Perfect attributes of the first in the Al-Farabi’s metaphysical theology

Abstract

This research examines such attributes of divine perfection as ‘knowing’, ‘wise’, ‘real’ (in its substantive and etymological similarity with the concept of ‘true’) and ‘living’ (also in its semantic similarity with the term ‘life’). According to al-Farabi, these attributes have no underlying causes for their appearance, since there is nothing that could precede the First himself. Since these attributes are attributes of perfection and by their nature, definition and characteristics belong to the First, that is, they express the very perfection of the First, and then these attributes do not have any basis for their appearance. The very basis of their existence is their belonging to the First, as qualities of a descriptive and at the same time substantive nature. So here, al-Farabi describes these attributes based on the very pre-existence of the First as such. Al-Farabi describes the above-mentioned qualities of being the First in paragraphs 7-10 of his On the Perfect State. In these four paragraphs, al-Farabi gives the most general describing of the perfection of God, referring to the attributes of an existential and cognitive nature that are a priori inherent in the divine nature of the First Being. This means that the existence of the First is determined, first, by the existence of those attributes that, in a fundamental sense, indicate its original and unconditional perfection.

Key words: the First, perfection, omniscient beginning, true being, divine attributes.