Ibn Qutayba

Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Muslim ibn Qutayba (c. 828-889 CE / c. 213-276 AH) was one of the most influential prose writers of the early Abbasid period and a key shaper of adab, the Arabic literary tradition of cultivated, encyclopedic learning. He came from a family of Persian descent; the sources report that his forebears were from Marw (Merv) in Khorasan, in the eastern Islamic world. Where he was born is disputed: most accounts place his birth in Kufa, in Iraq, though some give Baghdad.

He trained in hadith (reports of the Prophet Muhammad's words and deeds), Qur'anic studies, grammar, and philology, and served for a time as qadi (religious judge) in the town of Dinawar, in the Jibal region of western Iran, under the caliph al-Mutawakkil. The nisba "al-Dinawari" attached to his name reflects this office. He later taught in Baghdad, where he died.

Ibn Qutayba wrote on a remarkable range of subjects. His Adab al-Katib ("The Secretary's Manual") became a standard handbook of correct Arabic; his Kitab al-Maarif ("Book of Knowledge") is an early handbook of history and general information; and his Uyun al-Akhbar gathered anecdotes and wisdom into themed chapters. In matters of belief he is generally described as a traditionalist who defended the positions of the scholars of hadith against the rationalist Mu'tazila school, and later tradition often associates him with the broadly Hanbali-leaning current of his day.