Die philosophischen Abhandlungen des al-Kindi

Wüstenfeld 1 cites it among the translations of Gerhard of Cremona: liber Alkindi de quinque essentiis, and it is known to him in three codices (Oxford 1818, Paris 9335, 14700). The "liber introductorius in artem logicae demonstrationis" has, to my knowledge, remained unmentioned until now.

These are the only preserved treatises of philosophical content which are explicitly attributed to al-Kindī. Perhaps one could find traces of al-Kindī's works in some later, mostly pseudonymous or anonymous writings. But that is a question that cannot be discussed here in more detail. While we possess the Arabic originals of other works, and of some also Hebrew translations, the philosophical ones have been handed down to us only in Latin redactions. Let us turn to the consideration of these.

As already said, the two works "de somno et uisione" and "de quinque essentiis" were translated from Arabic into Latin by Gerhard of Cremona between 1167—1187 2 in Cordova. That the Latin text of "de somno et uisione" which we possess is really the same translation is confirmed to us by the heading of one of the oldest codices (Paris Nat. 16613, from the 13th century): "Incipit liber de sompno et uisione quem edidit Jacobus alchinnus. Magister vero Gerardus cremonensis transtulit ex arabico in latinum" Here begins the book on sleep and vision which Jacob Alchinnus published. But Master Gerard of Cremona translated it from Arabic into Latin.. The manuscripts of "de quinque essentiis," on the other hand, do not bear the name of the translator. But this can give rise to no concerns, since Gerhard, as is known, did not append his name to any of the translations he produced. 3 Incidentally, the linguistic character of "de quinque essentiis" is entirely the same as it appears to us in "de somno et uisione" and

1) Wüstenfeld, Die Übersetzungen arabischer Werke in das Lateinische The translations of Arabic works into Latin, p. 67 no. 41.

2) Bardenhewer, Die pseudo-aristotelische Schrift Über das reine Gute, bekannt unter dem Namen Liber de causis The pseudo-Aristotelian writing On the Pure Good, known under the name Liber de causis. Freiburg i. Br. 1882, p. 145.

3) Boncompagni, Della vita e delle opere di Gherardo Cremonese: p. 3 . . . since he had inscribed his name on none of them [i.e., the books].