Acknowledgements
This book represents the reworking of my doctoral dissertation. I wish to acknowledge my debt to the scholars and friends who variously contributed to it.
I shall start by thanking my colleagues in Arabic Philosophy, History and Literature at the University of Padua: my supervisor Prof. Cecilia Martini, as well as Drs Sara Abram, Luca Farina, and Marianna Zarantonello. My thanks are due also to Prof. Cristina DâAncona of the University of Pisa and Prof. Amos Bertolacci of the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, who read the dissertation and let me have their comments on it; and to the scholars in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at the University of Padua, Professors Giovanni Catapano, Enrico Moro, and Rita Salis. Their seminars in Medieval Philosophy were an important part of my doctoral education and hosted my early discussions of topics in Arabic Philosophy, including YaḥyÄ ibn Ê¿AdÄ«. I wish to thank Prof. Robert Wisnovsky for sharing the reproduction of MS Tehran, Madrasa-yi MarwÄ« 19 with me.
I also wish to thank Professors Bishara Ebeid and Elvira Wakelnig for their invaluable observations on the first draft of this book, which allowed me to improve it greatly; Prof. Issam Marjani, who kindly agreed to help me with some difficulties in the Arabic text of YaḥyÄâs treatise; and Prof. Mark Brady, who revised my English thoroughly. I am of course entirely responsible for any remaining mistakes.
Last but not least, a heartfelt thank you goes to Prof. Emiliano Fiori, for the many discussions on Late Antique and Eastern Christian culture throughout my doctoral and postdoctoral years, and for making possible the publication of this book in the Eastern Christian Texts series.