Skip to the content
VALÉORINE London
AuthorDeveloping article

Abd al-Hamid al-Katib

Abd al-Hamid ibn Yahya al-Katib was the secretary to the last Umayyad Caliph, Marwan II, and a supreme stylist of early Arabic prose. • Cultivate the Arabic language so that you may speak correctly; develop a handsome script which will add luster to your writings; learn the poetry of the Arabs by heart; familiarize yourself with unusual ideas and expressions; read the history of the Arabs and the Persians, and remember their great deeds. He may have been a descendant of a Persian captive at the battle of Qadesiya who became a mawlā (freedman) of the Qorashī clan of the Banu Amer b. Some accounts, however, make the less likely claim that he was of this clan, hence of pure Arab descent.

Also recorded as Abd al-Hamid ben Yahya ben Sad

In this articleReferencesBrowse the field

Abd al-Hamid al-Katib

Name
Abd al-Hamid ibn Yahya al-Katib
Born
650
Died
756 · Egypt.
Occupation
writer · literary scholar
Languages
Arabic

VALÉORINE Encyclopedia

VALÉORINE documentary reading

Documentary summary

Abd al-Hamid ibn Yahya al-Katib was the secretary to the last Umayyad Caliph, Marwan II, and a supreme stylist of early Arabic prose. • Cultivate the Arabic language so that you may speak correctly; develop a handsome script which will add luster to your writings; learn the poetry of the Arabs by heart; familiarize yourself with unusual ideas and expressions; read the history of the Arabs and the Persians, and remember their great deeds. He may have been a descendant of a Persian captive at the battle of Qadesiya who became a mawlā (freedman) of the Qorashī clan of the Banu Amer b. Some accounts, however, make the less likely claim that he was of this clan, hence of pure Arab descent.

Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE

Note VALÉORINE

No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.

Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published

Reference Check

Propose documentary evidence for Abd al-Hamid al-Katib. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.

Sign in to contribute

World of VALÉORINE

Documentary connections

Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.

Documentary evidence

Evidence Panel

not yet certified

Identity
resolved
Independent source families
0
Admitted assertions
0
Open conflicts
0

Authority files

wikidata · Q549226 · wikipedia · Abd al-Hamid al-Katib

In this article

  1. 01Biography
  2. 02Archives and collections
  3. 03Bibliography and scholarly literature
  4. 04Notes, references and evidence

The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.

Elsewhere in Books

38,960 published records in this field, each with its sources named.

Best supported in this field

Read the complete books index

For owners

Own a work by Abd al-Hamid al-Katib?

A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.

Request a valuationHow selling works