Ibrahim al-Haqilani (February 18, 1605July 15, 1664; Latinized as Abraham Ecchellensis) was a

Maronite Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally re ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

involved in the translation of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

into

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. He translated several Arabic works into

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, the most important of which was the '' Chronicon orientale'' attributed to Ibn al-Rahib. Born in Haqil,

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, his

last name In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

derived from his place of birth. Ibrahim was educated at the

Maronite College The Pontifical Maronite College (Italian: ''Pontificio Collegio dei Maroniti'') is one of the Roman Colleges of the Catholic Church. Founded originally in 1584 in order to educate Maronite Church, Maronite priests, the college provides now higher ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. After taking his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, he returned for a time to his native land. Ibrahim was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

and later taught Arabic and Syriac, first in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

and then in

in the College of the Propaganda. In 1628, he published a Syriac

grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...

. Called to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1640 to assist

Guy Michel Lejay Gui-Michel Lejay (Paris, 1588 - Vezelay, 1674) was an advocate at the French Parliament, best known for his Polyglot Bible, the ''Paris Polyglot'' 1645. The Lejay Bible was known for the beauty of its fonts for which new metal type was cast in Aram ...

in the preparation of his

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

Bible, Ibrahim contributed to that work the Arabic and Latin versions of the ''

Book of Ruth The Book of Ruth (, ''Megillath Ruth'', "the Scroll of Ruth", one of the Five Megillot) is included in the third division, or the Writings ( Ketuvim), of the Hebrew Bible. In most Christian canons it is treated as one of the historical books ...

'' and the Arabic version of ''

3 Maccabees 3 Maccabees, also called the Third Book of Maccabees, is a book written in Koine Greek, likely in the 1st century BC in either the late Ptolemaic period of Egypt or in early Roman Egypt. Despite the title, the book has nothing to do with the Mac ...

.'' In 1646, Ibrahim was appointed professor of Syriac and Arabic at the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

. Being invited by the

Congregation of the Propaganda The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for missionary work and related activities. It is also known by its former title, the Sacred Congregatio ...

to take part in the preparation of an Arabic version of the Bible, Ibrahim went again in 1652 or 1653 to Rome. He published several Latin translations of Arabic works, of which the most important was the ''Chronicon Orientale of Ibnar-Rahib'' (1653), a history of the

patriarchs of Alexandria The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in ...

. Ibrahim engaged in an interesting controversy with

John Selden John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English jurist, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned m ...

about the historical grounds of

episcopal polity An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. The word "bishop" here is derived via the British Latin and Vulgar Latin term ''*ebiscopus''/''*biscopus'', . It is the ...

, spurring him to publish his ''Eutychius vindicatus, sive Responsio ad Seldeni Origines'' (1661). With

Giovanni Alfonso Borelli Giovanni Alfonso Borelli (; 28 January 1608 – 31 December 1679) was a Renaissance Italy, Italian physiologist, physicist, and mathematician who is often described as the father of biomechanics. He contributed to the modern principle of scientif ...

he wrote a Latin translation of the 5th, 6th and 7th books of the ''

Conics Apollonius of Perga ( ; ) was an ancient Greek geometer and astronomer known for his work on conic sections. Beginning from the earlier contributions of Euclid and Archimedes on the topic, he brought them to the state prior to the invention of ...

'' by the

geometrician A geometer is a mathematician whose area of study is the historical aspects that define geometry, instead of the analytical geometric studies that becomes conducted from geometricians. Some notable geometers and their main fields of work, chr ...

Apollonius of Perga Apollonius of Perga ( ; ) was an ancient Greek geometer and astronomer known for his work on conic sections. Beginning from the earlier contributions of Euclid and Archimedes on the topic, he brought them to the state prior to the invention o ...

(1661). Ibrahim was also the first person to identify the Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran as descended from the Gnostic movements going back to the 1st century.

References

External links

*
New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge
* Christian writers 1605 births 1664 deaths Syrian translators Translators of the Bible into Arabic Arabic–Latin translators Latin–Arabic translators Syrian Maronites 17th-century translators Pontifical Maronite College alumni {{bible-translator-stub