Yahya ibn Adi
Abū Zakarīyā’ Yaḥyá ibn ʿAdī (John, father of Zachary, son of Adi) known as Yahya ibn Adi (893–974) was a Syriac Jacobite Christian[1] philosopher, theologian and translator working in Arabic.
Biography
Yahya ibn Adi was born in Tikrit (modern-day Iraq) to a family of arabised Syriac Jacobite Christians in 893.
In Baghdad he studied philosophy and medicine under Abu Bishr Matta ibn Yunus, who had also taught Al-Farabi.[2]
He translated numerous works of Greek philosophy into Arabic, mostly from existing versions in Syriac.[2] These include: Plato's Laws; Aristotle's Sophistical Refutations (from a Syriac translation by Theophilus of Edessa) and Topics (from a translation by Hunayn ibn Ishaq); and Theophrastus' Metaphysics.
He also composed a number of philosophical and theological treatises, the most significant being Tahdhib al-akhlaq and Maqala fi at-tawhid. He taught a number of Christian and Muslim students, including Ibn Miskawayh, Ibn al-Khammar and Ibn Zura.
He died in 974 and is buried in the Syriac church of St Thomas in Baghdad.[2][3]
References
- ↑ Ira M. Lapidus, Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History, (Cambridge University Press, 2012), 200.
- 1 2 3 Nicholas Rescher, Studies in Arabic Philosophy, (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1968), 39.
- ↑ Sidney Harrison Griffith, The Beginnings of Christian Theology in Arabic: Muslim-Christian Encounters in the Early Islamic Period, (Ashgate, 2002), 8.
External links
Works by Yahya ibn Adi
- (French) Défense du dogme de la Trinité contre les objections d'Al-Kindi texte arabe de Ben Adi, traduction de Augustin Périer, in: Revue de l'Orient Chrétien 1920
- (French) Petits traités apologétiques de Yahya ben Adi, texte arabe, traduction française de 9 traités par Augustin Périer, 1920
- On our saying “and became incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary” originally published by Paul Sbath, 1929
- On the Truth of the Gospel by Way of Reasoning from Proofs originally published by Paul Sbath, 1929
- On the Differences in the Expressions in the Gospels and their Meanings originally published by Paul Sbath, 1929
- (Arabic) Twelve Apologetic Treatiese by Yahya ibn Adi Arabic manuscript, BNF
Works on Yahya ibn Adi
- (French) Yahya ben 'Adî, un philosophe arabe chrétien du Xe siècle par Augustin Périer, 1920
- (French) Les citations bibliques chez Yahya Ibn Adi par Monseigneur Paul Feghali
- (French) Le traité sur l'unité de Yahya Ibn Adi et la troisième maqalah de la métaphysique du kitab al-sifa d'Avicenne : deux finalités différentes dans l'analyse de l'Un par Olga Lizzini, Parole de l'Orient, 2003
- (French) L'homme parfait dans le traité d'éthique de Yahya Ibn Adi par Samih Raad, Parole de l'Orient, 2003
- The trinitarian doctrine of Yahya Ibn Adi: an appraisal by Avril Makhlouf, Parole de l'Orient, 1981
- Yahya Ibn Adi's conception of the one by Kamal Bualwan, Parole de l'Orient, 2003.