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Coptic Christian Literature in Arabic

Copto-Arabic literature encompasses Arabic writings and translations associated with Coptic Christianity, including history, theology, biblical commentary, liturgical texts, and religious poetry.[^1][^2][^3]

Also known as: Copto-Arabic literature · Coptic literature in Arabic

Published 10/2/2026Updated 2 revisionsPage history

Historical development

Coptic Christian literature in Arabic, commonly called Copto-Arabic literature, developed as Arabic increasingly entered Egyptian administrative and daily life; works by notable Coptic writers date from the tenth century onward.1

After the seventh-century Arab conquest, Coptic continued in administration for some decades, and bilingual documents appeared with Coptic and Arabic in parallel columns.1 In 705, the administration decreed the exclusive use of Arabic in government offices and accounts, making proficiency in Arabic important for Coptic scribes and tax collectors.1

Historical and theological writing

Sawirus ibn al-Muqaffa‘, bishop of Ashmunayn, was a prominent Coptic writer to whom the beginnings of the History of the Patriarchs are attributed.5 His other writings included Kitab al-Majami‘, concerning the ecumenical councils, as well as works on the Incarnation, biblical interpretation, church traditions, liturgy, heresies, fasts, and feasts.2

The History of the Patriarchs was continued by successive compilers, including Mawhub ibn Mansur ibn Mufarrij, Yuhanna ibn Sa‘id ibn Mina al-Qulzumi, Patriarch Mark III, and Yusab, bishop of Fuwwah.6

The surrounding Arabic Christian literary environment also included authors outside the Coptic Church.57 Sa‘id ibn al-Bitriq, known as Eutychius, was the Melchite patriarch of Alexandria and author of Kitab al-Tawarikh; Sawirus wrote a response to his criticism of Coptic belief.52 Coptic manuscript transmission likewise included histories by Melchite and West Syrian authors, demonstrating that circulation among Copts did not necessarily imply Coptic authorship.7

Medieval encyclopedic works

The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were the peak of medieval Copto-Arabic writing.8 Ibn Kabar, whose life extended into the opening decades of the fourteenth century, compiled Kitab Misbah al-Zulmah fi Idah al-Khidmah, an encyclopedia of Coptic religious knowledge and traditions organized into twenty-four sections.9

Ibn Siba‘’s Al-Jawharah al-Nafisah fi ‘Ulum al-Kanisah treated biblical history, the rise of Christianity, church offices, liturgical instruments, feasts, fasts, and burial offices.10

Translation and worship

As Arabic increasingly replaced spoken Coptic, ecclesiastical authorities translated religious literature so that congregations could understand it.8 This process took place broadly in the later medieval period, although a precise date is difficult to establish.8

Examples of religious publications include Kitab al-Khulaji al-Muqaddas, edited by Habib Jirjis, and Kitab al-Turuhat wa-al-Absaliyyat, a collection of church songs edited by Qummus Bakhum al-Baramusi and ‘Iryan Faraj; the latter illustrates publication in both Coptic and Arabic.11

Poetry and later reception

A manuscript in the Coptic Patriarchate in Cairo preserves 149 poems on moral and religious subjects in simple literary Arabic by Anba Bistawrah, known as al-Hariri.3 It was copied in March 1709 by Ibrahim ibn Sulayman al-Najjar al-Miri for the mu‘allim ‘Awad al-Mahallawi and offered to the hegumenos ‘Abd al-Masih.3

Copts apparently did not know the Christian apology attributed to ‘Abd al-Masih ibn Ishaq al-Kindi during the Middle Ages, although they possessed other Arabic Christian apologies.12 Coptic familiarity with this work developed in the nineteenth century, and Cairo editions of 1885 and 1912 enabled writers such as Qummus Sarjiyus to use it.12

Manuscript evidence

The Arabic Christian manuscript tradition is a principal source for medieval Coptic culture.4 Identifying Coptic provenance can require paleographic examination; assessment of manuscripts in the National Library, Paris, therefore considers copying and circulation among Copts rather than authorship alone.47

