Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi
| Al-Farāhīdi | |
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Sculpture of al-Farahidi in Basra
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Genius of Arabic Language (ʻAbqarī al-lughah) |
| Born | 110 AH/718 CE Oman |
| Died | 786 or 791 CE Basra |
| Religion | Islam |
| Main interest(s) | Lexicography, philology |
| Notable idea(s) | Harakat, Arabic prosody |
| Notable work(s) | Kitab al-'Ayn |
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Genius of Arabic Language
Abu ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān al-Khalīl ibn Aḥmad ibn ‘Amr ibn Tammām al-Farāhīdī al-Azdī al-Yaḥmadī (Arabic: أبو عبدالرحمن الخليل بن أحمد الفراهيدي; 718 – 786 CE), more commonly known as Al-Farahidi or simply Al-Khalīl, was one of the earliest Arab lexicographers and philologists. His best known contributions are Kitab al-'Ayn (Arabic: كتاب العين) regarded as the first dictionary of the Arabic language, the current standard for Harakat (vowel marks in Arabic script), and the invention al-'arud (the study of Arabic prosody),musicology and metre. His study also formed the basis for prosody in the Persian, Turkish and Urdu languages as well. Al-Farahidi was considered the "shining star" of the Basran school of Arabic grammar and a legitimate polymath who was not only a scholar but a genuine man of original ideas.
Born in 718 to Azdi parents of modest means, al-Farahidi was from southern Arabia (modern day Oman) and later moved to Basra, Iraq. Originally an Ibadi (a sect of Islam), he became a Sunni upon his move to Iraq, where he lived a simple and pious life; he was only a second-generation Muslim, his parents having converted to the faith. It was said that al-Farahidi's father was the first person to be named "Ahmad" after the time of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. His nickname "Farahidi" differed from his tribal name as one of his ancestors was named Furhud; a furhud is a young lion and the plural is farahid. The modern-day descendants of his tribe are the Zahran tribe residing primarily in the Al Bahah Province of Saudi Arabia.
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