The Golden Age of Islam - Medieval History 7 2025: Philosophy and Literature

Ibn Rushd (also known as Averroes) was a famous Muslim philosopher from Spain whose notable work includes the reconciliation of reason with faith.

Ideas for your Project:

• Write a biographical sketch of his life that includes a detailed summary of his philosophy and other scholarly contributions to intellectual discourse.

Greek, Persian, and Latin knowledge was preserved by famous Muslim translators and scholars including Abdul Malik during the Abbasid dynasty.

Ideas for your Project:

• Provide titles and short descriptions of some of the texts translated by Muslim scholars at this time. How did the translators work to ensure accuracy and truth in their translations?
• Explain and give examples of how the translations of well-known Greek, Persian, and Latin texts preserved learning and knowledge for the world.

During the Islamic Golden Age, a collection of West and South Asian stories and folk tales was published known as A Thousand and One Nights.

Ideas for your Project:

• Choose three stories from this famous compilation and summarize the character and plot development.
• Explain how this book exemplifies significant patterns of Arabic literature with its use of repetition, the frame story, and absence of a beginning or an ending. 
• Briefly discuss the influence of A Thousand and One Nights on European literature and culture. 
• Look at different film adaptations of stories from Arabian Nights and compare them to the original(s).​