Acknowledgements
This book owes much of its existence to a generous research grant provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. I am indebted to Stefan Weninger, head of the Department of Semitic Studies at Marburg University, for his support, tolerance and trust. Thanks also to Fabian Käs, who readily supplied me with his copy of the manuscript Ayasofya, and to Lukas Kahl, who found and scanned some far-off literature. I greatly benefited from being able to use the fine collection of Oriental books held in the University Library of Marburg. I am grateful to the editors of IPTS for including my work, once again, into this series; to the anonymous readers for their comments; and to Abdurraouf Oueslati and Cas Van den Hof for steering the book safely through the various stages of production. If minor disruptions along the way have in retrospect been an incitement rather than an obstacle, this is largely due to Karine, my companion and muse.
O. Kahl