At a glance
- Roles
- Scholar · writer
- Counted among
- Sunni
- Era
- The Early Abbasid Caliphate
- Region
- Levant & Iraq
- Identifiers
- Wikidata
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Life in time
Place in the story
- ScholarTradition
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Overview
Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Khalil ibn Ahmad ibn Amr ibn Tamim al-Farahidi, one of the greatest scholars of Arabic. He is of the Azd of Oman and grew up in Basra. His birth is estimated around 100 AH (718 CE), and he died in 175 AH (791 CE), according to the "Encyclopaedia of Notable Scholars and Men of Letters". 1
His learning and works
It is considered likely that he originated many of the scientific concepts of grammar and linguistic analysis. Al-Mas'udi, citing al-Jahiz's Hashimite Epistle, says that he wrote a book on rhythm and the structure of sounds, and a book on speech. 2
Ibn al-Nadim says that the principles and the questions in the book of Sibawayh are his, that he was the teacher of Sibawayh who took grammar from him, and that he himself took from Isa ibn Umar al-Thaqafi. 3
Connections
- Related to
- The Basran and Kufan schools of grammar
People and things also explored
Origins of Arabic Grammar· al-Kisa'i the Grammarian· Sibawayh· The Basran and Kufan schools of grammar· God teaches Adam the names· Amharic· Arabic· Bengali
Sources
- Mawsu'at A'lam al-Ulama' wa-l-Adaba' al-Arab wa-l-Muslimin — Dar al-Jil / ALECSO
- Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi , p. 677-678
- al-Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim , p. 110,142-143
- Muhammad Qabbani, The Umayyad State from Birth to Fall (Damascus: Dar Wahy al-Qalam, 2006)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/al-khalil-ibn-ahmad-al-farahidi/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-25.