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<i>The Guide for the Perplexed</i> by Mūsá ibn Maymūn (known throughout the Christian West as Moses Maimonides) is regarded as one of the most important works of Medieval Jewish thought. The book attempted to harmonize the philosophy of Aristotle with the Rabbinical teachings, but was regarded by many at the time as antithetical to Jewish theology, despite its earnest arguments in vindication of the ways of God. - Summary by Daniel Davison

In <i>the Guide of the Perplexed</i> Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon) achieved an original and highly influential synthesis of religious and secular learning, drawing on Rabbinical teachings, the Aristotelian and neo-Platonic doctrines then current in the Islamic world, as well as his own scriptural exegeses and philosophical arguments. According to <i>Encyclopaedia Judaica</i>, "almost every philosophic work for the remainder of the Middle Ages cited, commented on, or criticized Maimonides' views." - Summary by Kazbek

The Guide for the Perplexed, Part 3 (Arabic: دلالة الحائرين Dalālat al-ḥā'irīn דלאלת אלחאירין; Hebrew: מורה נבוכים Moreh Nevuchim) by Rabbi Moses ben Maimon the Sephardi (משה ברבי מימון הספרדי) who is commonly known as Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam (רמב״ם). The Guide was written in Judeo-Arabic using the Hebrew alphabet in the form of a three-part letter to the Rambam's student, Rabbi Joseph ben Judah of Ceuta. Maimonides says, "To give a full explanation of the mystic passages of the Bible is contrary to the Law and to reason; besides, my knowledge of them is based on reasoning, not on divine inspiration. I have not received my belief in this respect from any teacher, but it has been formed by what I learnt from Scripture and the utterances of our Sages, and by the philosophical principles which I have adopted. ... I ask you to study attentively the chapters which follow on this sublime, important, and grand subject, which is the pin upon which everything hangs, and the pillar upon which everything rests." Translated by Michael Friedländer who was principal of Jews' College. Cover: The Serpent Beguiled Me by cartoonist Robin Bougie. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia and the text)