CURRICULUM VITAE
                                      of
                             NICHOLAS LAWSON HEER


                                  EDUCATION

1943-1945: Mount Hermon School, Mount Hermon, Massachusetts.

1945-1949: Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.  Major: History, the 
Arts and Letters: The Middle Ages.  Degree: B.A., February, 1949; Phi 
Beta Kappa.

1949-1951: Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey. Department of 
Oriental Studies.  Studies included the Arabic and Persian languages, 
Arab and Islamic history and civilization, etc.

1951-1953: American University at Cairo, Cairo, Egypt.  School of 
Oriental Studies. Courses in the Arabic language.

1953-1954: Cambridge University, Cambridge, England.  Pembroke College.  
Research in Islamic mysticism under the supervision of Professor A.J. 
Arberry.

1954-1955: Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey. Department of 
Oriental Studies.  Degree: Ph.D., October 1955.  Dissertation: A critical 
edition and translation of the Bayān al-Farq bayn al-Sadr wa-al-Qalb 
wa-al-Fu’ād wa-al-Lubb of al-Hakı̄m al-Tirmidhı̄.


                          PROFESSIONAL CAREER

1955-1957: Arabian American Oil Company, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.  Arabian 
Research Division, Translation Section.  Translation Analyst, October 
1955 to October 1957.

1957-1958: Cairo, Egypt.  Independent research, October 1957 to August 
1958.

1958-1962: Stanford University, Stanford, California. The Hoover 
Institution.  Curator, Middle East Collections, August 1958 to June 
1962.

1959-1962: Stanford University, Stanford, California.  Department of 
Asian Languages. Assistant Professor of Arabic, September 1959 to June 
1962. 1962: Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Harvard 
Summer School, Department of Near Eastern Languages, Summer 1962.

1962-1963: Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.  Department of Near 
Eastern Languages and Literatures.  Visiting Lecturer and Alexander 
Kohut Fellow, September 1962 to June 1963.

1963-1965 Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Department of 
Near Eastern Languages.  Assistant Professor, September 1963 to June 
1965.

1965-1990: University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.  Department of 
Near Eastern Languages and Civilization.  Associate Professor, 1965 to 
1976; Professor, 1976 to 1990; Chairman, 1982 to 1987; Professor 
Emeritus since 1990.

                            PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS:

1. Al-Hakı̄m al-Tirmidhı̄, Bayān al-Farq bayn al-Sadr wa-al-Qalb 
wa-al-Fu’ād wa-al-Lubb.  Edited with an introduction and notes.  Cairo: 
`Īsā al-Bābı̄ al-Halabı̄, 1958.
                                                                            
2. `Abd al-Rahmān al-Jāmı̄, The Precious Pearl.  Al-Jāmı̄’s al-Durrah 
al-Fākhirah together with his Glosses and the Commentary of `Abd 
al-Ghafūr al-Lārı̄ translated with an introduction, notes, and glossary 
by Nicholas Heer.  Albany: State University of New York Press, 1979.

3. `Abd al-Rahmān al-Jāmı̄, al-Durrah al-Fākhirah.  Edited with the 
glosses of al-Jāmı̄ and the commentaries of `Abd al-Ghafūr al-Lārı̄ and 
`Imād al-Dawlah by N. Heer and A. Mūsawı̄ Bihbahānı̄.  Wisdom of Persia 
Series XIX, Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, Tehran 
Branch.  Tehran, 1358/1980.

4. Islamic Law and Jurisprudence: Studies in Honor of Farhat J. Ziadeh.  
Edited by Nicholas Heer.  Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1990.

5. Three Early Sufi Texts.  Translated by Nicholas Heer and Kenneth L. 
Honerkamp. Louisville: Fons Vitae, 2003, 2010.

ARTICLES:

1. “Some Biographical and Bibliographical Notes on al-Hakı̄m 
al-Tirmidhı̄,” in The World of Islam: Studies in Honour of Philip K.  
Hitti, edited by James Kritzeck and R. Bayly Winder, London, 1959, 
pp. 121-134.

