16
I shall therefore reproduce their words exactly as they appear, section by section, and after each section I will supply an appropriate reply—dealing with both subsidiary and principal matters, tying the knots and then untying them.
What they have set down in this book is the very foundation upon which their scholars rely in our own time and in times past, even if some of them add to one another according to circumstance. We have found that they have long depended on this epistle, passing it among their learned men; ancient copies of it are still extant, and it is attributed to Paul the monk, a bishop
وَأَنَا أَذْكُرُ مَا ذَكَرُوهُ بِأَلْفَاظِهِمْ بِأَعْيَانِهَا فَصْلًا فَصْلًا، وَأُتْبِعُ كُلَّ فَصْلٍ بِمَا يُنَاسِبُهُ مِنَ الْجَوَابِ فَرْعًا وَأَصْلًا، وَعَقْدًا وَحَلًّا.
وَمَا ذَكَرُوهُ فِي هَذَا الْكِتَابِ هُوَ عُمْدَتُهُمُ الَّتِي يَعْتَمِدُ عَلَيْهَا عُلَمَاؤُهُمْ فِي مِثْلِ هَذَا الزَّمَانِ، وَقَبْلِ هَذَا الزَّمَانِ، وَإِنْ كَانَ قَدْ يَزِيدُ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ بِحَسَبِ الْأَحْوَالِ ; فَإِنَّ هَذِهِ الرِّسَالَةَ وَجَدْنَاهُمْ يَعْتَمِدُونَ عَلَيْهَا قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ، وَيَتَنَاقَلُهَا عُلَمَاؤُهُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ، وَالنُّسَخُ بِهَا مَوْجُودَةٌ قَدِيمَةٌ، وَهِيَ مُضَافَةٌ إِلَى بُولِصَ الرَّاهِبِ أُسْقُفِّ