W.D. Ross, Aristotle's Metaphysics, 2 vols., Clarendon Press, Oxford 1924 (repr. 1970).
Averroès, Tafsir ma ba‘d at-tabi‘at, Texte arabe inédit établi par Maurice Bouyges, Imprimerie Catholique, Beyrouth 1938-1952 (Bibliotheca Arabica Scholasticorum, Série arabe V,1; V,2; VI; VII).
The Graeco-Arabic pericopes are taken from the correspondences published in: C. Martini, La tradizione araba della Metafisica di Aristotele: libri Α e α, Tesi di laurea in Storia della filosofia, Università degli studi di Padova, Padova 1997, p. 101-181 slightly modified.
In the Arabic version, the first two books of the Metaphysics appear in reverse order with respect to the Greek. Alpha elatton – i. e. one of the two introductory books of the Metaphysics as it has come down to us – antecedes Alpha Meizon, the well-known beginning of Aristotle’s work.[1] Two Arabic translations of alpha elatton are extant: the Leiden MS contains the translation by Isḥāq ibn Ḥunayn (d. 910 A. D.) in the main text, and another translation in the margins. The latter is ascribed to a certain Usṭāṯ (9th century), who is mentioned also in the Kitāb al-Fihrist by Ibn al-Nadīm (d. 995 A. D.) as the author of the Arabic translation of the Metaphysics made for al-Kindī. Book Alpha Meizon is extant in Arabic only from 987 a 6 onwards. Averroes had at his disposal the translation by a certain Naẓīf (10th century). The latter is mentioned by Ibn al-Nadīm as a physician and a mathematician, but there is no mention of Naẓīf’s translation of the Metaphysics in the Kitāb al-Fihrist. Passages from Alpha Meizon which are missing in Naẓīf’s translation feature – quoted in all likelihood from a different translation – in the Metaphysics (Ilāhiyyāt) of Avicenna’s Kitāb al- Šifā’, as well as in the Kitāb al-Milal wa-l-niḥal by al-Šahrastānī (d. 1153 A. D.), and in the Kitāb fī ‘ilm mā ba‘d al-ṭabī‘a by ‘Abd al-Laṭīf al-Baġdādī (d. 1231 A. D.). Finally, the MS Città del Vaticano, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Ott. Lat. 2048 contains in an anonymous Latin translation a part of Alpha Meizon not included in the so-called Metaphysica Nova, i.e. the Arabo-Latin translation of the Metaphysics made on the basis of Averroes’Long Commentary. Taking into account the fact that MS Ott. Lat. 2048 bears the hallmarks of a translation from Arabic, one may surmise that even the parts of Alpha Meizon unknown to Averroes were extant in Arabic, although the details of this textual transmission remain obscure. Book Βeta is extant in Usṭāṯ’s translation, albeit fragmentarily. Another translation of this book is mentioned in the Kitāb al-Fihrist, as well as the commentary by Syrianus on it.[2] Usṭāṯ’s translation of Book Beta is also recorded among the books in the possession of Yaḥyā ibn ‘Adī.[3] Usṭāṯ’s translation seems to be in use for Book Gamma, too, but Averroes also quotes a different translation, possibly Isḥāq’s one. Books Delta and Epsilon are extant in Usṭāṯ’s translation. Usṭāṯ translated also Zeta, which is quoted by Averroes in the lemmata; but the latter also quotes the epitome of Nicolaus Damascenus in his commentary. As for Book Ηeta, Averroes had only Usṭāṯ’s translation at his disposal. Books Theta and Iota are quoted in Usṭāṯ’s translation in the lemmata, but in the commentary Averroes has recourse to a different translation, commonly ascribed to Isḥāq ibn Ḥunayn. Lambda, the theological book of the Metaphysics par excellence, was translated six times, in itself an indication of the extraordinary interest raised by Aristotle’s doctrine of the First Principle. Averroes