Ibn al-Khammar

Abū al-Khayr al-Ḥasan ibn Suwār ibn Bābā ibn Bahnām, known as Ibn al-Khammār, was an East Syriac Christian philosopher and physician who lived and worked in Baghdad. Born in November or December 942 (c. AH 330), he became a surgeon at the ʿAḍudī hospital in Baghdad. He was also a prolific translator of philosophical and scientific texts from Syriac into Arabic, including works by Aristotle, Porphyry, and Theophrastus. Ibn al-Khammār also authored original works on philosophy, ethics, theology, medicine, and meteorology. He participated in the philosophical debates of his time, siding with the *falāsifa* (Islamic philosophers) in the discussions concerning the nature of divine knowledge. His translations were noted for their elegance. According to Ẓahīr al-Dīn al-Bayhaqī, Ibn al-Khammār spent his final years in Khwārizm and Ghazna, where he converted to Islam. His death is dated to 1017 or later. He was respected by his contemporaries, including Ibn al-Nadīm and ʿAlī ibn Riḍwān. Even Avicenna expressed an intention to meet him.