Logic to Interpretation: Maimonides' Use of al-Fârâbî's Model of Metaphor.

Abstract

Maimonides' interests in language and interpretation converge in the exegetical sections of his Guide of the Perplexed, in which he often invokes the notion of metaphor (Ar. isti"ara; Hebr. hash'alah), a concept defined in various ways by different intellectual streams current in his day. Two parallel models of metaphor emerged in the so-called logical tradition of Arabic learning and Quranic hermeneutics, while a completely different one was formulated by Arab experts on poetry.' Jewish exegetes in Muslim lands naturally applied the hermeneutic model of metaphor to Hebrew Scripture.2 Adopting a more unique stance, Moses ibn Ezra sought traces of the poetic model in biblical verse.3 Not surprisingly, Maimonides drew his conception of metaphor from al-Farabi's logic, as earlier scholars have noted.4 Yet, as we shall demonstrate, he tailored the Farabian model of metaphor to suit his philosophical exegetical program. (from Introduction)