The samples reproduced in this volume refer to Paul E. Kahle’s studies on the shadow plays of Mu¿ammad Ibn Dåniyål whose text he had intended to prepare for a critical edition in the years before the Second World War. Mu¿ammad b. Dåniyål was an oculist of Cairo who died in 1311 AD. He is mainly famous for his three shadow plays which are among the few Medieval examples of theatre literature in the Arab world. The story of this edition is a real work in progress which went through progressive acquisitions of manuscripts and debates about the proper interpretation of these very difficult texts.
This material belongs to Kahle’s fund acquired by the University of Turin and now kept in the library of the Department of Oriental Studies and constitutes no doubt the most valuable collection it has. The Editorial note by Roberto Tottoli points out the role of Kahle in German Oriental studies and the relevance of his private library.

Roberto Tottoli is Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and Muslim Literature at the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Naples “L’Orientale”. He taught Islamic studies at the University of Turin from 1999 to 2002. He has published extensively both in Italian and in English on early Muslim literature and in particular on the biblical tradition in Islam. His publications include Biblical Prophets in the Qur’an and Muslim Literature (Richmond 2002), The Stories of the Prophets by Ibn Mutarrif al-Tarafi (Berlin 2003), Le religioni e il mondo moderno. Islam (Torino 2009).