Jacob Qirqisani

Jacob Qirqisani (c. 890 – c. 960) (Arabic: ابو یوسف یعقوب القرقسانی ʾAbū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb al-Qirqisānī, Hebrew: יעקב בן יצחק הקרקסאני Yaʿqov ben Yiṣḥaq haQarqesani) was a Karaite dogmatist and exegete who flourished in the first half of the tenth century. His origins are unknown. His patronym "Isaac" and teknonym "Joseph" reflect no more than the genealogy of the biblical patriarchs (see Kunya), while his surname has been taken as referring to either ancient Circesium in eastern Syria, or Karkasān, near Baghdad, though no Karaite community is known in either place. He seems to have traveled throughout the Middle East, visiting the centers of Islamic learning, in which he was well-versed.

In 937 Qirqisani wrote an Arabic work on the Jewish precepts—under the title Kitāb al-Anwār wal-Marāqib (کتاب الانوار والمراقب, known in Hebrew as Sefer ha-Me'orot, or Sefer ha-Ma'or), with the subtitle Kitab al-Shara'i (Sefer Mitzvot Gadol)—and a commentary entitled al-Riyad wal-Hada'iq (Sefer ha-Gannim we-Pardesim, or Sefer ha-Nitztzanim), on those portions of the Torah which do not deal with the laws.