John of Damascus wrote in Greek despite being a native Arabic-speaking Christian.

Evidence

John’s family had long been prominent in Damascus; indeed, it was probably his grandfather, Mansûr b. Sarjûn, who surrendered the city to Khâlid b. al-Walîd in 635. John’s father, apparently, was an Arabic Christian who spoke no Greek; one Greek writer praises John for having learned Greek so fast. John himself wrote in Greek; many of his works 50 • Foundations (Seventh-Eighth Centuries) were subsequently translated into Arabic and seem to have been read and used by Muslim writers. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 338

Categorization

• QUESTION: The excerpt cuts off; the full linguistic biography of John of Damascus is worth noting but this specific claim is minor.