Logos || Azfar Hussain

In the area of what has come to be known as comparative philosophy, some have rather routinely compared "logos" (as in Greek philosophy, particularly in Aristotle) to "kalaam" (as in Arabic philosophy, particularly in Ibn-Sina and Al-Farabi). While "logos" may mean "word," "speech," or even "reason," isn't "kalaam" more than either speech or reason but rather something constituted by the dialectic of the "bateni" (the concealed) and the "jahiri" (the revealed)? I'm struggling with this otherwise well-established comparison. Also, it's customary to call both Ibn-Sina and Al-Farabi Arab "Aristotelians." True, both of them studied Aristotle extensively and even regarded him as the incomparable philosopher. Legend has it that when Ibn-Sina first came across Aristotle's _Metaphysics_, he read it forty times to come to terms with it. Yet both Ibn-Sina and Al-Farabi grew independently of Aristotle, even moving decisively in non-Aristotelian directions.