also shaped by works of literature and poetry, from which he quotes several passages.
He likewise drew on a range of specialized sources directly related to the subject at hand, such as Badhl al-Majhūd fī Ifḥām al-Yahūd by al-Samawʾal, Bayna al-Islām wa-l-Masīḥiyya by Abū ʿUbayda al-Khazrajī, and—most importantly—his own teacher Ibn Taymiyya’s al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ liman Baddala Dīn al-Masīḥ. He benefited greatly from the last of these, and it seems to have served as a conduit for material taken from Ibn al-Baṭrīq’s Taʾrīkh concerning Christianity, its history, its sects, and the councils it convened.
The passages he reproduces from the Old and New Testaments show that those scriptures, too, were among his authorities. He may also have relied on certain works only indirectly—Allah knows best. In the footnotes to this edition I have identified the places where he borrows from those sources, whether printed or still in manuscript.

The Relationship between Hidāyat al-Ḥayārā and al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ
Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 AH) produced a voluminous work entitled al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ liman Baddala Dīn al-Masīḥ, written in reply to the “Cyprus Epistle” composed by Paul the Monk, the Bishop of Sidon and Antioch. It is among the greatest treatises devoted to disputing Christians, rebutting their doubts, dismantling their corrupted foundations, and defending Islam against their assaults. Shaykh Muḥammad Abū Zahrah (d. 1394 AH) says of it: “It unites fertile, productive discussion with sound, profound learning. On the one hand, it is a primary reference in its field, conveying authentic, deeply rooted scientific truths; on the other, it offers debate and disputation that are rigorous, masterful, and penetrating… Ibn Taymiyya in this book is a defender, not an aggressor; yet, as is his custom in argumentation, he demolishes his opponent’s proof, dulls the sword raised against him, and then launches a powerful counter-attack.”