These sixteen articles on various aspects of classical Islamic thought have an underlying unity of theme, aptly summed up in the book's title. They form a good part of their author's important contribution to the study of Islamic thought. Most of these articles have been published during the past three decades in different learned journals, in encyclopedias and books containing articles by other scholars. Their inclusion (with some revision) in one volume not only makes them more accessible, but also endows the collection with a historical perspective. The author has arranged the articles as closely as possible in the chronological order of their subjects.

The volume was already in the press when its author, George Fadlou Hourani, died of a heart ailment. It is the last gift of a scholar who had dedicated his life to research and teaching. Born in England in 1913 of Lebanese ancestry, he read philosophy and classics at Oxford, graduating in 1936. His graduate studies in the languages and history of the Near East were undertaken at Princeton University where he obtained his doctorate in 1939. His teaching career began in Jerusalem, Palestine, during the British mandate, where he taught classics, logic and the history of philosophy at the Government Arab College from 1939 until the end of the mandate in 1948. He then returned to England with his Egyptian wife, Celeste, where he spent two years in writing and research.