The oldest known reference to a Turkic origin is given by the medieval historian Ibn Khallikan (died in 1282), who in his work Wafayat (completed in 669/1271) states that al-Farabi was born in the small village of Wasij near Farab (in what is today Otrar, Kazakhstan) of Turkic parents. Based on this account, some scholars say he is of Turkic origin.B.G. Gafurov, Central Asia:Pre-Historic to Pre-Modern Times, (Shipra Publications, 2005), 124; "Abu Nasr El-Farabi hailed from around ancient Farabi which was situated on the bank of Syr Daria and was the son of a Turk military commander".Will Durant, The Age of Faith, (Simon and Schuster, 1950), 253.Nicholas Rescher, Al-Farabi's Short Commentary on Aristotle's Prior Analytics, University of Pittsburgh Pre, 1963, p.11, Online Edition.Antony Black, The History of Islamic Political Thought: From the Prophet to the Present, Routledge, p. 61, Online EditionJames Hastings, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Kessinger Publishing, Vol. 10, p.757, Online EditionEdited by Ted Honderich. (1995). The Oxford companion to philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 269. "Of Turki origin, al-Farabi studied under Christian thinkers" Edited and translated by Norman Calder, Jawid Mojaddedi and Andrew Rippin. (2003). Classical Islam : a sourcebook of religious literature. New York: Routledge. pp. 170. "He was of Turkish origin, was born in Turkestan" Ian Richard Netton. (1999). Al-Fārābī and his school. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon. Pg. 5:"He appears to have been born into a military family of Turkish origin in the village of Wasil, Farab, in Turkestan" Edited by Henrietta Moore. (1996). The future of anthropological knowledge. London: Routledge. "al-Farabi (873–950), a scholar of Turkish origin." Diané Collinson and Robert Wilkinson. (1994). Thirty-Five Oriental Philosophers.. London: Routledge. "Al-Farabi is thought to be of Turkish origin. His family name suggests that he came from the vicinity of Farab in Transoxiana." Fernand Braudel; translated by Richard Mayne. (1995). A history of civilizations. New York, N.Y.: Penguin. "Al-Farabi, born in 870, was of Turkish origin. He lived in Aleppo and died in 950 in Damascus" Jaroslav Krejčí; assisted by Anna Krejčová. (1990). Before the European challenge : the great civilizations of Asia and the Middle East. Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. 140. "the Transoxanian Turk al-Farabi (d. circa 950)" Hamid Naseem. (2001). Muslim philosophy science and mysticism. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons. pp. 78. "Al-Farabi, the first Turkish philosopher" Clifford Sawhney. The World's Greatest Seers and Philosophers, 2005, p. 41 Zainal Abidin Ahmad. Negara utama (Madinatuʾl fadilah) Teori kenegaraan dari sardjana Islam al Farabi. 1964, p. 19 Haroon Khan Sherwani. Studies in Muslim Political Thought and Administration. 1945, p. 63 Dimitri Gutas, an American Arabist, criticizes this, saying that Ibn Khallikan's account is aimed at the earlier historical accounts by Ibn Abi Usaybi'a, and serves the purpose to "prove" a Turkic origin for al-Farabi, for instance by mentioning the additional nisba (surname) "al-Turk" (arab. "the Turk")—a nisba al-Farabi never had. However, Abu al-Feda, who copied Ibn Khallekan, changed al-Torkī to the phrase "wa-kana rajolan torkiyan", meaning "he was a Turkish man." In this regard, since works of such supposed Turks lack traces of Turkic nomadic culture, Oxford professor C.E. Bosworth notes that "great figures [such] as Farabi, Biruni, and Avicenna have been attached by over enthusiastic Turkish scholars to their race".
The oldest known reference to a Turkic origin is given by the medieval historian Ibn Khallikan (died in 1282), who in his work Wafayat (completed in 669/1271) states that al-Farabi was born in the small village of Wasij near Farab (in what is today Otrar, Kazakhstan) of Turkic parents. Based on this account, some scholars say he is of Turkic origin.B.G. Gafurov, Central Asia:Pre-Historic to Pre-Modern Times, (Shipra Publications, 2005), 124; "Abu Nasr El-Farabi hailed from around ancient Farabi which was situated on the bank of Syr Daria and was the son of a Turk military commander".Will Durant, The Age of Faith, (Simon and Schuster, 1950), 253.Nicholas Rescher, Al-Farabi's Short Commentary on Aristotle's Prior Analytics, University of Pittsburgh Pre, 1963, p.11, Online Edition.Antony Black, The History of Islamic Political Thought: From the Prophet to the Present, Routledge, p. 61, Online EditionJames Hastings, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Kessinger Publishing, Vol. 10, p.757, Online EditionEdited by Ted Honderich. (1995). The Oxford companion to philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 269. "Of Turki origin, al-Farabi studied under Christian thinkers" Edited and translated by Norman Calder, Jawid Mojaddedi and Andrew Rippin (2003). Classical Islam : a sourcebook of religious literature. New York: Routledge. pp. 170. "He was of Turkish origin, was born in Turkestan" Ian Richard Netton. (1999). Al-Fārābī and his school. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon. Pg. 5:"He appears to have been born into a military family of Turkish origin in the village of Wasil, Farab, in Turkestan" Edited by Henrietta Moore. (1996). The future of anthropological knowledge. London: Routledge. "al-Farabi (873–950), a scholar of Turkish origin." Diané Collinson and Robert Wilkinson. (1994). Thirty-Five Oriental Philosophers.. London: Routledge. "Al-Farabi is thought to be of Turkish origin. His family name suggests that he came from the vicinity of Farab in Transoxiana." Fernand Braudel; translated by Richard Mayne. (1995). A history of civilizations. New York, N.Y.: Penguin. "Al-Farabi, born in 870, was of Turkish origin. He lived in Aleppo and died in 950 in Damascus" Jaroslav Krejčí; assisted by Anna Krejčová. (1990). Before the European challenge : the great civilizations of Asia and the Middle East. Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. 140. "the Transoxanian Turk al-Farabi (d. circa 950)" Hamid Naseem. (2001). Muslim philosophy science and mysticism. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons. pp. 78. "Al-Farabi, the first Turkish philosopher" Clifford Sawhney. The World's Greatest Seers and Philosophers, 2005, p. 41 Zainal Abidin Ahmad. Negara utama (Madinatuʾl fadilah) Teori kenegaraan dari sardjana Islam al Farabi. 1964, p. 19 Haroon Khan Sherwani. Studies in Muslim Political Thought and Administration. 1945, p. 63 Dimitri Gutas, an American Arabist, criticizes this, saying that Ibn Khallikan's account is aimed at the earlier historical accounts by Ibn Abi Usaybi'a, and serves the purpose to "prove" a Turkic origin for al-Farabi, for instance by mentioning the additional nisba (surname) "al-Turk" (arab. "the Turk")—a nisba al-Farabi never had. However, Abu al-Feda, who copied Ibn Khallekan, changed al-Torkī to the phrase "wa-kana rajolan torkiyan", meaning "he was a Turkish man." In this regard, since works of such supposed Turks lack traces of Turkic nomadic culture, Oxford professor C.E. Bosworth notes that "great figures [such] as Farabi, Biruni, and Avicenna have been attached by over enthusiastic Turkish scholars to their race".