Kitāb Uṯūlūǧiyā (Theologia Aristotelis)

[...] only the treatises gathered by Porphyry in Enneads IV, V and VI - dealing respectively with soul, intellect and the One - are reflected in the Arabic paraphrase. Traces of IV 3[27] appear both in the pseudo-Theology and in the ' Sayings of the Greek Sage' ; but chapter 18 is preserved in the 'sayings'; chapters 19 and 20, in the pseudo- Theology (there is a passage in common), and chapter 21 is preserved in the 'sayings'. As for IV 4[28], chapters 1-8 are preserved in the pseudo-Theology; chapters 11-28 (not continuously) are reflected in the 'Sayings of the Greek sage', and chapters 32-39 are reflected in the pseudo-Theology. Treatise IV 5[29] is reflected only in the 'Sayings of the Greek Sage'. Treatise IV 7[2] is preserved in the pseudo-Theology as for chapters 1, 8 and 13-15; there is a passage in common between the pseudo-Theology and the 'Say- ings of the Greek Sage' in chapter 8. Treatise IV 8[6] is reflected in the pseudo-Theol- ogy as for its beginnings (chapters 1-2) and end (chapters 5-8), whereas the central part (chapters 3-5) is preserved in the 'Sayings of the Greek Sage'. Treatise IV 9[8] is reflected only in the 'Sayings of the Greek Sage'. As for Ennead V, treatise V 1[10] is reflected only in the 'sayings' as for chapter 2; there are passages in common in the pseudo-Theology and in the 'sayings' as for chapters 3, 6 and 10; chapters 7, 8 and 11 are reflected only in the 'sayings'. The short treatise V 2[1 1], with its two chapters, is preserved only in the pseudo-Theology, which reflects both. Treatise V 3[49] is reflected almost in its entirety in the pseudo-Farabian Epistle on the divine science, and only there. As for the short treatise V 4[7], its two chapters are reflected in the Epistle, but there is a slight trace of chapter 1 in the 'Sayings of the Greek Sage'. Treatise V 5[32] is reflected only in the Epistle. There is a slight trace of chapter V 6[24], concerning only some ten lines of chapter 4, in the 'Sayings of the Greek Sage'. Treatise V 8[31], on the contrary, is preserved only in the pseudo-Theology. Treatise V 9[5] is reflected only in the Epistle. As for Ennead VI, there is a minimal trace of VI 4[22] in the 'Sayings of the Greek Sage'. Treatise VI 7[38], on the contrary, is widely preserved; but the first part is reflected in the pseudo-Theology (chapters 1-14), whereas chapters 17-18, 23, 32 and 42 are reflected in the 'Sayings of the Greek Sage'. Finally, there are slight traces of treatise VI 9[9], chapter 6, in the 'Sayings of the Greek Sage' [...] (See C. D'Ancona, Pseudo-'Theology of Aristotle', Chapter I: Structure and Composition. In: Oriens 36 (2001), pp. 78-112 [p. 81 quoted]).

The editio princeps of the pseudo-Theology (Dieterici 1882) was based on the MSS Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Sprenger 741 (see below, Descriptions, n. 1.); Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, ar. 2347 (Descriptions, n. 4.), plus an unknown MS from Tabriz, copied for Dieterici by a Persian pupil of his (Einleitung, p. viii).

The edition Badawī 1955 (1966) was based on the following MSS:

• al-Qāhira, Dār al-kutub al-miṣriyya, ḥikma wa-falsafa 617 (see below, Descriptions, n. 6.)
• al-Qāhira, Dār al-kutub al-miṣriyya, Ṭalʿat 384 (Descriptions, n. 7.)
• al-Qāhira, Dār al-kutub al-miṣriyya, Taymūr, ḥikma 102 (Descriptions, n. 8.)
• Istanbul, Süleymaniye kütüphanesi, Aya Sofia 2457 (Descriptions, n. 2.)
• Istanbul, Süleymaniye kütüphanesi, Hamidiye 717 bis (Descriptions, n. 3.)
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, ar. 2347 (Descriptions, n. 4.)
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, supplément persan 1640 (Descriptions, n. 5.)

Thanks to the missions conducted within the context of “Greek into Arabic”, 102 MSS of the pseudo-Theology have been located in various libraries of outside-European countries, and their reproductions have been gathered. The description of these manuscripts will form part and parcel of the forthcoming critical edition. Below, the reference to the descriptions of the manuscripts which served as a basis for the editions Dieterici and Badawī.

• Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Sprenger 741.
• Istanbul, Süleymaniye kütüphanesi, Aya Sofia 2457.
• Istanbul, Süleymaniye kütüphanesi, Hamidiye 717 bis.
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, ar. 2347.
• Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, supplément persan 1640.
• al-Qāhira, Dār al-kutub al-miṣriyya, ḥikma wa-falsafa 617.
• al-Qāhira, Dār al-kutub al-miṣriyya, Ṭalʿat 384.
• al-Qāhira, Dār al-kutub al-miṣriyya, Taymūr, ḥikma 102.