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Abū-Yūsuf Ya&rsquo;qūb ibn Ishāq al-Kindī, also known by the Latinised version of his name Alkindus to the Western world (أبو يوسف يعقوب ابن إسحاق الكندي, was a Muslim Arab scientist, mathematician, physician, and a talented musician.

Al-Kindī was born in Kufa, a centre of world learning at the time. Al-Kindi's father was the governor of Kufa, as his grandfather had been before him. Al-Kindi was descended from the Kindah tribe which had migrated from Yemen. This tribe had united a number of tribes and reached a position of prominence in the 5th and 6th centuries, but then lost power from the middle of the 6th century. Al-Kindī's education took place first in Kufa, then in Basra, and finally in Baghdad. Knowledge of his great learning soon spread, and the Caliph al-Ma'mun appointed him to the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, which was a recently established centre for the translation of Greek philosophical and scientific texts. (He was also well known for his beautiful calligraphy, and at one point was employed as a calligrapher by al-Mutawakkil.)