2. “Thalāthat Mujalladāt min Kitāb al-Shāmil li-Ibn al-Nafı̄s,” in 
Majallat Ma`had al-Makhtūtāt al-`Arabı̄yah, Vol. VI (May-November, 1960), 
pp. 203-210.

3. “A Sūfı̄ Psychological Treatise,” in The Muslim World, Vol. LI (1961), 
No. 1, pp. 25-36, No. 2, pp. 83-91, No. 3, pp. 163-172, No. 4, 
pp. 244-258.  (A translation of al-Tirmidhı̄’s Bayān al-Farq).

4. “Islam,” in The New International Yearbook for 1961, New York: Funk 
and Wagnalls, 1962, pp. 226-227.

5. “Some Common Abbreviations Used in Philosophical and Theological 
Texts,” in An-Nashra, Vol. 3, No. 2 (December 1969), pp. 17-22.

6. “Al-Jāmı̄’s Treatise on Existence,” in Islamic Philosophical Theology, 
edited by Parviz Morewedge, Albany: State University of New York Press, 
1979, pp. 223-256.  (An edition and translation of al-Jāmı̄’s Risālah fı̄ 
al-Wujūd).

7. “Moral Deliberation in al-Ghazālı̄’s Ihyā’ `Ulūm al-Dı̄n,” in Islamic 
Philosophy and Mysticism, edited by Parviz Morewedge, Delmar, New York: 
Caravan Books, 1981, pp. 163-196.

8. “Ibn Taymı̄yah’s Empiricism,” in A Way Prepared: Essays on Islamic 
Culture in Honor of Richard Bayly Winder, edited by Farhad Kazemi and R. 
D. McChesney, New York and London: New York University Press, 1988, 
pp. 109-115.

9. “Al-Rāzı̄ and al-Tūsı̄ on Ibn Sı̄nā’s Theory of Emanation,” in 
Neoplatonism and Islamic Thought, edited by Parviz Morewedge, Albany: 
State University of New York Press, 1992, pp. 111-125.

10. “The Priority of Reason in the Interpretation of Scripture: Ibn 
Taymı̄yah and the Mutakallimūn,” in Literary Heritage of Classical Islam: 
Arabic and Islamic Studies in Honor of James A. Bellamy, edited by 
Mustansir Mir in collaboration with Jarl E. Fossum, Princeton: The 
Darwin Press, 1993, pp. 181-195.

11. “Abū Hāmid al-Ghazālı̄’s Esoteric Exegesis of the Koran,” in 
Classical Persian Sufism: from its Origins to Rumi, edited by Leonard 
Lewisohn, London, New York: Khaniqahi Nimatullahi Publications, 1993, 
pp. 235-257.  Reprinted in The Heritage of Sufism, edited by Leonard 
Lewisohn, Oxford: Oneworld, 1999.  Vol. I, pp. 235-257.

12. “Al-Abharı̄ and al-Maybudı̄ on God’s Existence: a Translation of a 
Part of al- Maybudı̄’s Commentary on al-Abharı̄’s Hidāyat al-Hikmah,” in 
Anthology of Philosophy in Persia, edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and 
Mehdi Aminrazavi.  (forthcoming, but available online from 
http://hdl.handle.net/1773/4887)

13. “Al-Ghazali: The Canons of Ta’wil” (a partial translation of 
al-Qānūn al-Kullı̄ fı̄ al-Ta’wı̄l), in Windows on the House of Islam: 
Muslim Sources on Spirituality and Religious Life, edited by John 
Renard, University of California Press, l998, pp. 48-54.

14. “Ma`rifah and `Ilm: Two Islamic Approaches to the Problem of Essence 
and Existence,” in Mulla Sadra and Transcendent Philosophy.  Volume Two.  
Tehran 1380/2001.  Pp. 409-426.  (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue.  
The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra.  Tehran, May 
1999).

ONLINE PUBLICATIONS:

1. A Concise Handlist of Jawi Authors and Their Works.  Version 2.1, 
Seattle, Washington, 2010.  Available online from 
http://www.lulu.com/content/8563859, and from 
http://hdl.handle.net/1773/4870.

