Edited by Lawrence I. Conrad, Ph.D. 1981

The World of Ibn Ṭufayl" consists of ten essays by scholars in different fields in Arab-Islamic studies on Ibn Ṭufayl's “Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān,” one of the most extraordinary works of medieval Arabic literature, and a text with important dimensions in social and intellectual history, literature, mysticism, philosophy, medicine and science. Most of the essays were presented at a groundbreaking conference at the Wellcome Institute in London, which marked the first attempt at a critical assessment of “any” medieval Arabic text by drawing together scholars from widely varying fields. The studies cast light on numerous aspects of social and intellectual life in North Africa and Spain in medieval Islamic times, and explore important aspects of the textual intercommunication between author and audience

Reviews

“Doch die Frage bleibt auch heute noch offen: Was ist Wahrheit der Menschen, was ihr Heil? Das vorliegende Werk bietet auf diese Fragen neue Antwortversuche. Es wird zu den Standardwerken über die islamische Philosophie im Mittelalter gehören.”—Friedrich Niewöhner, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 1997