ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd b. Yaḥyā (al-Kātib) the freed slave of al-ʿAlāʾ b. Wahb al-ʿĀmirī (al-ʿĀmir b. Luʾayy) (d. 132/750), was the first great scribe (kātib, dabīr) of Islam. The information here about him is based on the following sources: some reports concerning his origin and birthplace; various accounts of his aphorisms; minor epistolary writings of some literary merit, most of which were sent from the domain governed by the caliph Marwān; a number of contradictory accounts that contain historical errors concerning his death; and a plethora of reports which quote the texts of his letters.

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