such as Ibn al-Batrīq, the Patriarch of Alexandria, who composed a work that he entitled Nazm al-Jawhar. In that book he recorded the reports of the Christians, their councils and their disagreements, and the motives behind the innovations they introduced, all while defending the Melkite creed and refuting anyone who opposed it.

Saʿīd ibn al-Batrīq, Patriarch of Alexandria, says in his chronicle—well known among the Christians—which he likewise called Nazm al-Jawhar. In it he treats the beginning of creation, the chronicles of the prophets, kings, and nations, the histories of the Roman emperors and the occupants of the thrones in Rome, Constantinople, and elsewhere. He also describes the Christian religion and its various sects. A devoted Melkite himself, he responds to all the other Christian factions. When he reaches the nativity of the Messiah, Jesus—may Allah’s blessings be upon him—he states that He was born during the reign of the Roman emperor, the Caesar known as Augustus, in the forty-second year of his rule, and adds: “He reigned for fifty-six years.”