This volume is an English version of Philosophie in der islamischen Welt. Band 2/1: 11.–12.- Jahrhundert. Zentrale und östliche Gebiete (ed. by Ulrich Rudolph with assistance from Renate Würsch, Basel 2021). It constitutes the second part of the multi-volume book series Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie: Philosophie in der islamischen Welt, which first appears in German with the publisher Schwabe (Basel/Berlin), and then in English translation with E.J. Brill (Leiden) under the title Philosophy in the Islamic World.
It is thanks to the hard work of numerous people that this English version of volume 2-1 has been able to appear so quickly after the publication of the German text. Above all, I must thank Gwendolin Goldbloom, who managed to be both prompt and precise as she took on the task of translating the entire book, with the exception of chapters that had initially been written in English and then translated into German. As in the case of vol. 1, Peter Adamson edited and proofread the translation with great care and expertise. Hani Mohseni, Nada Abdelsalam, and Zack Candy from Prof Adamson’s team at the University of Munich, contributed considerably to the production of the manuscript, tracking down additional information and helping with crucial aspects of the copy-editing process. Both editors have gone through the entire manuscript and are responsible for the final redaction. The authors of the original German chapters have also been involved in the production of this new version, and have helped with the addition of new references to literature that appeared since autumn 2021.
I would like also to express my gratitude to the publishing houses involved in this process. Schwabe was willing to permit the English translation to appear after a shorter wait than volume 1 of the series, while E.J. Brill committed to organizing and supporting the process of translation. Abdurraouf Oueslati from Brill, in particular, has been a reliable and helpful interlocutor throughout. The enthusiasm with which all concerned worked towards this final result has been essential to the production of this book and can be taken as a promise for further volumes soon to appear in the same series.
A final word must be devoted to Wilferd Madelung, author of the chapter on Šahrastānī in this volume, who passed away on May 9, 2023. He possessed extraordinary knowledge of intellectual history in the Islamic world and was a source of inspiration and advice for many of the contributors to this book.
Ulrich Rudolph
Zurich, May 2023