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0.1.1 - The Structure of this Volume

As it is the case in the first volume, we will divide this volume into six chapters, each one of which is extracted from one of the sources on which we relied on to extract a list of the works that can be attributed to Sheikh Muhyiddin, and those that cannot be attributed to him or whose attribution cannot be confirmed. We will explain these sources in detail in the section [ref: six-sources], but we list them here quickly in order to give a simplified view of the structure of the book:

The first chapter is drawn from the main source, which is the Index, al-Fihrist, which the Sheikh wrote to one of his companions in the year 627/1230, and we have studied in detail a large number of manuscripts of this treatise, especially the copy written by Sheikh Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi, and which approved by Sheikh Muhyiddin himself.

In fact, this first source, which is the treatise of the Index, contains the vast majority of books whose authenticity is never doubted, and this includes the most important books he wrote, including the book of Fusus Al-Hukam. Therefore, we find that those who question the validity of the attribution of the Fusus had to question the veracity of the Index, and this is completely refuted with the presence of this copy certified by Sheikh Muhyiddin himself.

As for the second source, which will be the subject of the second chapter, it is the hearings that Sheikh Sadr al-Din wrote, in his own handwriting also, of the books that he read to his Sheikh, or he read them on him, and the permission that his Sheikh wrote for him in his own handwriting to authenticate him to narrate his works after him, all that according to the same previous manuscript that contains the Index treatise.

The third chapter deals with the titles mentioned by the Grand Sheikh in the famous books, which are about seventy titles, of which eighteen are new titles, which were not mentioned in the previous two sources.

These first three sources give us the list of books whose attribution to Sheikh Muhyiddin Ibn al-Arabi is never doubted, and this includes as we mentioned all his main published books and many books that are still missing. Apart from that, the following three sources, including the Leave to the Triumphant King, can add some other titles to the list, but we cannot confirm the validity of their attribution to Sheikh Muhyiddin, due to the lack of any reliable historical manuscripts, as we will describe shortly, especially since most of these alleged titles are still missing. On the other hand, however, these three additional sources confirm the attribution of many of the titles already mentioned in the first three sources.

The fourth chapter is about editing the Leave that Sheikh Muhyiddin issued to the Ayyubid King, al-Muzaffar, and it includes the names of some of his sheikhs as well as the titles of the books that he authored. However, most of them are already mentioned in the Index, and in the same order, as we have noted.

In addition to that, in most manuscript copies of this Leave, we find an additional amendment that includes some titles that were added by copyists, as clearly shown in many manuscripts. This appendix will be the subject of Chapter Five of this volume.

Finally, the sixth chapter will discuss the titles that we can find attributed to Sheikh Muhyiddin in the indexes of various libraries and history books. Although many of these titles are apocryphal or questionable, there are also some of them which contain his style and language, and they most likely belong to him. However, these books require detailed study and review of their original manuscripts before any editing or publication.