Educated at the Maronite College in Rome, he was appointed archbishop of Antioch by the Patr. al-Duwayhī who then sent him to France on a diplomatic mission. Subsequently in 1707 Pope Clement XI sent him to Egypt to collect mss. for the Vatican Library (he came back with 70). It was on his return journey that his boat on the Nile capsized and the manuscripts had to be rescued from the water.