2. Papers on Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Mysticism.  Seattle, 
Washington, 2009.  Available online from 
http://www.lulu.com/content/7387234, and from 
http://hdl.handle.net/1773/4883.

3. “A Sufi Work on the Stations of the Heart," 2006.  Available online 
from http://hdl.handle.net/1773/4884.

4. “A Famous Pantun from Marsden’s Malayan Grammar,” 2006.  Available 
online from http://hdl.handle.net/1773/4880.

5. “Al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi’s Kitab al-‘Ilal.” Available online from 
http://hdl.handle.net/1773/4871.

6. “Some Papers Pertaining to al-Muntada al-Adabi in the Library of the 
Hoover Institution.” Available online from 
http://hdl.handle.net/1773/4879.

7. “A List of Malay Manuscript Catalogues.” Available online from 
http://hdl.handle.net/1773/4882.

8. “Two Arabic Manuscripts in the Handwriting of Syeikh Yusuf al-Taj.” 
Available online from http://hdl.handle.net/1773/4881.

REVIEWS:

1. Ibn `Abbād al-Rundı̄, Lettres de Direction Spirituelle, edited by Paul 
Nwyia, in The Muslim World, Vol.  49 (October 1959), pp. 328-329.

2. Al-Qādı̄ Abū Hanı̄fah al-Nu`mān ibn Muhammad ibn Mansūr ibn Ahmad ibn 
Hayyūn al-Tamı̄mı̄ al-Maghribı̄, Da`ā’im al-Islām wa-Dhikr al-Halāl 
wa-al-Harām wa-al-Qadāyā wa-al-Ahkām, Vol. II, edited by Āsaf ibn `Alı̄ 
Asghar Faydı̄, in Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 83 
(September-December 1963), p. 516.

3. Muhyı̄ al-Dı̄n al-`Ajamı̄ al-Isfahānı̄, Épitre sur l’unité, Traité sur 
l’intellect, Fragment sur l’âme, edited by M. Allard and G. Troupeau, in 
Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 84 (April-June 1964), 
p. 188.

4. Nası̄r al-Dı̄n Tūsı̄, The Nasirean Ethics, translated by G. M.  Wickens, 
in Speculum, Vol. 40 (October 1965), pp. 760-761.

5. H. A. R. Gibb, Arabic Literature, second, revised edition, in Journal 
of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 85 (October-December 1964), 
pp. 574-575.

6. Nicholas Rescher, The Development of Arabic Logic, in The Muslim 
World, Vol. 67 (January 1967), pp. 47-48.

7. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Science and Civilization in Islam, in Isis, Vol.  
59 (Winter 1969), pp. 449-451.

8. George Makdisi, Ibn `Aqı̄l et la Résurgence de l’Islam traditionaliste 
au XIe siècle (Ve siècle de l’Hégire), in Journal of the American 
Oriental Society, Vol. 91, No. 2 (April-June 1971), pp. 331-333.

9. Henry Corbin, Creative Imagination in the Sūfism of Ibn `Arabı̄, in 
Speculum, Vol. 46 (1971), pp. 730-731.

10. Sayyed Haydar Amoli, La Philosophie Shı̄‘ite, in International 
Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 6, No. 2 (April 1975), pp. 253-255 
(without attribution).

11. Richard M. Frank, Beings and Their Attributes, in International 
Studies in Philosophy, Vol. 13 (1981), No. 2, pp. 84-86.

12. Radtke, Bernd, Al-Hakı̄m at-Tirmidı̄: ein islamischer Theosoph des 
3./9.  Jahrhunderts, in Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, Vol.  
15, No. 1 (July 1981), pp. 61-62.

13. Zimmermann, F. W., Al-Fārābı̄’s Commentary and Short Treatise on 
Aristotle’s De Interpretatione, in International Studies in Philosophy, 
Vol. 18 (1986), No. 3, pp. 118-119.

14. Morris, J. W., The Wisdom of the Throne, in Middle East Studies 
Association Bulletin, Vol. 16, No. 2 (December 1982), pp. 75-76.

