Description

The term “Nature of Nature” was used in a ninth-century medieval manuscript entitled Nabatean Agriculture. Ibn Wahshiyya does not fully explain the meaning of the nature of Nature (tabi’at at-tabi’a) in Nabatean Agriculture. The term appears to be similar in many regards to Baruch Spinoza’s term “Natura Naturans,” as well as early theories about spontaneous growth. There are approximately eight centuries between the Arabic rendition of Nabatean Agriculture and Baruch Spinoza. Despite a considerable lapse in time, Arabic, Sabaean and Sufi literature were disseminated and studied throughout Europe by the intellectual elite for centuries.