quotes Book Lambda in two translations in the lemmata of his commentary. From 1069 a 18 (the beginning of the book) to 1072 b 16 Averroes uses the translation from Syriac made by Abū Bišr Mattā (d. 940 A. D.), one of the leaders of the “Aristotelians of Baghdad” mentioned above. According to the Kitāb al-Fihrist, Abū Bišr Mattā translated also the commentary onLambda by Alexander of Aphrodisias, and possibly also Themistius’ paraphrase. From 1072 b 16 onwards, Averroes comes back to the translation ascribed to Usṭāṯ. Averroes’ commentary onLambda is of special importance because it quotes Alexander’s commentary, lost in Greek. Besides, Averroes quotes the translation of Yaḥyā ibn ‘Adī and another one, which can be ascribed either to Isḥāq ibn Ḥunayn or to a certain Šamlī (9th century), an almost unknown translator to whom the Kitāb al-Fihrist also ascribes a translation of book Lambda. Finally, an anonymous paraphrase of Lambda 6-10, edited in 1937 in Egypt and later on by Badawī (1947) must be added. The terminological affinity of this paraphrase with the Arabic translation of Themistius’ one should be considered in future studies. As for books Mu and Nu, neither the translations nor Averroes’ commentaries are extant. However, Averroes seems to be acquainted with these books and provides a description of them in his introduction to Lambda. According to a marginal note in f. 1 r of the Leiden MS, book Mu was translated by ‘Īsā Ibn-Zur‘a (d. 1008 A. D.), and book Nu was translated by Naẓīf ibn Ayman. Ibn al-Nadīm, in his Kitāb al-Fihrist, informs that the books of the Metaphysics are arranged according to the order of the Greek letters, beginning from minor Alif (alpha elatton). To this, he adds that the Metaphysics goes from minor Alif to Mim, and that the latter was translated by Yaḥyā ibn ‘Adī. Then he says that books minor Alif - Mim had been also translated by Usṭāṯ for al-Kindī. Finally, he states that Book Nun (i.e. Nu) was extant in Greek together with Alexander’s commentary. (
C. Martini Bonadeo, "The Arabic Translations of Aristotle's Metaphysics"). For the moment, the Graeco-Arabic pericopes include Books Alpha meizon (extant in Arabic only in part) and Alpha elatton. Selecting "order by Arabic", the user will find them in the reverse order, as explained above.
Footnotes:
- [1] This is the beginning of the Greek Metaphysics: Πάντες
ἄνθρωποι τοῦ εἰδέναι ὀρέγονται φύσει (Metaph. A 1, 980 a 21),
"All men by nature desire to know", trans. W. D. Ross.
This is the beginning of the Metaphysics in Arabic, as it has come
down to us: إن النظر في الحق صعب من جهة سهل من جهة corresponding to
Metaph. α 1, 992 b 30-31, ἡ περὶ τῆς ἀληθείας θεωρία τῇ μὲν χαλεπὴ
τῇ δὲ ῥᾳδία, "The investigation of the truth is in one way
hard, in another easy", trans. W. D. Ross.
- [2] Extant in Greek, together with the commentary on Gamma
and Mu-Nu. The critical edition of the Greek text is forthoming in
the “Collection des Universités de France”, Association Guillaume
Budé, Les Belles Lettres, Paris.
- [3] Yaḥyā ibn ‘Adī (d. 974 A. D.) was one of the leading
scholars of so-called "Aristotelians of Baghdad".
A License Agreement between the Publisher Dar el-Mashreq and Greek
into Arabic grants access to the volumes of the series "Bibliotheca
Arabica Scholasticorum" (photos: Dr. Nicola Gronchi, Università di
Pisa; web gallery: Centro Serra, Università di Pisa). Averroès,
Tafsir ma ba‘d at-tabi‘at, Texte arabe inédit établi par Maurice
Bouyges, Imprimerie Catholique, Beyrouth 1938-1952
Bibliotheca Arabica Scholasticorum, Série arabe V,1; V,2; VI; VII
