Qudāma ibn Jaʿfar al-Kātib al-Baghdādī (Arabic: قدامة بن جعفر الكاتب البغدادي; c. 873 – c. 932/948), was a Syriac scholar and administrator for the Abbasid Caliphate.
Qudama ibn Ja'far al-Katib al-Baghdadi
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Born | 873/874
Basra?
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Died | c. 932/948
Baghdad?
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Academic work | |
Era | Islamic Golden Age (Abbasid era) |
School or tradition | Islamic (Sunni) |
Main interests | Islamic geography, Land Tax, Philosophy, History, Administration |
Notable works | Book of Land Tax and Art of the Secretary |
Little is known with certainty about Qudama's life and work. He was probably born ca. 873/874, possibly at Basra. His grandfather was a Syriac Christian. Whether it was his grandfather, or he himself, who converted to Islam under al-Muktafi bi-Allah in ca. 902–908 is unclear.[1] Ibn al-Nadim described him as a master of literary style, a polished writer and distinguished philosopher of Logic despite having an uneducated father.[2] He held various junior administrative positions in the caliphal secretariat in Baghdad, and eventually rose to a senior post the treasury department. Various dates for his death have been supplied, ranging from 932 to 939/940 and 948.[3][4]
Of his several books on philosophy, history, philology, and administration, only three survive:
To Ibn Jaʿfar was once also attributed the Naqd al-nathr, now known to be the Kitāb al-Burhān fī wujūh al-bayānofIbrāhīm ibn Wahb al-Kātib.[10]