ḤASDAI (ḤISDAI), ABU AL-FAḌL BEN JOSEPH IBN:
Jewish convert to Islam; lived at Saragossa in the second half of the eleventh century. Ibn Abi 'Uṣaibia ("'Uyun al-Anba fi Ṭabaḳat al-Aṭibba") pompously calls him a descendant of the prophet Moses. He relates further that Ḥasdai was an excellent poet, an orator, a clever logician and physician, and was well versed in mathematics and astronomy.
Bibliography:
- Ibn Abi 'Uṣaibia, 'Uyun al-Anba fi Ṭabaḳat al-Aṭibba, ii. 50;
- Steinschneider, Die Arabische Literatur der Juden, § 100, note 3, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1902.
