The first 'Proclean' section (Chapter 20) in 'Abd al-Latif al-Bagdadi's Kitab fi 'ilm ma ba'd al-tabi'a is titled Fi ma qala l-hakim fi kitab idah al-hayr. 'Abd al-Latif al-Bagdadi presents his epitome of the Mahd al-hayr. He reproduces all the propositions except numbers 4, 10, 18, and 20 in the same order. He adds Proclus's proposition 54, On the difference between eternity and time (Ma bayn al-dahr wa-l-zaman), which is recalled twice, and passages from Metaphysics Lambda and the pseudo-Theology. Using a Farabian model, 'Abdal-Latif's aim is to establish the identification between the First Cause, One and Pure Good, as presented in the Liber de causis, and the Aristotelian First Principle, Unmoved Mover and Intellect in actuality, described in his paraphrase of Metaphysics Lambda. Not surprisingly, however,. 'Abd al-Latif is unable to reach this goal. Dissatisfied with the Avicennian summae, 'Abdal-Latif gathers in his Book on the Science of Metaphysics a syllabus of the ancient doctrines, the foundational sources of falsafa plus al-Farabi. This syllabus inevitably reflects the antinomy of its sources concerning the nature of the First Principle, i.e. the antinomy of the two main doctrines at the origin of falsafa, the Plotinian One and the Aristotelian Intellect in actuality.
