S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 For the first time, the \u201cBook of the Soul,\u201d written in Arabic by the doctor, politician and philosopher Ibn Sina, has been translated into Portuguese. The work took nearly three years of dedication from the professor at the School of Philosophy, Language and Human Sciences (FFLCH) at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP), Miguel Attie Filho. In the book, the author sets out to describe human nature through the soul, although he avoids emphasizing the religious aspect. The work is also regarded as a \u201cbridge\u201d between the history of Greek and European thinking.<\/p>\n
The \u201cBook of the Soul\u201d is part of an encyclopaedia entitled, in Arabic, Al Sifa (The Healing), written between 1,020 and 1,030. The \u201cBook of the Soul\u201d is the sixth book of the Natural Sciences section, one of the divisions that integrate \u201cThe Healing,\u201d which also comprises Logic, Mathematics and Metaphysics. Avicenna, as Ibn Sina is known in the West, is also one of the forefathers of the falsafa, i.e. philosophy in Arabic. His thinking is influenced by the classical thinkers: Plato (to whom there are two realities: concrete and abstract), Aristotle (who believed that philosophy should take place in the realm of concrete reality) and Neo Platonism, developed by the thinker Plotinus, who in turn posits that evil does not exist, but imperfection does. <\/p>\n
The history of thinking lies at the foundation of Miguel\u2019s academic background, as does Avicenna\u2019s body of work. His studies on the \u201cBook of the Soul\u201d began as the 50-year-old Attie was preparing his master\u2019s thesis and then continued through his doctorate, postdoctorate and associate professorship. His interest in the work of this philosopher, who was born in the region now known as Uzbekistan and developed his work in the Persian world, dates back a long time. \u201cAs I pursued my master\u2019s degree, I noticed that there was next to no reference to the Arab thinkers. They were nowhere to be seen. That encouraged me to do research on why they were so absent, even though there was a revival in the 1950s and 1960s,\u201d the translator says.<\/p>\n
When he was invited by the Globo publishing house to translate the book, shortly after earning his doctorate, in 2004, Attie was very familiar with the \u201cBook of the Soul.\u201d However, after starting to translate, he realized that he was in for an \u201cadventure.\u201d \u201cThe invitation to translate the book was almost a challenge because I was near my limit regarding what I knew about him and his expressions. In this case, it was not just about translating from Arabic into Portuguese. It is also about interpreting and translating the notions of philosophy,\u201d he recalls. On several occasions, Attie had to consult expressions in Greek before finding the right word.<\/p>\n
To the translator, in addition to bringing into being a philosophical work never before translated directly from Arabic into Portuguese, the \u201cBook of the Soul\u201d is a new piece of the puzzle of the history of thinking. The 9th century Arab thinkers are in the \u201cmiddle of the road\u201d in between the Greeks, such as Plato (427 BC \u2013 347 BC) and Aristotle (384 BC \u2013 322 BC), and the Europeans of the centuries that followed. Attie claims that one of the main features of Avicenna is that he demonstrates that there are not two types of thinking: Eastern and Western. \u201cThat appeared in post-Renaissance Europe (in the 14th century). That is part of an ideology. That is why there is this split. The \u2018Book of the Soul\u2019 poses problems to those who believe in this division,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
When he wrote the \u201cBook of the Soul,\u201d, Avicenna was not thinking of the soul from a religious perspective. \u201cHe was also a doctor. To discuss the soul, he discusses other areas of the body that do not involve the soul. First he addresses the body, and then he approaches the soul. He describegs the senses, the chambers of the brain, cognition. The way in which he designs the book is not through religion, but rather through reason. It is a book of science and philosophy,\u201d sayas Attie. \u201cHe discusses the healing of the soul and he discusses things: man, society, nature and the universe,\u201d he explains. Attie highlights that although it is not in itself religious, the \u201cBook of the Soul\u201d is interpreted \u201cesoterically\u201d in that are predominantly Shiite Muslim regions. \u201cThey emphasize the more spiritualistic part of the book, whereas the scientific interpretation is prevalent in Europe,\u201c he claims.<\/p>\n
Attie, who is a descendent of Syrians, has translated three philosophers from the Arab world: Al-Farabi, Al-Kindi and Avicenna. He reveals that if there were more Arab philosophy books translated into Portuguese, he would venture into other translations of Avicenna\u2019s oeuvre. But that is not the case yet. \u201cThus, I would like to translate the main work of each of the major authors,\u201d he says. Of those, he has not yet translated the philosopher Averroes. <\/p>\n
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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