Les Lettres Orientales de Beyrouth, 1958. First edition.
In French with some Arabic texts.
Soft covers, octavo, 207 pages, footnotes.

The original owner of the book who signed his name on the front endpaper was Fadlou Shehadi. Shehadi was a distinguished professor of philosophy and a professional singer. and was originally from Lebanon. The marginal pencil annotations in the book were by him

An analysis of the various aspects of the notion of mystical knowledge (Gnosis) in the works of al Ghazali

Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali (c. 1058 – 1111); known as Al-Ghazali or Algazel to the Western medieval world, was a Muslim theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic of Persian descent.

Al-Ghazali has sometimes been referred to by historians as the single most influential Muslim after the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Others have cited his movement from science to faith as a detriment to Islamic scientific progress.[6] Besides his work that successfully changed the course of Islamic philosophy—the early Islamic Neoplatonism developed on the grounds of Hellenistic philosophy, for example, was so successfully refuted by al-Ghazali that it never recovered—he also brought the orthodox Islam of his time in close contact with Sufism. The orthodox theologians still went their own way, and so did the mystics, but both developed a sense of mutual appreciation which ensured that no sweeping condemnation could be made by one for the practices of the other.

Ghazali was given the unique title of Hujjat al-Islam, meaning 'The Proof of Islam', a title given to no other scholar or personality in Islamic history, further displaying his status within the religion. Furthermore, he is known by some as being, "literally the man who saved Islam."

Scarce copy.

Fadlou Albert Shehadi, Rutgers Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and professional singer, died at his home in Princeton on February 29, 2012 from congestive heart failure. He was 86.

A native of Beirut, Lebanon, Shehadi graduated magna cum laude from the American University of Beirut, and in 1949 came to Princeton University for his doctorate in philosophy. Mr. Shehadi joined the Rutgers University Department of Philosophy in 1953 and taught there until his retirement in 1994. He chaired the department at Douglass College for a total of nine years, and twice directed the Rutgers Study Abroad program in France.

He is best known for his pioneering work in the study of Islamic philosophy. His first two books on Ghazali's religious philosophy championed the use of philosophical analysis in the study of a field dominated almost exclusively by classical historical and philological scholarship. His Metaphysics in Islamic Philosophy is the first book-length philosophical discussion of metaphysical issues in Islamic philosophy, and his last work, Philosophies of Music in Medieval Islam, is the only book on the subject. Although a Christian, he considered Islamic culture as part of his heritage and was gratified to do scholarship in that field.

At the height of interest in applied ethics in Western philosophy, he co-edited a set of commissioned essays from leading ethicists that discussed the relationship between applied and theoretical ethics and whether the philosopher is uniquely qualified to clarify that relationship. He authored several articles, and gave papers before learned societies across the U.S.A., Europe and Asia. He was a member of the American Philosophical Association.

A skilled baritone, Mr. Shehadi started his musical training in Beirut at the Institut de Musique, an affiliate of the École Normale de Paris, and received his diploma with distinction in 1948. He continued his musical education throughout his life, studying with Bernard Diamant while on a Rockefeller Fellowship at McGill University, with Jennie Tourel at Juilliard, and in Paris with Pierre Bernac, with whom he formed a particularly close bond.

Noted for his musicality and gifted interpretation, Shehadi's gave many recitals in the U.S.A., Canada, Europe and his native Lebanon. He also sang roles in Boris Godunov with the Montreal Opera under Emil Cooper, in the Eastern premiere of The Trial of Lucullus by Roger Sessions, the U.S. premiere of Handel's Imeneo and in Monteverdi's Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Chlorinde at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia with the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. As a soloist, he appeared with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, the Princeton Chamber Orchestra, the Interlochen Chorus and Orchestra and the Bachman Choir with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Michael Steinberg, of The Boston Globe, wrote that Shehadi had "a baritone voice of exceptional beauty."

Mr. Shehadi was also active in the promotion of musical performance. He chaired the Princeton University Concerts Committee, was President of the Friends of Music at Princeton, Vice President of the Robert Miller Fund for Music, President of the Board of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and President of the Board of Directors of Joy In Singing, in New York City. He was also a member of the Century Association.

Very scarce copy.

CONDITION: Very Good. (Covers have light soiling and light shelf wear. Name of former owner on front endpaper. Contents are clean and intact.)