Whereas most of what is preserved of the Arabic translations of Proclus’ works other than the Elements of Theology seems to be reasonably faithful to the Greek original, all the extant textual evidence of the Elements of Theology has undergone considerable reworking. The 20 propositions contained in the alleged excerpt of Alexander of Aphrodisias from Aristotle’s ‘‘Theology’’ (edited under the title Proclus Arabus by Gerhard Endress and enhanced by two further propositions, which are similar with regard to terminology and doctrinal reworking, by Fritz Zimmer-mann) focus on the One as the first principle and the cause of all being. The One itself is said to be pure being, not beyond being as Proclus himself would claim. It is also pictured as generating the unchangeable first matter, although the Proclean concept of emanation is still present in the text. The same holds true for the hierarchy of hypostases (henads, intellects, souls, natures), but the main distinction on the level of being with which the corpus Proclus Arabus operates is only threefold: One - forms - bodies. The Exposition of the Pure Good in its various extant recensions, which probably all stem from what may tentatively by termed ‘‘Ur-’’ or ‘‘Proto-Liber de causis,’’ shares some of these characteristics, but emphasizes the idea of creation far more than the propositions in the Proclus Arabus. It even implies the concept of a creatio mediante intelligentia. Likewise the Proclean hierarchy of being with its complicated details is in general suppressed and replaced by the Plotinian scheme of One - Intellect - Soul - Nature. In both cases, that is, in the case of the Proclus Arabus as well as in the case of the Exposition of the Pure Good, the textual reworking is taken to have been exerted under late antique Christian influence.
See also: > al-‘jmirl, Abti l-Hasan > al-Kindl, Abti Yusuf Ya‘qtib ibn Isltaq > Philoponus, Arabic > Plotinus, Arabic > Porphyry, Arabic
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