I’ve contemplated starting a blog for many years, but I’ve never known what to include on it. My disparate interests have long eluded organization, but I finally realized the solution: I just won’t worry about it at all. I’ll just take the plunge and see what happens.

This blog, like many of the ones I’ve enjoyed over the years, will simply be a ménagerie of my own thoughts and contemplations. In bookbinding parlance, it is a commonplace book—a place to store my random thoughts because they’re better off somewhere than nowhere.

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I feel entirely justified in my approach not only by the ubiquity of similar modern devices, but also by historical precedent.

One of the foremost examples of such a diverse collection is the work whose title inspired that of this post: Al-Muqaddimah (or, The Prolegomenon)¹ by Ibn Khaldun.

Writing in 1377, Ibn Khaldun composed Al-Muqaddimah was the introduction to his intended book of world history, Kitaab al-ʿIbar. However, the introduction impacted medieval academia so much that it is considered a masterpiece in its own right. Filling nearly 1,700 pages in English translation, this work discusses historiography (its main concern), Islamic jurisprudence, sociology, economics, philosophy, chemistry, political theory, and other disciplines, even containing swaths of Arabic poetry.²

Even more impressively, Ibn Khaldun is thought to have composed the entire book from his own head—in his thirties.³

I do not have any delusion of possessing the wisdom or intellect of Ibn Khaldun. Do not expect to discover history-shattering contemplations on this blog. No, I just want a place to share my ADHD-fueled musings. In order to prepare you, I would like to share a few of my interests:

• History; especially ancient Near Eastern (ANE) and Middle East/North Africa (MENA)
• Sociology; especially as applied to ecclesiastical dynamics
• Christian theology; especially anthropology and atonement theory
• Islam; particularly in relation to Christianity
• Linguistics and languages; esp. Biblical Hebrew, Koine Greek, and Arabic. Someday I’ll get to where I can use them more effectively
• Books
• Computers and technology

As you wander through the aisles of a library, you hope to discover something to stir your imagination. Just so, I hope you experience a similar curiosity while shuffling through my humble collection.

Enjoy, dear reader. I dedicate this blog to you.

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Footnotes

1. The Latin word prolegomenon refers to an introduction, and is similar to our English word prologue (which, remarkably, derives from Greek cognates), although it’s a much rarer term.
   Typically, a prologue is a short chapter introducing some concept or set of characters; whereas a lengthier prolegomenon establishes principles over an entire book. ↩︎
2. If you would like to read it in English, you’ll struggle to find an unabridged copy. However, a scanned edition is available. The first volume; the second volume; and the third volume. ↩︎
3. See this interview with Aziz Al-Azmeh for more information. ↩︎