References

Sources

  1. 1.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 275)
    Gradually, bilingual documents appeared in which Coptic and Arabic were used in parallel columns, mainly for clarification of administrative affairs to the Arab governors, who did not understand any Coptic. Then in the year A.H. 85/A.D. 705, the Muslim administration of the country decreed that Arabic be exclusively used in all administrative offices and all accounts. This revolutionary decision led ultimately to the establishment of Arabic as the accepted official language in the country—at the expense of Coptic. The state functionaries found it necessary to be proficient in the language of t
  2. 2.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 276)
    Apart from the monumental biographical history of the patriarchs, he wrote a treatise in refutation of Sa‘id ibn Bitriq's Melchite attack on Coptic orthodoxy. His work on the ecumenical councils, entitled Kitab al-Majami‘, has survived in toto. Most of the other works deal with theological subjects of the highest importance, such as the Incarnation of Jesus, a book on the first principles of the Christian faith prepared for the vizier Quzman ibn Mina, commentaries on several biblical texts, traditions and liturgies of the Coptic church, a treatise on heresies, another on fasts and feasts, and
  3. 3.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 15)
    A manuscript of the Coptic Patriarchate, Cairo (Theology 290; Graf, no. 533; Simaykah, no. 333) contains a collection of 149 poems in simple literary Arabic on moral and religious subjects, composed by Anba Bistawrah, known as al-Hariri (Graf, 1934, Vol. 4, p. 133). It was copied by Ibrahim ibn Sulayman al-Najjar al-Miri in March 1709 for the mu‘allim ‘Awad al-Mahallawi, and was offered to the hegumenos ‘Abd al-Masih.
  4. 4.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 186)
    The principal source for knowledge of the Coptic culture of the Middle Ages is the Arabic Christian manuscript tradition. It is, however, very difficult to distinguish which of these manuscripts originate from Coptic unless an examination is made on the basis of experience with Arabic paleography. In order to facilitate research work in this domain, this article contains a listing of Arabic manuscripts in the National Library, Paris, that were copied by Copts or diffused among them.
  5. 5.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 275)
    Two major works written in classical Arabic appeared in that period. The first was a book of chronicles, Kitab al-Tawarikh, by Sa‘id ibn al-Bitriq (877-940), known as Eutychius, Melchite patriarch of Alexandria. The other was Tarikh Batarikat al-Iskandariyyah al-Qibt, the famous history of the Coptic patriarchs, begun by SAWIRUS IBN AL-MUQAFFA‘, bishop of Ashmunayn.
  6. 6.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 277)
    Afterward, this monumental work was continued by other writers in Arabic. These included Mawhub ibn Mansur ibn Mufarrij for the period 1069 to 1079, followed by Yuhanna ibn Sa‘id ibn Mina al-Qulzumi for the period from 1092 to 1128. The patriarch MARK III (1167-1189) is known to have written about three of his predecessors, from 1131 to 1167. Ma‘ani Abu al-Makarim ibn Barakah ibn Abu al-‘Ala’ covered the period from 1131 to 1167, and Anba Yusab, bishop of Fuwwah, the period from 1224 to 1261.
  7. 7.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 186)
    Disregarding the content of the manuscript, certain Coptic texts have been excluded because they were in circulation outside the Coptic world, for example, the History of al-Makin Jirjis ibn al-‘Amid copied by the Tunisian Muslim Muhammad Mahd ibn Amin al-Tunisi (Arabe 295), or the Life of Saint Pachomius and His Disciple Theodorus, copied by a Melchite (Arabe 261). However, the History of the Melchite Sa‘id ibn Batriq copied by Copts (Arabe 288, 289, and 290) and that of the West Syrian Ibn al-‘Ibri (Arabe 296) qualify for inclusion.
  8. 8.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 284)
    The above-mentioned works from the tenth century onward reached their peak in the works of authors of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Parallel to the Arabic translation of the Gospels, we should not overlook the other purely religious works, hitherto employed in the liturgies of the church in Coptic. It was gradually becoming necessary for the Coptic hierarchical authorities to translate some of the Coptic literature into Arabic so that the congregation, who had started to speak Arabic as a substitute for the spoken Coptic, could understand it. It is difficult to fix a precise date fo
  9. 9.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 282)
    Next in succession to Abu Shakir ibn al-Rahib, we have an equally distinguished name in Copto-Arabic literature, al-As‘ad Abu al-Barakat, better known as IBN KABAR. He lived until the opening decades of the fourteenth century and his work marked the peak of the golden age of Coptic belles lettres. ... His theological acumen and vast knowledge of Coptic religious traditions are evident in the array of his encyclopedic works, comprising the following items: (1) Kitab Misbah al-Zulmah fi Idah al-Khidmah, a kind of encyclopedia of Coptic religious knowledge and traditions in twenty-four sections
  10. 10.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 284)
    The work begins with a biblical introduction to the nativity of Jesus Christ in twenty-two chapters. This is followed by a summary of the rise of Christianity in ten chapters. In the rest of the book, consisting of eighty chapters, he deals with Coptic traditions and gives a meticulous display of the Coptic church offices and officers from the deacon and the archdeacon to the presbyter and the HEGUMENOS, to the bishops, the archbishops, and the patriarch. Ibn Siba‘ goes into every detail of the liturgical offices and the ecclesiastical instruments. Several chapters are devoted to the feasts an
  11. 11.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 285)
    Here we must be content with quoting such literature as Kitab al Khulaji al-Muqaddas, edited by HABIB JIRJIS and sung throughout Coptic Christendom. Other works, such as Kitab al-Turuhat wa-al-Absaliyyat, which contains songs of the church edited by Qummus Bakhum al-Baramusi and ‘Iryan Faraj, are a sample of Coptic religious literature generally published in both Coptic and Arabic.
  12. 12.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 16)
    Despite the importance of this text, it would appear that the Copts in the Middle Ages were not acquainted with it, although they possessed other, rare apologies, such as those of the Nestorians ‘Ammar al-Basri (c. 820) and Hunayn ibn Ishaq (d. 873), or that of the Melchite Qusta ibn Luqa (d. c. 912). The Copts came to know this text only in the nineteenth century, and authors such as the qummus SARJIYUS (Sergius) were able to make use of it owing to the two editions made in Cairo (1885 and 1912) by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

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This article was drafted from the sources listed above with AI assistance and reviewed by an editor before publication.