Ibn Qutaybah

He was an Athari theologian and polymath who wrote on diverse subjects, such as Qur'anic exegesis, hadith, theology, philosophy, law and jurisprudence, grammar, philology, history, astronomy, agriculture and botany.

Training under Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh is recorded. The recorded working language is Arabic. The field of work recorded is history, tafsir and science of hadith. Employment is recorded with Baghdad. Works named in the authority record are ʻUyūn al-akhbār, Adab al-Katib, Gharīb al-ḥadīth, The Interpretation of Conflicting Narrations, al-Shi‘r wal-Shu‘arā’ and Al-Ma'arif.

• Religion — Islam • Era — Islamic golden age • Name — Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī al-Marwazī • Title — Ibn Qutaybah • Born — 213 AH/828 • Birthplace — Kufa, Abbasid Caliphate • Died — 15 Rajab 276AH/13 November, 889 • Creed — Athari • Region — Abbasid Caliphate • Occupation — Scholar of Islam • Main Interests — politics, history, Tafsir, Hadith, Kalam and Arabic literature • Notable Works — * Training of the Secretary • ‘Uyun al-akhbar • Gharīb al-Qur’ān • Denomination — Sunni • Native Name — أبو محمد عبد الله بن مسلم بن قتيبة الكوفي الدِّينَوَرِيُّ

His full name is Abū Muḥammad ʿAbdullāh b. Muslim ibn Qutaybah ad-Dīnawarī. He was born in Kufa in what is now Iraq. He was of Persian descent; his father was from Merv, Khorasan. Having studied tradition and philology he became qadi in Dinawar during the reign of Al-Mutawakkil, and afterwards a teacher in Baghdad. He was the first representative of the school of Baghdad philologists that succeeded the schools of Kufa and Basra. He was known as a vocal opponent of "gentile" or shu'ubi Islam, i.e. openness to non-Islamic wisdom and values.

He wrote more than 60 books, including: • Gharīb al-Qur'an, (var., Mushkil al-Qur'an), lexical complexities in the Qur'an. • Ta’wīl Mukhtalif al-Hadīth, (The Interpretation of Conflicting Narrations), defence of hadiths against Mu'tazilite critics. • Kitāb Adab al-Kātib (“Ibn Kutaiba’s Adab al-Kātib,” ed. Max Grünert, Leiden, 1900) • Kitāb al-Anwā’ (Hyderabad, 1956) • Kitāb al-Ma‘ānī al-Kabīr fī Abyāt al-Ma‘ānī. 2 vols. (Hyderabad, 1949) • Kitāb al-Ma’ārif, short universal history, from Creation to the Jāhiliyya (pre-Islamic); with index of the Companions, famous jurists and masters of hadīth („Ibn Coteiba’s Handbuch de Geschichte“, ed., Ferdinand Wüstenfeld, Göttingen, 1850); (ed., Tharwat ‘Ukāshah, Cairo, 1960). • Kitāb al-Shi‘r wa-al-Shu‘arā’ (“Liber Poësie et Poëtarum,” ed., M. J de Goeje, Leiden, 1904) • Kitab ‘Uyūn al-Akhbār. 4 vols. (Cairo, 1925-30); biographic history of eminent figures. • Kitāb al-Amwāl • Kitāb al-‘Arab wa ‘Ulūmuhā; history of Arab scholars • Kitāb al-Ashriba; alcoholic beverages. • Kitāb Dalā’il al-Nubuwwa, or A‘lām al-Nubuwwa on the Proofs of the Prophets. • Kitāb Fad.l al-‘Arab ‘alā al-‘Ajam, in praise of the Arabs over the Persians; translated into English as The Excellence of the Arabs (NYU Press, 2017) • Kitāb I‘rāb al-Qur’ān, a philological commentary on the Qur'ān. • Kitāb al-Ikhtilāf fī al-Lafz wa al-Radd ‘alā al-Jahmiyya wal-Mushabbiha, a refutation of the Allegorizers and Anthropomorphists. (Egypt, several editions) • Kitāb al-Ishtiqāq • Kitāb Is.lāh. Ghalat, corrections of Gharīb al-H.adīth by al-Qāsim ibn Salām. • Kitāb Jāmi‘ al-Fiqh, jurisprudence, dispraised as unreliable by al-Tabarī and Ibn Surayj, as was Ibn Qutayba’s al-Amwāl. • Kitāb Jāmi‘ al-Nah.w al-Kabīr and Jāmi‘ al-Nah.w al-S.aghīr • Kitāb al-Jarāthīm, linguistics. • Kitāb al-Jawābāt al-H.ād.ira. • Kitāb al-Ma‘ānī al-Kabīr • Kitāb al-Masā’il wal-Ajwiba. • Kitāb al-Maysar wal-Qidāh, ('Dice and Lots'). • Kitāb al-Na‘m wal-Bahā’im, cattle and livestock. • Kitāb al-Nabāt, botany. • Kitāb al-Qirā’āt, ('The Canonical Readings'). • Kitāb al-Radd ‘alā al-Qā’il bi Khalq al-Qur’ān, ('Against the creationist claims about the Qur’an'). • Kitāb al-Radd ‘alā al-Shu‘aybiyya, ('Refutation of a sub-sect of the ‘Ajārida ‘At.awiyya, itself a sub-sect of the Khawārij). • Kitāb al-Rah.l wal-Manzil. • Kitāb Ta‘bīr al-Ru’yā, ('Interpretation of Dreams'). • Kitāb Talqīn al-Muta‘allim min al-Nah.w on grammar. • Kitāb ‘Uyūn al-Shi‘r, on poetry.