Reconstructing Isḥāq ibn Ḥunayn’s Arabic Translation of Aristotle’s De Anima

Abstract

The present contribution reconstructs several passages from Isḥāq ibn Ḥunayn’s lost Arabic translation of Aristotle’s De Anima, based on the Hebrew and the Latin versions produced from Isḥāq’s Arabic, as well as on Isḥāq’s extant Arabic translation of Themistius’ commentary on Aristotle’s De Anima. The relationship between these texts is carefully examined. One passage from Ibn Zurʿa’s supplement to Isḥāq’s translation of Aristotle’s De Anima is similarly reconstructed. The reconstruction sheds light on Avicenna’s commentatorial technique in his Marginal Notes on the De Anima and on Averroes’ commentatorial technique in his Long Commentary on the same book.