‘abd al-masīḥ, known as ibn nūḥ. Everything known about this author comes from the Coptic encyclopedist Abū al-Barakāt ibn kabar (d. 1324), who mentions him in his lamp of darkness at the end of Chapter 7 (Riedel, 1902, p. 666; Samir, 1971, p. 326; trans. Riedel, p. 703) as follows: “Masā’il wa-Ajwibah fī Ma‘anī al-I‘tiqād li-‘Abd al-Masīḥ yu‘raf bi-Ibn Nūḥ” (Questions and answers on the concepts of [Christian] dogma by ‘Abd al-Masīḥ, known as Ibn Nūḥ).
Although he mentions ‘Abd al-Masīḥ in the course of his text, Abū al-Barakāt does not include him in his special inventory. Consequently, it is impossible to determine where he came from and when he lived beyond Abū al-Barakāt’s own time. One notes that he is mentioned in an appendix after the Kitāb al-Barādīsūs, that is, the Lausiac History of palladius. The reference to him in the Lamp of Darkness, however, shows that he was known by the Copts at the end of the thirteenth century.