Isaac was born about 613 in Beth Qatraye, the region of the Persian Gulf around today's Qatar, and became a monk of the Church of the East, the Syriac-speaking church of the Persian lands. He became widely known for his learning and holiness, and about 676 the Catholicos George ordained him bishop of Nineveh, across the Tigris from modern Mosul in Iraq.
After only five months, for reasons no one now knows, he gave up the office and withdrew to the mountains of Beth Huzaye in south-western Persia to live in solitude, later joining the monastery of Rabban Shabur. He studied the Scriptures so constantly that he became almost blind. He died there, very old, about 700, and was buried in the monastery.
Isaac the Syrian in the library (1 work)
- Isaac of Nineveh: Mystic Treatises — 7th century; translation 1923
The ascetic homilies of the seventh-century Syrian bishop and hermit, beloved in the Orthodox Church: on prayer, humility, stillness and the love of God.