This paper argues that Ibn Ṭufayl (d. 1185) in his Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān offers a surprisingly intellectual reading of the term fiṭra (pl. fiṭar) and one that has significant consequences for our understanding of the story. We will see that at crucial junctures in the text, fiṭra emerges solely in an intellectual context, implying a gulf amongst humanity that defies common understandings of the term as egalitarian. This gulf, I argue, illuminates the political implications of the tale. For while he emphasizes the broad compatibility of the more established, revealed and the philosophical path recently arrived in Andalusia, Ibn Ṭufayl, with the help of fiṭra, shows that the philosophical life is one for the very few. Attention to Ibn Ṭufayl's use of fiṭra might thus explain one of his reasons for writing this tale for the court. Its overall message heightens the role of religion and tempers the political significance of philosophy in two ways: by arguing that only select individuals have the capacity to access truth independently from revelation; and by denying these exceptionally gifted the ability to communicate their findings to the masses.

中文翻译：

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杰出的贤者和信使的需要：12 世纪故事中的 FIṬRA 政治

本文认为 Ibn Ṭufayl（卒于 1185 年）在他的Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān对这个词提供了令人惊讶的智力解读菲特拉（pl。菲塔尔) 并且对我们对故事的理解产生了重大影响。我们将看到，在文本的关键时刻，菲特拉仅在知识背景下出现，暗示了人类之间的鸿沟，违背了对平等主义一词的普遍理解。我认为，这个鸿沟阐明了这个故事的政治含义。虽然他强调了最近到达安达卢西亚的更成熟、更显明和哲学道路的广泛兼容性，但伊本·乌法尔在菲特拉，表明哲学生活是少数人的生活。注意 Ibn Ṭufayl 使用菲特拉因此可以解释他为法庭写这个故事的原因之一。它的总体信息以两种方式提高了宗教的作用并缓和了哲学的政治意义：认为只有经过挑选的个人才有能力独立于启示而获得真理；并否认这些具有非凡天赋的人将他们的发现传达给大众的能力。