This anthology includes the writings of a number of Syriac monastic and ascetical writers from the seventh century who were born and educated in Beth Qatraye (Syriac for Qatar or Region of the Qataris). Isaac of Qatar widely known as Isaac of Nineveh, for example, is considered to be the most influential of all Syriac monastic writers and continues to exert a strong influence in monastic circles today. Many of the others like Dadisho of Qatar, Abraham bar Lipah of Qatar, and Ahob of Qatar were important Syriac writers on spirituality and commentators or exegetes within the Church of the East tradition. These writers, who all originated from the Qatar region and were educated there, reveal the presence of an important school of education that rivaled in its sophistication the other more well-known schools such as the School of Nisibis or the School of Edessa. The Syriac writers of Qatar themselves produced some of the best and most sophisticated writing to be found in all Syriac literature of the seventh century. This anthology presents a selection of these writings for the first time in English translation with accompanying Syriac and Garshuni editions.

This is the second publication of a three year research project funded by the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) under its National Priorities Research Program (NPRP). Project number: NPRP 4-981-6-025.

Mario Kozah is Assistant Professor of Syriac and Islamic Studies at the American University of Beirut. He holds a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in Oriental Studies from the University of Cambridge.