ABSTRACT
Shortly after the inauguration of the 'Abbasid caliphate, translations into Arabic began to be made of Greek scientific and philosophical works. Unlike most of the earlier translators—nearly all Iraqian Christians—who had translated from Syriac, Hunayn had learnt Greek and was in the habit of collating a number of manuscripts before making his translations. The biographies of some of the leading philosophers makes it clear that there was also considerable interest in it in the eastern part of the caliphate; but it is not possible to say anything definite about this. The transition and the motives are exemplified in Abu-Yusuf Ya'qub ibn-Is'haq al-Kindi. He is usually known as al-Kindi, and, as the first of the notable Islamic philosophers and the only one of Arabic descent, he is also called the "philosopher of the Arabs". The last reason for original philosophical writing was perhaps the most important, and his production has been described as essentially "Greek philosophy for Muslims".
