The Journey of Ibn Faṭṭūma to al-Farābī’s Ignorant (jāhiliyya) Cities

Abstract

This paper explores the resemblance between the socio-political environment of the cities that Ibn Faṭṭūma visits in his journey, to al-Farābī’s analysis of the ignorant cities (al-mudun al-jāhiliyya). The claim is that both The Journey of Ibn Faṭṭūma by Najīb Maḥfūẓ, and al-Farābī’s extended talk of the ignorant cities alludes to the same crisis; The novelist and the philosopher dream of an utopian virtuous city but aware that in reality there are various forms of imperfect regimes, while the perfect regime is virtually impossible or difficult to reach. Both, the philosopher and the novelist, see that true knowledge (ḥikma) is the basis of the virtuous city, and through it the application of a right and virtuous ‘religion’ may be practiced. The ideal or virtuous city provides happiness, justice, and self-realization for all the citizens. This paper shows that al-Farābī’s philosophical text becomes vivid and attractive when considered as a background to the story of Ibn Faṭṭūma’s passionate dream of arriving to the perfect or ideal city. The spiritual crisis of both Ibn Faṭṭūma and al-Farābī is the outcome of a defect in the socio-political regime, which is not strange to our time. This justifies the study of both the literary and philosophical works from a contemporaneous perspective.