Isaac of Nineveh was born in Eastern Arabia, a mixed Syriac and Arabic speaking region in Mesopotamia. When he was young he entered a monastery where he devoted his efforts to asceticism. He studied theology for a time and became involved in religious education. When the Catholicos visited him he decided to ordain Isaac as a bishop of Nineveh. However, Isaac did not like the administrative duties and retired again to the hermetical and monastic life in which struggles he eventually died. He left a number of writings on mystical subjects including these, "Six Treatises on the Behavior of Excellence," which cover the topics about how to excel in Christian perfection by becoming a more virtuous person.