revelation are in conflict, reason must take precedence’—in 242 distinct arguments, whereas the abridger chose to transmit only 52 of them, and even those he sometimes compressed further (1).

The edition cited in this study is the one edited by Dr. al-Hasan ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman al-ʿAlawi, issued in four volumes by Maktabat Aḍwāʾ al-Salaf in Riyadh, first edition, 1425 AH / 2004 CE.

The abridgment is not entirely free of textual gaps. Despite the several manuscripts I have consulted (2), all of them unfortunately contain a large lacuna that corresponds, in al-Ṣawāʿiq, to the material from the middle of p. 255 to the end of p. 422. This will be mentioned when describing manuscript “M”; see also the editor’s note (1/210).

We have gained considerable help from this epitome in establishing the text of the book. For purposes of collation and review I relied on what I deem its most authoritative manuscript, copied in 758 AH and designated here as “M.” A description of it will follow. I preferred this manuscript to the printed edition because of its rarity and the accuracy with which many of its readings are preserved.

The value of this abridgment is especially great in that it contains a digest of the lost portion of al-Ṣawāʿiq—a substantial section that begins midway through p. 570 and runs to the end of p. 1648.