Ibn Sīnā—al-Bīrūnī Correspondence—VII
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66207/jis.v4i2.246Keywords:
Ibn Sīnā, al-Bīrūnī, Peripatetic natural philosophy, history of physics, criticism of Aristotelian physics, Islamic scientific tradition, natural elements, schools of thought in Islamic scientific traditionAbstract
This seventh instalment of the correspondence between Ibn Sīnā and al-Bīrūnī continues the reply of Abū Saʿīd al-Maʿṣūmī, one of Ibn Sīnā’s most accomplished students. Responding to the third objection of al-Bīrūnī, al-al-Maʿṣūmī explains Ibn Sīnā’s position on the eternity of the world. Then he responds to al-Bīrūnī’s objections to the fourth question, which deals with divisibility of bodies; the seventh question, which deals with the different locations of sunrise and sunset; the eighth question, about the nature of fire; the ninth question, on the reflection of light; and the tenth question, about the transformation of elements. This brings to a close the response of Ibn Sīnā (sent by al-al-Maʿṣūmī) to the first set of ten questions. The eighth and the last instalment (to be published in the next issue) will complete this provisional translation of the correspondence between Ibn Sīnā and al-Bīrūnī.
