My first encounter with the pseudo-Platonic KitÄb an-nawÄmÄ«s dates back to my doctoral studies at the Freie Universität Berlin. While grappling with a passage in Ibn SÄ«nÄâs FÄ« aqsÄm al-Ê¿ulÅ«m al-Ê¿aqlÄ«yaâin which he refers to two âBooks of LawsââI came across this work and was struck by the shortcomings of Ê¿Abd ar-RaḥmÄn BadawÄ«âs existing edition (AflÄá¹Å«n fÄ« l-IslÄm, Tehran: Muʾassasa-i Muá¹ÄlaÊ¿Ät-i IslÄmÄ«, 1974, pp. 197â234). Encouraged by the late Professor Hans Daiber, Professor Dimitri Gutas, and the late Professor Patricia Crone, I resolved to produce a new critical edition based on all available manuscripts, accompanied by an English translation and commentary. I remain deeply grateful for their support.
Locating the manuscripts proved more challenging than anticipated, but generous funding from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) enabled the project to move forwardâan opportunity for which I am profoundly thankful. The edition of the Arabic text was chiefly prepared by Dr. Cüneyd Yıldırım, while Dr. Pascal Held undertook the translation and commentary. I owe them both my sincere thanks for their expertise and collegiality.
I am also indebted to the staff of the Süleymaniye Library (Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi), the British Museum Library, Leiden University Library, the Bodleian Library, the Library of the Parliament (KitÄbkhÄna-yi Majlis-i ShurÄ-yi IslÄmÄ«) in Tehran, the Central Library of the University of Tehran (KitÄbkhÄna-yi MarkazÄ«-ye DÄnishgÄh-i TehrÄn), the Department of Theology (IlÄhÄ«yÄt) at the University of Tehran, and the Malek National Library (KitÄbkhÄna-yi MillÄ«-yi Malik) for their invaluable assistance in securing the manuscripts.
Finally, I extend my gratitude to the editors of Brillâs IPTS series for accepting this volume and to the two anonymous reviewers whose thoughtful critiques strengthened the work. It is my hope that this edition will contribute meaningfully to our understanding of philosophical discourses in the Islamic tradition.
Georges Tamer
Erlangen, in May 2025