John of Dalyatha

John of Dalyatha (c. 690 – c. 780), commonly known as John Saba ("the Elder") and in Syriac Yoḥannan, was a monk and mystic of the Church of the East. He spent his entire life in Upper Mesopotamia, alternating between coenobitic (community-based) and eremitic (solitary) monasticism, with a preference for the latter. At the time of his death, he was serving as the abbot of a community of monks. John was a prolific writer in Syriac. A great number of his sermons, treatises, maxims and letters have…