Abū al-Faḍl Jaʻfar ibn ʻAlī al-Dimashqī (Arabic: أبو الفضل جعفر بن علي الدمشقي; fl.
His work praises trade as an economic activity and demonstrates a thorough understanding of the roles of supply and demand and the uncertainty associated with them.
[1] According to Louis Baeck, professor of International Economics and Development at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), al-Dimashqi "formulated what modern economists would call price theory".
[2] In the Guide to the Merits of Commerce, he expresses disapproval of the state becoming directly involved in the economy.
Al-Dimashqi also emphasizes the necessity of division of labour for economic development:[3] "No individual can, because of the shortness of his life span, burden himself with all industries.