Abū ʿUbayda, Maʿmar b. Muthannā (114–ca. 210/732–825), was a transmitter (rāwiya) and leading philologist of the early ʿAbbāsid period.

The origins and lineage of Abū ʿUbayda are not known in any detail, but there seems to be almost no doubt that his ancestors were originally Iranian Jews from Bājarwān (near al-Raqqa, then in Iraq). He himself ref…