Yahya ibn Adi

Abū Zakarīyā’ Yaḥyá ibn ʿAdī, known as Yahya ibn Adi, was born in Tikrit, Iraq in 893 to a Syriac Orthodox Christian family. He later moved to Baghdad, where he studied philosophy and medicine under Abu Bishr Matta ibn Yunus, a teacher of Al-Farabi. Yahya ibn Adi was a prolific translator, rendering many Greek philosophical works, including Plato's Laws and Aristotle's Sophistical Refutations and Topics, into Arabic, often through Syriac versions. He also authored original philosophical and theological treatises, such as "Tahdhib al-akhlaq" and "Maqala fi at-tawhid." He was a respected teacher who instructed both Christian and Muslim students, including notable figures like Ibn Miskawayh, Ibn al-Khammar, and Ibn Zura. Ibn Zura, in particular, continued the tradition of translating Greek works from Syriac into Arabic. Yahya ibn Adi passed away in Baghdad in 974 and is buried in the Syriac church of St Thomas.