Gregory of Nazianzus' popularity went far beyond the realms of the Hellenophone world, as is shown by the existence of a truly impressive number of translations in oriental languages.
Jacques Grand'Henry, former professor of Arabic language and literature at the Université Catholique de Louvain, adds a new chapter to the ongoing research into this oriental tradition. In volume 98 of the Corpus Christianorum. Series Graeca (Corpus Nazianzenum, 31), he presents the critical edition of Gregory's oratio 42, Supremum vale (CPG 3010.42) in arabic translation. This arabic translation is not only interesting in its own right, but also helps to get a better idea of the earliest transmission of the Greek original:
"L'édition critique de la version arabe du Discours 42 de Grégoire de Nazianze offre un texte proche de la tradition n-x du grec, mais parfois proche de la tradition m du grec, ou d'une partie des manuscrits de n grec et de m grec. Il y a trois familles de manuscrits arabes pour ce discours : la famille syro-sinaïtique x, la famille égyptienne intermédiaire z, et la famille égyptienne y."
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