Acknowledgements
This book is partially based on my Ph.D. dissertation, written during the years 2012â2016 at Tel Aviv University. My deepest gratitude goes to Prof. Yishai Peled, who was my M.A. and Ph.D. supervisor. He taught me to read Arab grammarians and fostered my initial ideas; he had confidence in me and believed that I could become a scholar long before I started to believe in that myself.
I am grateful to the Israeli Council for Higher Education for its support during my Ph.D. studies through a Lev-Zion Fellowship, and to the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies and the Culture School at Tel Aviv Universityâcurrently headed by Prof. Uriya Shavit and Prof. Michele Kahanâfor providing me with the crucial funds needed to complete this book. I thank the department members for their keen interest in my progress, and would like to particularly mention Prof. Nasir Basal, my second mentor, whose advice helped me in making various choices in my research and who was always available with suggestions and guidance in the moment of need, and Dr Ahmad Ighbariyah, who introduced me into the field of Islamic philosophy.
Two readers of my Ph.D. dissertation, Prof. Alexander Borg and Prof. Simon Hopkins, made various suggestions that were taken into account in this book. The comments of three anonymous readers of the first manuscript of this book led to many additional improvements. I am deeply indebted to all the reviewers.
As to the technical side of this bookâs preparation, I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Mr Michael Guggenheimer, who meticulously read my manuscript and helped to improve its style. And it was a great pleasure to work with Mr Maarten Frieswijk of Brill Publishers, who was enthusiastic about my project from the outset, and handled it with exemplary efficiency.
Finally, my personal thanks go to my mother Inna who taught me to appreciate words and books, and to my husband Ori who celebrates my successes as his own and consoles me in my failures. I am truly fortunate to have him by my side.