ابن صافي ملك النحاة

"King of the grammarians" — Abu Nizar al-Hasan b. Safi of Baghdad, jurist, usuli and writer in the two usul, grammar and the arts of letters; he titled himself King of Grammarians and grew angry at whoever failed to call him so; he has a diwan. ¹

He read fiqh under Ahmad al-Ashnahi the pupil of al-Mutawalli, usul al-fiqh under Ibn Burhan, usul al-din under Abu 'Abdallah al-Qayrawani, khilaf under As'ad al-Mayhani and grammar under al-Tabrizi, excelling in it; he travelled to Khurasan and India, settled a while at Wasit where a company took from him, then resided at Damascus and wrote large books on grammar, one book on fiqh and two epitomes on the usul. A brilliant grammarian, usuli, theologian and eloquent man — much given to self-admiration and pride. He died at Damascus in Shawwal 568 at eighty and was buried at Bab al-Saghir. ¹