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Dayr Abu Al-Lif

By René-Georges Coquin, Maurice Martin

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dayr abu al-lif, also called the Monastery of Andrew, who was a friend of Pisentius and superior of the neighboring monastery Dayr al-Salib.

His Life is contained in two manuscripts in the National Library, Paris (Arabe 4793, 4882), but it has not yet been published. It is not known if Abu Lif was simply a surname of Saint Andrew. A Muslim shaykh bears this name at qus, although it is not possible to say whether or not these two appellations designate the same person (Garcin, 1976, p. 34, n. 3).

However that may be, there is a monastery called Dayr Abu Lif on the left bank of the Nile about 150 feet (50 m) from Dayr al-Salib, of which Andrew was the superior (o'leary, 1930, pp. 430-40, 462; Crum, 1926, Vol. 1, pp. 114-15).

Bibliography

Crum, W. E. The Monastery of Epiphanius at Thebes, Vol. 1. New York, 1926. Garcin, J.-C. Un Centre musulman de la Haute-Egypte médiévale: Qus. Textes arabes et études islamiques 6. Cairo, 1976. O'Leary, De L. The Arabic Life of Pisentius. PO 22. Paris, 1930. RENÉ-GEORGES COQUIN MAURICE MARTIN, S.J.