Acknowledgements
This book is the main result of the four years I spent as a researcher at the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium. The ERC project I worked inââThe Origin and Early Development of Philosophy in Tenth-century al-Andalus: the Impact of Ill-Defined Materials and Channels of Transmissionâ (2017â2023)âfocused on the genesis of philosophy in Islamic Spain, including the sources that influenced that genesis, such as the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity. I was assigned the task of researching the formal questions concerning the Epistles and two further works attributed to the Brethren of Purity. I would first and foremost like to express my gratitude to Godefroid de Callataÿ, the main innovator and director of the PhilAnd project. I thank him for the warmth by which he welcomed me to Belgium. I had little prior experience of manuscript work; my previous work on the Brethren of Purity had concerned their philosophical ideas rather than the more technical aspects of the Epistles. I might also have initially felt intimidated by some aspects of the work at hand, such as collecting the more than 500 cross-references in the Epistles. In the end, I feel that the project made me a better scholar by forcing me to improve my philological skills. I am also grateful to Godefroid de Callataÿ for his innovative design and implementation of the project. Despite my initial fears, I quickly came to view my research task as a fascinating puzzle that has intrigued me ever since. Whether this book is successful in resolving that puzzle or not, I most certainly would not have written the book without the assignment.
I also wish to thank the many wonderful people who worked in, or were associated with, the PhilAnd project. I found the University of Louvain to be an exceptionally inspiring environment for research. Many aspects of this book were discussed not only in project seminars and workshops but also during lunch and coffee. I would especially like to thank the projectâs vice-director Sébastien Moureau who was instrumental for the projectâs operation and provided his valuable insights in both official contexts and informal discussions. I am particularly grateful to Cécile Bonmariage not only for the valuable comments produced by her sharp mind but also for the many reading groups and other occasions that enhanced my understanding of Islamic philosophy, as well as reduced the tedium of quarantine during the pandemic in Belgium. The other members who formed a part of the PhilAnd circle at one time or another were equally important for the genesis of this book. I am grateful for all the fruitful discussions with José Bellver, Charles Burnett, Marion Dapsens, Agnieszka Erdt, Michele Petrone, Liana Saif, Elaine Van Dalen, and Gregory Vandamme.
Besides the project events in Belgium, I gave presentations related to this book in conferences and seminars in Princeton and Helsinki. I wish to thank the many participants in those events that provided me with comments. I am also grateful for the suggestions that the two anonymous reviewers offered for the manuscript. Finally, I want to thank the wonderful institution of the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies at the University of Helsinki for the opportunity of revising the final version of this book.
I wish to dedicate this book to the memory of my doctoral supervisor, Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila. He was the one who first introduced me to the intricacies of Arabic philology. I suspect he would have appreciated the philological nature of this study.