Severus ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (Arabic: ساويرس بن المقفع, romanized: Sawirus ibn al-Muqaffa) or Severus of El Ashmunein (ساويرس الأشمونين)[1] (died 987) was a Coptic Orthodox Bishop, author and historian. In Arabic, his name is spelled Sawires ساويرس. Severus is sometimes confused with the Persian author Abdullah ibn al-Muqaffa' (d. 759).
Severus ibn al-Muqaffa
| |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Hermopolis Magna | |
 | |
| Native name |
ساويرس بن المقفع
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| Personal details | |
| Died | 987 |
| Denomination | Coptic Orthodox |
| Occupation | Author and historian |
He was bishop of Hermopolis MagnainUpper Egypt around the end of the tenth century. In this period, Egypt was ruled by the Isma'ili Fatimid Caliphate, which had taken Egypt from the Abbasid Caliphate in 969. Fatimid rule slowly but surely changed Coptic Christian culture, especially in the realm of language. Complaining that the Coptic Orthodox Christians of Egypt no longer knew the Coptic language, Severus composed a theological text in Arabic—the first Coptic text written in that language.[2]
He is best known as the traditional initial author of the History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria. One of the stories in it relates how Bishop Severus was asked by the Muslim chief justice (qadi al-qudat) whether a passing dog was Muslim or Christian. As it was a Friday, the Bishop said to ask the dog by offering it both meat and wine as Muslims do not drink wine and Christians do not eat meat on Fridays.[3]
Some of the most know works by Severus ibn al-Muqaffa are the following (for a list with 26 titles of works by the Author read Abū al-Barakāt, Catalog of Christian Literature in Arabic, which may have some different titles for the works we know presently.[4]) :
(Full title in Arabic: كتاب الدر الثمين في إيضاح الاعتقاد في الدين بما نطقت به أفواه النبيين والرسل الأطهار المؤيدين والأباء المعلمين والبطاركة المغبوطين علي تجسد رب المجد وصعوده وإرساله الباراقليط).