15. Elshahed, Elsayed, Das Problem der transzendenten sinnlichen 
Wahrnehmung in der spätmu`tazilitischen Erkenntnistheorie nach der 
Darstellung des Taqiaddı̄n an-Naǧrānı̄, in Middle East Studies Association 
Bulletin, Vol. 20, No. 1 (July 1986), pp. 101-102.

16. `Alam al-ǧadal fı̄ `ilm al-ǧadal.  Das Banner der Fröhlichkeit über 
die Wissenschaft vom Disput, von Naǧmaddı̄n at-Tūfı̄ al-Hanbalı̄, 
herausgegeben von Wolfhart Heinrichs, in Journal of the American 
Oriental Society, Vol. 111, No. 4 (October- December 1991), pp. 787-789.

17. Abed, Shukri B., Aristotelian Logic and the Arabic Language in 
Alfārābı̄, in Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, Vol. 25, No. 2 
(December 1991).

18. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, Knowledge and the Sacred, in Philosophy East 
and West, Vol. 43, No. 1 (January 1993), pp. 144-150.

19. Peters, F.  E., A Reader on Classical Islam, in Middle East Studies 
Association Bulletin, Vol. 29, No. 1 (July 1995), pp. 114-115.

20. "Sakhr’s al-Ustadh 3.12 Arabic-English Word Processor," in 
Multilingual Communications and Technology, No. 12 (Vol. 8, Issue 1), 
December 1996, pp. 34-35.

                             PAPERS READ

1. “Al-Hakı̄m al-Tirmidhı̄’s Kitāb al-`Ilal,” American Oriental Society, 
New Haven, Connecticut, March 1960.

2. “Language and Nationalism in the Arab World,” Stanford Philological 
Association, 21 January 196l.

3. “The Arabic Language as the Basis of Arab Nationalism,” Fourteenth 
University of Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, 28 April 196l.  
(Also read at the University of Texas in Austin, 16 October 1961)

4. “Al-Jāmı̄’s Argument for the Existence of Existence,” American 
Oriental Society, New York, New York, 9 April 1964.

5. “Rational and Traditional Proofs in Islamic Theology,” American 
Oriental Society, New Haven, Connecticut, 23 March 1967.

6. “The Proof for the Truthfulness of the Prophet,” American Oriental 
Society, Western Branch, Portland, Oregon, 8 April 1967.

7. “Can an Eternal Effect Result from an Agent with Choice?” American 
Oriental Society, Berkeley, California, 21 March 1968.

8. “The Sufi Position with respect to the Problem of Universals,” 
American Oriental Society, Baltimore, Maryland, 16 April 1970.

9. “Moral Deliberation in al-Ghazālı̄’s Ihyā’ `Ulūm al-Dı̄n,” Society for 
the Study of Islamic Philosophy and Science, New York, N.Y., 31 November 
1976.

10. “The Doctrine of the Primacy of Reason in Islamic Theology and its 
Refutation by Ibn Taymı̄yah,” American Oriental Society, SSIPS Panel, San 
Francisco, California, 17 April 1980.

11. “Ibn Taymı̄yah’s Empiricism,” American Oriental Society, Boston, 
Massachusetts, 17 March 1981.

12. “Al-Rāzı̄ and al-Tūsı̄ on Ibn Sı̄nā’s Theory of Emanation,” Society for 
the Study of Islamic Philosophy and Science, and International Society 
for NeoPlatonic Studies, New York, N.Y., 13 November 1982.

13. “Episteme and Dialectics: Islamic Theology and the Validity of 
Mystical Experience as a Source of Knowledge,” Society for the Study of 
Islamic Philosophy and Science, and Society for Ancient Greek 
Philosophy, New York, N.Y., 26 October 1985.

14. “Ibn Sı̄nā’s Justification of the Use of Induction in Demonstration,” 
American Oriental Society, Western Branch, Seattle, Washington, 26 
October 1990.

15. “Abū Hāmid al-Ghazālı̄’s Esoteric Exegesis of the Qur’ān,” Conference 
on Persian Sufism: From Its Origin to Rumi, Washington, D.C., 11 May 
1992.