In view of the great difficulties involved, however, such a
task is not likely to be undertaken for many years. In the
meantime, one may hope that a selection will help to stimulate
interest in a much-neglected thinker and thus spur on some
scholar to carry out the more important work of textual
criticism and translation.

The selections have been grouped according to subject matter,
to facilitate comparison with corresponding topics in con-
temporary social sciences. The order chosen is different from
that given by Ibn Khaldun; the main outlines of the Arabic
original can be judged from the opening selection in the present
volume.

Generally speaking, Ibn Khaldun's meaning can be readily
grasped and rendered into a foreign language, but the available
texts are corrupt and there are many occasions when I have had
to choose between more than one possible interpretation. More
particularly, Ibn Khaldun's use of pronouns often lacks precision
while some of his terms carry different meanings in different
contexts. Hence, while attempting wherever possible to indicate
clearly the antecedent of the pronoun, I have occasionally
deliberately left the sentence ambiguous rather than force upon
it an unwarranted interpretation and have translated certain
words differently in different places. At the same time, certain
passages have a more definite meaning in the translation than
in the original.

All headings and subheadings printed in capital letters have
been inserted by me. Ibn Khaldun's own chapter headings
have been retained only when they are immediately related to
the subject matter of the passage which follows. These headings
are printed in Italics.

References are to Quatremère's edition which, though
imperfect, is the best available. The text has been checked

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