The Doubts of Ibn al-Shibl al-Baghdādī (d. 474/1081–2), Poet, Philosopher, and Physician

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• Professor Geert Jan van Gelder (Oxford)
• Tuesday 29 October 2013, 17:00-18:30
• Room 8+9, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.

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Ibn al-Shibl al-Baghdādī has an entry in the famous book on physicians by Ibn Abī Uṣaybi’ah, ‘Uyūn al-Anbā’ fī ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbā’. He was, however, more famous as a poet than as a physician and Ibn Abī Uṣaybi’ah, who apparently includes him mainly because he likes poetry, quotes many fragments and some longer poems. One of these will be discussed in some detail. It is a somewhat unusual piece, of the genre called ḥikmah, in which the poet seems to question God’s decision to create the world and mankind. Like Abū l-’Alā’ al-Ma’arrī, whom he resembles to some extent, he expresses doubts about the Hereafter and about bodily resurrection.

This talk is part of the Wright Lecture Series series.

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• Room 8+9, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
• Wright Lecture Series

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