Philosophy › Faith and reason › Philosophy in the Islamic world (falsafa)
Greek-to-Arabic translation movement (House of Wisdom)
c. 750–1000· Event· Knowledge, logic & science
Well documentedSolid records, texts or physical evidence.
About two centuries of translating Greek science and philosophy into Arabic, centered on Abbasid Baghdad.
See it on the Philosophy map →The idea
After the Abbasid caliphs founded Baghdad in 762, rulers, officials and wealthy families paid for Arabic translations of Aristotle, Galen, Euclid, Ptolemy and summaries of Plato, often via Syriac. Christian scholars such as Hunayn ibn Ishaq (809–873) and his team set high standards, comparing several Greek manuscripts. Caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833) is linked to the House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma), a palace library. Paper, made in Baghdad from the 790s, kept copies cheap.
Why it matters
It preserved and extended Greek learning, created the Arabic vocabulary of philosophy and science, and later fed Latin Europe's recovery of Aristotle through Spain and Sicily.
Where it comes from
Hunayn's own letter listing some 129 Galen translations, Ibn al-Nadim's book catalog the Fihrist (987), and the surviving Arabic manuscripts themselves.
Still debated
Whether the House of Wisdom was a real academy or mainly a library is debated, as are the political motives behind the caliphs' patronage.
Connections (2)
▸Greek-to-Arabic translation movement (House of Wisdom) made possible Philosophy in the Islamic world (falsafa)Well documented
The connection
Without Arabic versions of Aristotle, Plato and the Neoplatonists there would have been no falsafa. The translations supplied the texts and a new technical vocabulary; al-Kindi worked alongside translators, and al-Farabi built his logic on their versions.
When and how
Baghdad, 9th–10th centuries; al-Kindi (d. c. 870) and al-Farabi (d. 950).
How we know
Arabic philosophers cite translations by translator's name, and their technical terms match the translators' coinages.
Debates and open questions
How much the translators' choices, and errors like the misattributed 'Theology of Aristotle', shaped Islamic philosophy is still studied.
▸Greek-to-Arabic translation movement (House of Wisdom) translated the works of AristotleWell documented
The connection
Almost all of Aristotle's surviving works were translated into Arabic, often through Syriac, along with Greek commentaries on them. Aristotle became 'the First Teacher' in Arabic, and these versions, with Averroes' commentaries, later helped return his works to Latin Europe.
When and how
Baghdad, c. 800–1000: Hunayn ibn Ishaq, his son Ishaq, and the Christian logicians Abu Bishr Matta and Yahya ibn Adi.
How we know
Arabic manuscripts of the translations survive, and Ibn al-Nadim's Fihrist (987) names the translators of each work.
Debates and open questions
Aristotle's Politics apparently was never translated into Arabic; why is unclear.