Hayy bin Yaqzan

Philosopher Ibn Tufayl lived in Andalusia during Islamic rule and left a profound impact on intellectual thought. His philosophical novel Hayy bin Yaqzan—translated into several European languages—explores themes of education, morality and the search for truth, inspiring later works such as Robinson Crusoe.

The characters Hayy, Salaman and Apsal feature in Ibn Tufayl's work. The characters Salaman and Apsal, derived from Greek, were used by Ibn Tufayl as male figures and formed the basis for Hayy bin Yaqzan.

Ibn Tufayl's questions focus primarily on whether humans need religion and what kind of being humans are. It is the first work of its kind. Hayy bin Yaqzan is a philosophical novel. As the beginning of the island novel genre, it significantly shaped and influenced Western thought. Robinson Crusoe was fictionally inspired by Ibn Tufayl.