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The Guide for the Perplexed (1904)

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The Guide for the Perplexed (1904)
by Maimonides, translated by Michael Friedländer
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The Guide for the Perplexed is Maimonides' major philosophical work, and is widely considered to be the most influential book of medieval Jewish philosophy. Originally written in Judeo-Arabic as Dalalāt al-Hairin, its Hebrew translation by Samuel ibn Tibbon became the book's standard edition, and it has also been translated into several European languages. This edition is that of the 1904 translation into English by M. Friedländer.

Author's Introduction · Part I · Part II (Propositions / Chapters) · Part III (Introduction / Chapters)
Full Table of Contents

Maimonides54477The Guide for the Perplexed1904Michael Friedländer
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The
Guide for the Perplexed

​

The Guide for the Perplexed

by

Moses Maimonides

Translated From the Original Arabic Text

by

M. Friedländer, Ph.D

Second Edition, Revised Throughout

London

George Routledge & Sons LTD

New York: E. P. Dutton & co

1910

​

Second Edition, 1904: Reprinted, 1910.

​

Preface

The first Edition of the English Translation of Maimonides’ ar:Dalalāt al-Hairin being exhausted without having fully supplied the demand, I prepared a second, revised edition of the Translation. In the new edition the three volumes of the first edition have been reduced to one volume by the elimination of the notes; besides Hebrew words and phrases have been eliminated or transliterated. By these changes the translator sought to produce a cheap edition in order to bring the work of Maimonides within the reach of all students of Theology and Jewish Literature.

M. Friedländer.

Jews’ College, July 1904.
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Preface to Volume One of the First Edition

In compliance with a desire repeatedly expressed by the Committee of the Hebrew Literature Society, I have undertaken to translate Maimonides’ Dalalāt al-Ḥairin, better known by the Hebrew title Moreh Nebuchim, and I offer the first instalment of my labours in the present volume. This contains—(1) A short Life of Maimonides, in which special attention is given to his alleged apostasy. (2) An analysis of the whole of the Moreh Nebuchim. (3) A translation of the First Part of this work from the Arabic, with explanatory and critical notes.

Parts of the Translation have been contributed by Mr. Joseph Abrahams, B.A., Ph.D., and Rev. H. Gollancz—the Introduction by the former, and the first twenty—five chapters by the latter.

In conclusion I beg to tender my thanks to Rev. A. Loewy, Editor of the Publications of the Hebrew Literature Society, for his careful revision of my manuscript and proofs, and to Mr. A. Neubauer, M.A., for his kindness in supplying me with such information as I required.

M. Friedländer.

Jews’ College, June 1881.

Contents:

[edit]

Chapter

  1. I The homonymity of Ẓelem 13
  2. II On Genesis iii. 5 14
  3. III On tabnit and temunah 16
  4. IV On raah, hibbit and ḥazah 17
  5. V On Exod. xxiv. 10 18
  6. VI On ish and ishshah, aḅ and aḅot 19
  7. VII On yalad 19
  8. VIII On maḳom 20
  9. IX On kisse 21
  10. X On ʾalah, yarad 22
  11. XI On yashab 23
  12. XII On kam 24
  13. XIII On ʿamad 25
  14. XIV On adam 25
  15. XV On naẓab, yaẓab 25
  16. XVI On Ẓur 26
  17. XVII On Mishnah Ḥagigah ii. 1 27
  18. XVIII On ḳarab, nagaʿ, niggash 27
  19. XIX On male 28
  20. XX On ram, nissa 29
  21. XXI On ʿabar 30
  22. XXII On ba 32
  23. XXIII On Yaẓa, shub 32
  24. XXIV On halak 33
  25. XXV On shaken 34
  26. XXVI On “The Torah speaketh the language of man” 34
  27. XXVII On Targum of Gen. xlvi. 4 35
  28. XXVIII On regel 37
  29. XXIX On ʿaẓeb 39
  30. XXX On akal 39
  31. XXXI, XXXII On the Limit of Man’s Intellect 40
  32. XXXII On the Limit of Man’s Intellect 42
  33. XXXIII On the Study and the Teaching of Metaphysics
  34. XXXIV On the Study and the Teaching of Metaphysics
  35. XXXV On the Study and the Teaching of Metaphysics
  36. XXXVI On the Study and the Teaching of Metaphysics
  37. XXXVII On panim 52
  38. XXXVIII On aḥor 53
  39. XXXIX On leb 54
  40. XL On ruaḥ 55
  41. XLI On nefesh 56
  42. XLII On ḥayyim-mavet 56
  43. XLIII On kanaf 57
  44. XLIV On ʿayin 58
  45. XLV On sbamaʿ 58
  46. XLVI, XLVII On the Attribution of Senses and Sensations to God 59
  47. XLVII On the Attribution of Senses and Sensations to God 63
  48. XLVIII The Targum of sbama’ and raah 64
  49. XLIX Figurative Expressions applied to Angels 65
  50. L On Faith 67
  51. LI On the Necessity of Proving the Inadmissibility of Attributes in reference to God 68
  52. LII Classification of Attributes 69
  53. LIII The Arguments of the Attributes 72
  54. LIV On Exod. xxxiii. 13; xxxiv. 7 75
  55. LV On Attributes implying Corporeality, Emotion, Non-existence and Comparison 78
  56. LVI On Attributes denoting Existence, Life, Power, Wisdom and Will 79
  57. LVII On the Identity of the Essence of God and His Attributes 80
  58. LVIII On the Negative Sense of the True Attributes of God 81
  59. LIX On the Character of the Knowledge of God Consisting of Negations 83
  60. LX On the Difference between Positive and Negative Attributes 87
  61. LXI On the Names of God 89
  62. LXII On the Divine Names composed of Four, Twelve and Forty-Two Letters 91
  63. LXIII On Ehyeh, Yah and Shaddai 93
  64. LXIV On “The Name of the Lord,” and “The Glory of God” 95
  65. LXV On the phrase “God spake” 96
  66. LXVI On Exod. xxxii. 16 98
  67. LXVII On shahat and nah 99
  68. LXVIII On the Terms: The Intellectus, the Intelligens and the Intelligible 100
  69. LXIX On the Primal Cause 102
  70. LXX On the attribute rokeb baʿarabot 105
  71. LXXI The Origin of the Kalâm 107
  72. LXXII A Parallel between the Universe and Man 113
  73. LXXIII Twelve Propositions of the Kalâm 120
  74. LXXIV Proofs of the Kalâm for the creatio ex nihilo 133
  75. LXXV Proofs of the Kalâm for the Unity of God 138
  76. LXXVI Proofs of the Kalâm for the Incorporeality of God 141

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