Abstract

The study of the life and work of medieval encyclopedists, in particular Abu Nasr al-Farabi, the creator of numerous treatises in Arabic, is a relevant, significant and interesting aspect of biobibligraphic research. The biography of the “Second Teacher” (after Aristotle), according to many medieval sources, originates in 870 on the territory of modern Kazakhstan, namely in the city of Farab - the current name is Otyrar. This article studies medieval and modern biobibliographic dictionaries containing information about al-Farabi. Medieval dictionaries compiled by Ibn Nadim, Said Andalusi, Ibn Khallikan, Salah ad-Din al-Safadi are a valuable source containing information about some details from the life of al-Farabi, such as the place of his birth, the Transoxiana region and the city of Farab, the scholar’s later trips to various cities where he spent his scientific life (Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo, Harran, etc.), his contemporaries, mentors and works. Modern works dating back to the twentieth century, in turn, supplement information about the thinker, based on information from primary sources, including medieval manuscripts.

Keywords: Al-Farabi, Arabic-language biobibliographical dictionaries, manuscripts, bibliography, Middle Ages, source.