Grammarians of Kufa

The Kufan School of Arabic Grammar, also the Grammarians of Kufa, was a school of thought that dominated amongst grammarians in Kufa during the Islamic Golden Age.

Al-Kūfah began as a military base ca. 638 near Ḥīrah on the western branch of the Euphrates river and grew, as had its counterpart at Al-Basrah also grown, from an encampment into a town that attracted the great intellectual elites from across the region. The first grammarian of al-Kūfah was Al-Ru'asi who lived in the eighth century, whereas the earliest scholars of the School at Baṣrah, lived during the seventh century. The great intellectual project that developed out of both schools of philology, created the sciences of Arabic grammar and lexicography. What emerged from an impetus to interpret the sacred texts of the Qu’rān and Ḥadīth, by humanists of al-Baṣrah and al-Kūfah, led to a communal quest for the purest, least corrupt, Arabic source material, for which they turned to the Pre-Islamic oral poetry as recited by the rāwī. The compositions of famous poets were collected, arranged, and committed to writing. The grammarians of al-Baṣrah and al-Kūfah collected the ancient Arabian poetry and arranged the material into “Dīwān” (pl. Dawāwan) according to certain principles; either by classes of individuals, tribal groupings, selected qaṣīdas, or by themes of fragments, and edited into anthologies. Examples of their works are the Mu’allaqāt, and the Mufaḍḍaliyāt by al-Mufaḍḍal al-Ḍabbī.

