Ebook: A Jewish Philosopher of Baghdad: ʿIzz al-Dawla Ibn Kammūna (d. 683/1284) and His Writings

For a long time, the study of the life and work of the Jewish thinker 'Izz al-Dawla Ibn Kammna' (683/1284) remained limited to a very small number of texts. Interest in Ibn Kammna' in the Western Christian world dates back to the 17th century, when Barthelemy Herbelot (1624-1695) included information on two of Ibn Kammna's works - his examination of the three faiths (Tanq' al-abth' li-l-milal al-thalt'), i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and his commentary on Avicennas al-Ishrt' wa l-tanbht' - in his Bibliotheque orientale. Subsequent generations of Western scholars were focused on Ibn Kammna's Tanq'al-abth', whereas his fame in the Eastern lands of Islam was based exclusively on his philosophical writings. These include a commentary on the Kitb'al-Talwt' by the founder of Illumationist philosophy, Shihb' al-Dn'al-Suhraward' (587/1191) and numerous independent works on philosophy and logic. Since most of the manuscripts of Ibn Kammna's philosophical writings are located in the public and private libraries of Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, they were (and are) out of reach for the majority of Western scholars. The volume gives a detailed account of the available data of Ibn Kammna's biography, provides an outline of his philosophical thought and studies in detail the reception of his thought and his writings among later Muslim and Jewish philosophers. An inventory of his entire oeuvre provides detailed information on the extant manuscripts. The volume furthermore includes editions of nine of his writings.