# The Guide for the Perplexed (1904)

The Guide for the Perplexed is Maimonides' major philosophical work, and is widely considered to be the most influential book of medieval Jewish philosophy. Originally written in Judeo-Arabic as Dalalāt al-Hairin, its Hebrew translation by Samuel ibn Tibbon became the book's standard edition, and it has also been translated into several European languages. This edition is that of the 1904 translation into English by M. Friedländer.
Author's Introduction · Part I · Part II (Propositions / Chapters) · Part III (Introduction / Chapters) Full Table of Contents
The Guide for the Perplexed
The Guide for the Perplexed
by
Moses Maimonides
Translated From the Original Arabic Text
by
M. Friedländer, Ph.D
Second Edition, Revised Throughout
London
George Routledge & Sons LTD
New York: E. P. Dutton & co
1910
Second Edition, 1904: Reprinted, 1910.
Preface
The first Edition of the English Translation of Maimonides’ ar:Dalalāt al-Hairin being exhausted without having fully supplied the demand, I prepared a second, revised edition of the Translation. In the new edition the three volumes of the first edition have been reduced to one volume by the elimination of the notes; besides Hebrew words and phrases have been eliminated or transliterated. By these changes the translator sought to produce a cheap edition in order to bring the work of Maimonides within the reach of all students of Theology and Jewish Literature.
M. Friedländer.
    Jews’ College, July 1904.
Preface to Volume One of the First Edition
In compliance with a desire repeatedly expressed by the Committee of the Hebrew Literature Society, I have undertaken to translate Maimonides’ Dalalāt al-Ḥairin, better known by the Hebrew title Moreh Nebuchim, and I offer the first instalment of my labours in the present volume. This contains—(1) A short Life of Maimonides, in which special attention is given to his alleged apostasy. (2) An analysis of the whole of the Moreh Nebuchim. (3) A translation of the First Part of this work from the Arabic, with explanatory and critical notes.
Parts of the Translation have been contributed by Mr. Joseph Abrahams, B.A., Ph.D., and Rev. H. Gollancz—the Introduction by the former, and the first twenty—five chapters by the latter.
In conclusion I beg to tender my thanks to Rev. A. Loewy, Editor of the Publications of the Hebrew Literature Society, for his careful revision of my manuscript and proofs, and to Mr. A. Neubauer, M.A., for his kindness in supplying me with such information as I required.
M. Friedländer.
    Jews’ College, June 1881.

## Contents:

* Introductory Material by the Translator
** Preface (to the second revised edition of 1904)
** Preface to Volume One of the First Edition (1881)
** The Life of Moses Maimonides
** The Moreh Nebuchim Literature
* Author's Introduction
** Dedicatory Letter
** The Object of the Guide
** Directions for the Study of this Work
** Introductory Remarks on Method
* Part I (76 chapters)
Chapter
* I The homonymity of Ẓelem 13
* II On Genesis iii. 5 14
* III On tabnit and temunah 16
* IV On raah, hibbit and ḥazah 17
* V On Exod. xxiv. 10 18
* VI On ish and ishshah, aḅ and aḅot 19
* VII On yalad 19
* VIII On maḳom 20
* IX On kisse 21
* X On ʾalah, yarad 22
* XI On yashab 23
* XII On kam 24
* XIII On ʿamad 25
* XIV On adam 25
* XV On naẓab, yaẓab 25
* XVI On Ẓur 26
* XVII On Mishnah Ḥagigah ii. 1 27
* XVIII On ḳarab, nagaʿ, niggash 27
* XIX On male 28
* XX On ram, nissa 29
* XXI On ʿabar 30
* XXII On ba 32
* XXIII On Yaẓa, shub 32
* XXIV On halak 33
* XXV On shaken 34
* XXVI On “The Torah speaketh the language of man” 34
* XXVII On Targum of Gen. xlvi. 4 35
* XXVIII On regel 37
* XXIX On ʿaẓeb 39
* XXX On akal 39
* XXXI, XXXII On the Limit of Man’s Intellect 40
* XXXII On the Limit of Man’s Intellect 42
* XXXIII On the Study and the Teaching of Metaphysics
* XXXIV On the Study and the Teaching of Metaphysics
* XXXV On the Study and the Teaching of Metaphysics
* XXXVI On the Study and the Teaching of Metaphysics
* XXXVII On panim 52
* XXXVIII On aḥor 53
* XXXIX On leb 54
* XL On ruaḥ 55
* XLI On nefesh 56
* XLII On ḥayyim-mavet 56
* XLIII On kanaf 57
* XLIV On ʿayin 58
* XLV On sbamaʿ 58
* XLVI, XLVII On the Attribution of Senses and Sensations to God 59
* XLVII On the Attribution of Senses and Sensations to God 63
* XLVIII The Targum of sbama’ and raah 64
* XLIX Figurative Expressions applied to Angels 65
* L On Faith 67
* LI On the Necessity of Proving the Inadmissibility of Attributes in reference to God 68
* LII Classification of Attributes 69
* LIII The Arguments of the Attributes 72
* LIV On Exod. xxxiii. 13; xxxiv. 7 75
* LV On Attributes implying Corporeality, Emotion, Non-existence and Comparison 78
* LVI On Attributes denoting Existence, Life, Power, Wisdom and Will 79
* LVII On the Identity of the Essence of God and His Attributes 80
* LVIII On the Negative Sense of the True Attributes of God 81
* LIX On the Character of the Knowledge of God Consisting of Negations 83
* LX On the Difference between Positive and Negative Attributes 87
* LXI On the Names of God 89
* LXII On the Divine Names composed of Four, Twelve and Forty-Two Letters 91
* LXIII On Ehyeh, Yah and Shaddai 93
* LXIV On “The Name of the Lord,” and “The Glory of God” 95
* LXV On the phrase “God spake” 96
* LXVI On Exod. xxxii. 16 98
* LXVII On shahat and nah 99
* LXVIII On the Terms: The Intellectus, the Intelligens and the Intelligible 100
* LXIX On the Primal Cause 102
* LXX On the attribute rokeb baʿarabot 105
* LXXI The Origin of the Kalâm 107
* LXXII A Parallel between the Universe and Man 113
* LXXIII Twelve Propositions of the Kalâm 120
* LXXIV Proofs of the Kalâm for the creatio ex nihilo 133
* LXXV Proofs of the Kalâm for the Unity of God 138
* LXXVI Proofs of the Kalâm for the Incorporeality of God 141
* Part II: Propositions · Chapters (26 propositions and 48 chapters)
* Part III: Introduction · Chapters (Introduction and 54 chapters)