Philologists of al-Kūfah found in al-Fihrist of Isḥāq al-Nadīm

• AnbārÄ« (al-), AbÅ« Muhammad Qāsim - AbÅ« Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Bashshār al-Anbārī’ al-Qāsim, was a pupil of al-Farrā’ and Tha‘lab. His son was AbÅ« Bakr Ibn al-AnbārÄ«, (885 - 940), a scholar famed for his memory.
• A’rābÄ« (Ibn al-) - AbÅ« ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ziyād (ca. 760 – 846). Celebrated linguist of rare phraseology. He died at Sāmarrā.
• ‘Arūḍī (al-) - AbÅ« Muḥammad. a.k.a., Barzakh, or Nazraḥ, (fl. ca. 800), acclaimed author of book on prosody (arud). The scholar of al-Baá¹£rah, Ibn DurustÅ«yah, wrote a refutation of his book.
• ‘Aṣīdah (AbÅ«) - Aḥmad ibn ‘Ubayd (Allāh) ibn Nāṣiḥ, AbÅ« Ja’far (d. 886/887), of al-KÅ«fah, tutor to the sons of Caliph Al-Mutawakkil (r. 847-861).
• ‘Āṣim (ibn), Salamah - AbÅ« Muḥammad; a grammarian and associate of al-Farrā’ at al-KÅ«fah in the early C 9th. His son was the scholar al-Mufaḍḍal ibn Salamah.
• Farrā’ (al-) - AbÅ« ZakarÄ«yā’ Yaḥyā ibn Ziyād (d. 822), from Daylam, (Iran) was an important scholar of al-Kisā’ī, who died aged sixty.
• Ḥā’ik (al-), HārÅ«n ibn – a.k.a. HārÅ«n of al-Ḥīrah, a converted Jew from al-Ḥīrah and a disciple of Tha‘lab, a linguist and grammarian of latter C 9th. .
• Ḥazunbal (al-) - AbÅ« ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Āṣim al-TamÄ«mÄ«, C9th scholar and source for material on AbÅ« ‘Amr al-ShaybānÄ«.
• Hishām ibn Mu‘āwÄ«yah al-ḌarÄ«r (died 824), a blind grammarian and qāri’ (reciter of the Qur’ān) at al-KÅ«fah.
• Karnabā’ī (al-) - Hishām ibn IbrāhÄ«m, AbÅ« ‘AlÄ«, from Karnaba near al-Ahwaz an early C. 9th grammarian at al-KÅ«fah and a pupil of al-Aá¹£ma’ī. *Khaá¹­á¹­abÄ« (al-) - AbÅ« Muḥammad ‘Abd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Harb (d. ca. 893 – 896), language student of al-KÅ«fah, who died at Damascus.
• KhurāsānÄ« (al-), Naá¹£rān, a teacher of Ibn al-SikkÄ«t first half C. 9th.
• Kisā’ī (al-) - AbÅ« al-Ḥasan ‘AlÄ« ibn Hamzah of al-KÅ«fah. Al-Kisā’ī a celebrated grammarian who tutored the sons of the Abbāsid caliph HārÅ«n al-RashÄ«d and was an authorized Quranic reader. (d. ca.795/813).
• Kunāsah (Ibn) - AbÅ« Muḥammad ‘Abd Allāh ibn Yaḥyā, a.k.a., ‘Abd al-A‘lā ibn Muḥammad, (fl. ca. 741 - 823); an authority on tribal poetry, he was of the tribe of Asad. Born at al-KÅ«fah and later moved to Baghdād.
• Mardān (Ibn) - AbÅ« MÅ«sa ‘Īsā al-KÅ«fÄ«, C 9th grammarian at al-KÅ«fah.
• Marzabān (ibn),‘AlÄ« ibn ‘Abd al-‘AzÄ«z - AbÅ« al-Ḥasan (d. ca. 900) lived at Makkah, a Qur’ān reader.
• Mu’ādh al-Harrā’ - Mu’ādh ibn Muslim al-Harrā’, aka ‘’AbÅ« Muslim’’’’ and ‘’AbÅ« ‘Alī’’’’, (ca.722 – 803), was a cloth dealer of Harāt, and a poet.
• Mufaḍḍal (al-) al-ḌabbÄ« - Ibn Salamah al-ḌabbÄ«, AbÅ« Ṭālib (d. 903), author of the famous al-Mufaḍḍaliyāt and a renowned scholar of Qur’an and literature from al-KÅ«fah.
• Naá¹£r ibn YÅ«suf - an 8th-century grammarian and philologist of the school of al-KÅ«fah.
• Qādim (Ibn) - AbÅ« Ja‘far Muḥammad (Aḥmad). A scholar of al-KÅ«fah, he taught Tha‘lab in Baghdād and tutored Al-Mu'tazz, the son of the caliph, before 866.
• Qāsim (al-) ibn Ma‘n ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān; scholar and Qāḍī (judge) of al-KÅ«fah (d. 791/792)
• Ru’āsÄ« (al-) - AbÅ« Ja‘far Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn AbÄ« Sārah al-NÄ«lÄ« al-Ru’āsÄ«, wrote the first grammar book in the Abbasid caliphate of HarÅ«n ar-RashÄ«d (786-809).
• Sa‘dān (Ibn) - AbÅ« Ja‘far Muḥammad ibn Sa‘dān al-ḌarÄ«r (fl. 778 – 846) a language student and reader of the Qur’ān who lived at Baghdād.
• SarkhasÄ« (al-) - AbÅ« Ṭalib ‘Abd al-‘AzÄ«z ibn Muḥammad from Sarkhas, Khurāsān, with links to al-KÅ«fah who taught in the mosque of the TarjumānÄ«yah
• á¹¢a’ūdā’ - AbÅ« Sa’īd Muḥammad ibn Hubayrah al-AsadÄ« (fl. late C. 9th) of al-KÅ«fah, grammarian and philologist attached to a son of the Caliph al-Mu‘tazz at Baghdād. YāqÅ«t calls him Sa‘ūrā’.
• ShāmÄ« (al-), AbÅ« Muhammad ‘Abd Allāh (‘the Syrian’) - Muḥammad (AbÅ«) ‘Abd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-ShāmÄ«, a Syrian pupil of Tha‘lab, in the latter C. 9th.
• ShaybānÄ« (al-) - AbÅ« ‘Amr Isḥāq ibn Mirār (d. ca. 821- 828), lived a long life and categorized the poetry and lore of at least 80 tribes. His son, ‘Amr ibn AbÄ« ‘Amr (d. 845/846), collected and publicised his works.
• SikkÄ«t (al-), the father of Ya’qÅ«b Ibn al-SikkÄ«t, was a scholar of literature who had studied under al-Farrā’. He was from Dawraq near al-Ahwaz. The son, AbÅ« YÅ«suf Ya‘qÅ«b ibn Isḥāq Ibn al-SikkÄ«t, was a tutor to the son of Al-Mutawakkil and a celebrated grammarian. (d. 857 – 861).
• Thābit ibn AbÄ« Thābit - ‘Abd al-‘AzÄ«z, AbÅ« Muḥammad (probably in early C. 9th) from al-KÅ«fah, a scholar of tribal dialects.
• Thābit ibn ‘Amr ibn ḤabÄ«b and ‘AlÄ« ibn Muḥammad ibn Wahb al-Mash’arÄ« were early C9th disciples of AbÅ« ‘Ubayd al-Qāsim.
• Tha‘lab - AbÅ« al-‘Abbās Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā (ca. 815 – 904), of Baghdād, a celebrated grammarian and traditionist, who moved from al-KÅ«fah to Baghdād.
• ṬūsÄ« (al-) - AbÅ« al-Ḥasan ‘AlÄ« ibn ‘Abd Allāh Ibn Sinān at-Taimi of the Banu Taym, native of Ṭūs, early C9th pupil of Ibn al-A’rābÄ« at al-KÅ«fah. A narrator of poetry and oral history of the Arab tribes. He compiled the diwan of Ibn al-Tathriya.
• Ṭuwāl (al-) - AbÅ« ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ‘Abd Allāh (d.857/858); grammarian of al-KÅ«fah.
• ‘Ubayd (AbÅ«) al-Qāsim ibn Sallām (770 – ca. 838) - the son of a Greek slave born at Herat, studied with al-Aá¹£ma’ī and al-Kisā’ī, and became a judge.
• Zāhid (al-) - AbÅ« ‘Umar Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wāḥid al-Mutarriz (ca. 870 – 957), an ascetic philologer of Baghdād.

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