A book of the Beta Israel Secondary Canon.
A "gnomology" compiled by Hunain ibn Ishâq and called "Kitāb Ādāb al-falāsifah" or "Nawādir al-falāsifah", drawing on a diverse array of philosophical source material, some of which can be found in Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, and Latin.
Subsequently translated from the original Arabic to Ge'ez, and gradually revised. Separately translated from the Arabic to Hebrew.
Although the work was compiled by a Christian, it quotes pagan, Jewish, and Muslim thinkers positively, and does not seem to contain any Christological or polemical content.
As such, it seems likely to me that the exact same text circulates or circulated among the Beta Israel and Ethiopian Christians, although theoretically a unique Beta Israel recension could exist.
No Beta Israel manuscript of the work is currently known, to the best of my knowledge.
| Version | Modern or critical edition | Selected manuscript/s |
|---|---|---|
![]() Sefer Musre Haphilosophim (Sayings of the Philosophers) translated from the Arabic by Yehudah ben Shlomo al-Charizi in al-Andalus - in Hebrew | ספר מוסרי הפילוסופים מקור: אברהם לעווענטאהל |
JTS Ms. 2374 = Steinschneider 11; München BSB Cod.Hebr.43; München BSB Cod.Hebr.210; München BSB Cod.Hebr.342; Denmark Ms. Sim. Hebr. 82. [Earliest print edition: Riva di Trento, 1562] |
Hunayn Ibn Ishaq and the Kitab Adab Al-Falasifah, by Sidney H. Griffith (full text not available at this link)