The Edition is based on the work by the AnonymClassic/Arabic Literature Cosmopolitan team of collecting text witnesses, transcribing, translating, and segmenting the Kalīla and Dimna manuscript data.

We originally started out with a small text sample of the chapter of "Mouse and Cat" in seven different manuscript versions. Meanwhile, this has expanded to further chapters and additional features. The Edition provides information on both the original manuscripts via their facsimile digital copies as well as facilitating reading by transcriptions in Arabic font. For non-specialist readers, it additionally provides a "near-verbatim" English translation, imitating features of the original such as word order and line breaks whenever feasible. This approach enables the reader of the synoptic edition to compare the individual choices across the witnesses both in Arabic and in English. 

The Edition still shows a very small section of the work – yet. The Berlin team has identified ca.160 manuscripts of Kalīla and Dimna and been able to digitally procure ca. 130 manuscripts. The team has read and analyzed over 45,000 manuscript pages in order to study the changing structure of the book, to observe the characteristics of the text, and to identify near verbatim copies, which are actually relatively uncommon in the corpus but show the popularity of particular versions. More than 7200 manuscript pages were fully transcribed by the team, and a significant portion of the material has been segmented into textual units for collation and further analysis (stats as of December 2023).

In a next phase, we shall also be experimenting with models for gathering feedback of scholars and the public worldwide. External contributors supporting the Berlin team via transcribing and/or providing English translations on a volunteer basis are highly welcome. Please contact us if you wish to participate: marwa.ahmed@fu-berlin.de.