Dedicatory Letter.

...in the Arabic language original: "lingua Arabica", and in those very buildings to which it owes the fact that it is no longer heard as something utterly foreign and barbaric, even at Oxford original: "Oxonii". Behold, then, prostrate at your knees, a philosopher who is indeed a Pagan original: "Ethnicum"; often used to mean a Gentile or non-Christian, but of good character; and regarding his religion, there is perhaps nothing for which anyone might find fault, except for that unfortunate sin of misfortune, that he did not happen to be born among Christians.

He once moved not only among Muslims original: "Mohammedanos" but was also a welcome guest among the Jews; and now, at last, he wishes to become known to Christians as well. But here he pauses anxiously, fearing how little he might be welcomed, and he asks for a Guardian Spirit Genius; in this context, a protective patron or a guiding intellectual spirit, by whose protection he might be able to bear the unfamiliar light of public view. Nor is there any reason for a book departing from Oxford to seek patronage elsewhere.

Since it is from You and your printing press that all those manuscript books—which were brought here long ago by the generosity original: "munificentiâ" of others—finally expect their freedom; books that have until now been condemned to a rather majestic prison and to more splendid chains. A literal reference to the "chained libraries" of Oxford, such as the Bodleian, where precious manuscripts were physically tethered to the shelves. Recently, this University seemed sterile and almost exhausted...