alphabets, their poetry, and their religious symbols. The alphabet, for Farabi, is the fossilized remains
"The first letter is not a letter at all in the beginning. It is the sound of thought beginning to become speech. It is the threshold between silence and meaning." Thus, to study the letters of a language
The alphabet, for Farabi, is the fossilized remains of ancient wisdom.
When we think of an alphabet, we think of learning to read. But for the great Islamic philosopher Abu Nasr al-Farabi (872–950 CE), letters were not just tools for literacy—they were the very building blocks of logic, metaphysics, and human understanding.
Thus, to study the letters of a language is to study the structure of reality itself. One of the most fascinating sections of The Book of Letters is where Farabi writes a hidden history of philosophy. He claims that ancient peoples (the Chaldeans, the Egyptians, the Greeks) did not write philosophy in books at first. They encoded it in their alphabets, their poetry, and their religious symbols.
"The first letter is not a letter at all in the beginning. It is the sound of thought beginning to become speech. It is the threshold between silence and meaning."