Works

Our three bio-bibliographers list a number of Arabic translations of works attributed to Yahjya al-NahjwI. First, they list Arabic translations ofcommentaries on Aristotle’s Categories, De interpretatione, Prior Analytics (partial), Posterior Analytics, Topics, Physics, and De generatione et corruptione. The work entitled Commentary on Aristotle’s ‘‘ma bala’’ as Steinschneider suggested, probably was a commentary on a collection of Physical questions beginning with the phrase ma bala. Then, they list Arabic translations of a commentary on Porphyry’s Isagoge and a commentary on Galen’s De usu partium. Apart from the commentaries, Arabic translations of the following separate treatises are attributed to him: Refutation ofPro-clus on the Eternity of the World, in 18 books, Refutation of

Aristotle, in six books, That the Force of Every Finite Body is Finite, in one book, Refutation of Nestorius, in one book, and two other unidentified works against the doctrines of some other people. Furthermore, a history of medicine and 20 other medical treatises have also been attributed to “Yahiya,” but Meyerhof has argued against their attribution and authenticity. None of Philoponus’ genuine works translated into Arabic survives in full. What has turned up so far are long extracts in a summary form from his Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics, a summary of his Book on the Proof for the Temporal Creation of the World, few quotations from his book Contra Aristotelem and from his book De aeternitate mundi contra Proclum, and some other reworked extracts from the same work.