8vo. xv of English text (introduction), 252 pp., of Arabic text, [1], edited & introduced by Muhsin Mahdi, cloth in d/w, index, title printed in English & Arabic, front jacket slightly rubbed due to removed stacker, otherwise copy clean & in very good condition, Recherches publiees sous la direction de l’Institut de Lettres Orientales de Beyrouth, premiere serie: Pensee Arabe et Islamique, No: 46, Dar El-Machreq, Beirut, Third edition, 2004.

Synopsis

The theme of Kitab Al-huruf of Al-Farabi is the examination of “in how many ways” a thing is said to be. Although Al-Farabi takes Aristotle’s Metaphysics as his guide and model, he neither adheres to its traditional arrangement nor follows any of his traditional methods of commentary. The text of Al-Farabi is edited and introduced here for the first time by a leading scholar in the field of Islamic philosophy.