The Liminary Texts of al-Ġazālī’s Maqāṣid al-falāsifa. A Specimen of English Translation of the Prologue, Epilogue and Prefaces, with Philosophical and Philological Commentary

This article offers the first English translation, with a doctrinal and philological commentary, of all the liminary texts of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ġazālī’s "Maqāṣid al-falāsifa" [The Intentions/Doctrines of the Philosophers]. Under the label of ‘liminary texts’ I consider the well-known Prologue of the entire summa, its brief Epilogue, as well as the individual prefaces to the three main sections of the work, respectively devoted to logic, metaphysics, and natural philosophy. This choice of texts aims at offering an overview of the contents, style, and main theoretical concerns of al-Ġazālī’s encyclopaedia, which encompasses Avicenna’s version of Peripatetic philosophy in a nutshell. After a brief methodological presentation, the article provides an introduction to each of these prefatory or conclusive texts, their Arabic-English translation, and a running commentary on each of them, which addresses the main issues they raise with respect to text, context, doctrine, sources, and reception (with special reference to the medieval Latin translation of the work). The article is concluded by an Appendix providing a novel divisio textus of the Maqāṣid into 455 paragraphs, used for reference throughout the commentary.