ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Impact of Islam On European Civilization Some Areas of Impact Translation A great number of European scholars traveled to the Islamic world and studied Arabic and Islamic sciences. They translated many books from Arabic and wrote some books in which they elaborated what they learned from Muslims. They also spread these sciences by teaching them in Europe.

According to some sources in Medieval Europe, more than 1400 Arabic books in various fields of sciences were translated. Translated works are in three categories: First are Greek works which were translated from Arabic into Latin. Although some Greek works had already been translated into Latin, however there is no doubt that many important Greek works including some of Aristotle’s works were translated from Arabic.

In the middle of the twelve century, a translation center was established in Toledo in which, according to the advice of the Archbishop Raymond, many Greek books were translated from Arabic into Latin. Among these works were some books of Aristotle, the translation of the Book of Causes, which was a selection of Proclus’ Elements of Theology and the famous Theologia which was mainly taken from a book of Plotinus.

The second group of books that were translated from Arabic into Latin was Muslim’s interpretations of Greek philosophy and sciences, and the third group belonged to independent Muslim works. In this regard Russell writes: “Their learned men read Greek, and wrote commentaries. Aristotle’s reputation is mainly due to them…Their importance, for us, is that they, and not the Christians, were the immediate inheritors of those parts of the Greek tradition which only the Eastern Empire had kept alive.

Contact with the Mohammedans [he means Muslims], in Spain, and to the lesser extent in Sicily, made the West aware of Aristotle; also of Arabic numerals, algebra, and chemistry.

It was this contact that began the revival of learning in the eleventh century, leading to Scholastic philosophy…if the Arabs had not preserved the tradition, the men of Renaissance might not have suspected how much was to gained by the revival of classical learning.” From among the long list of scholars who contributed in the transmission of Islamic sciences to Europe here I mention only few names.