Introduction

It is widely recognised among scholars of Arabic literature and Islamic studies that Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ's (d. in 757 or 758) writings are amongst the earliest and foundational pieces of Arabic belles-lettres and fiction as well as of Islamic naṣīḥa (political and ethical advice) literature. However, belonging to the realm of adab (educative and entertaining prose) and conveying political agendas, the works attributed to Ibn al- Muqaffaʿ have been scarcely studied as pertaining to the sphere of philosophy and remain little explored from the aspect of the integration of ancient Greek philosophy into Islamic thought.

We need to reflect briefly on some key terms used. Both ancient Greek philosophy and Islamic advice literature are fluid terms. In the case of ancient Greek philosophy, ancient refers to an era and Greek refers to a language. However, due to the distance in space and time between ancient Greek philosophy and Islamic advice literature, the impact of the former on the latter was in most cases mediated through late antique texts that were written by authors of diverse ethnicities, and composed in various languages (including Greek, Syriac and Persian). Most of what was integrated into Islamic civilization from ancient Greek philosophy reached it through the filters of late antique commentators. Their work had both a catalysing and restricting effect on the Islamic reception of ancient Greek philosophy. The social habitat and niche, and thus the concerns and interests of the late antique imperial elites were similar to those of the elites linked to the court of the Islamic empire.