Qusṭā ibn Lūqā

Qusṭā ibn Lūqā is one of the important figures in the transmission of Greek scientific writings to the Muslim world and subsequently to the Latin west. The ancient Arab biographers say that he was a Christian of Greek origin from Baalbek (Heliopolis) in Lebanon; he visited the Byzantine empire and brought back Greek texts which he then translated into Syriac and Arabic. He worked for the Caliph al-Musta^˓īn (862–866) in Baghdad, where he may well have known al-Kindī and Thābit ibn Qurra; he died in Armenia (ca. AD 912/300 AH) where he had been an honored guest of the ruler Sanharib.

Qusṭā is important both for his translation and for his original works. The transition of Greek science and philosophy into the Arab world resulted in the development and preservation of traditions largely lost to the west. Most western medieval science owes a great debt to the Arab scholars who kept alive this vital link with ancient learning. Qusṭā provided versions of Diophantos’ Arithmetica, Hypsícles’ Liber...