Al-Asmaʿi (, ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Qurayb al-Aṣmaʿī ; –828/833), or Asmai was an Arab philologist and one of three leading Arabic grammarians of the Basra school. At the court of the Abbasid caliph, Hārūn al-Rashīd, as polymath and prolific author on philology, poetry, genealogy, and natural science, he pioneered zoology studies in animal-human anatomical science. He compiled an important poetry anthology, the Asma'iyyat, and was credited with composing an epic on the life of Antarah ibn Shaddad. A protégé of Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi and Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala', he was a contemporary and rival of Abū ʿUbaidah and Sibawayhi also of the Basran school.

Ibn Isḥaq al-Nadīm's c.10th biography of al-Aṣma’ī follows the “isnad” narrative or ‘chain-of-transmission’ tradition. Al-Nadīm reports Abū ‘Abd Allāh ibn Muqlah's written report of Tha’lab's report, giving Al-Aṣma’ī‘s full name as ’’‘Abd al-Malik ibn Qurayb ibn ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Ali ibn Aṣma’ī ibn Muẓahhir ibn ‘Amr ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Bāhilī.’’’

The c.13th biographer Ibn Khallikān calls al-Aṣmaʿī “a complete master of the Arabic language,” and “the most eminent of all transmitters of the oral history and rare expressions of the language.”. His account includes collected anecdotes of numerous adventures.

Biography

His father was Qurayb Abū Bakr from ‘Āṣim and his son was Sa’īd. He belonged to the family of the poet Abū ‘Uyaynah al-Muhallabī. Al-Aṣma’ī was descended from Adnān and the tribe of Bahila. Growing up studying in Basra, he spent all of his wealth on seeking knowledge. A greengrocer at the end of his alley would chide him to just get a job and give up his books, so he set out very early and returned late to avoid him. Later, the governor of Basra brought him to the notice of the caliph, Harun al-Rashid, who made him tutor to his sons, Al-Amin and Al-Ma'mun. It was said Al-Rashid was an insomniac, and that he once held an all-night discussion with al-Asmaʿi on pre-Islamic and early Arabic poetry. Al-Aṣma’ī was popular with the influential Barmakid viziers and acquired wealth as a property owner in Basra. Some of his protégés attained high rank as literary men. Among his students was the noted musician Ishaq al-Mawsili. After finishing the education of al-Rashid's children, he asked the caliph to order the people of Basra to all greet him on his return and honor him after that. For three days the city greeted him until he met the greengrocer again and hired him as a wakeel.

Of al-Aṣma’ī's prose works listed in the Fihrist about half a dozen are extant. These include the Book of Distinction, the Book of the Wild Animals, the Book of the Horse, and the Book of the Sheep, and Fuḥūlat al-Shu‘arā a pioneering work of Arabic literary criticism.

  • Disposition of Man or Humanity () - Kitab Khalaq al-Insan
  • Categories ()
  • Al-Anwā’ () – “Influence of the stars on the weather”
  • Marking with the Hamzah) ()
  • Short and Long ()
  • Distinction, or of Rare Animals () - Kitab al-Farq
  • Eternal Attributes [of God] ()
  • Gates () or Merit ()
  • Al-Maysir and al-Qidāḥ ()
  • Disposition of the Horse ()
  • Horses () - Kitāb al-Khail
  • The Camel () - Kitāb al-Ibil
  • Sheep () - Kitāb al-Shā
  • Tents and Houses ()
  • Wild Beasts () - Kitab al-Wuhush
  • Times ()
  • Fa‘ala wa-Af‘ala [gram.]) ()
  • Proverbs ()
  • Antonyms ()
  • Pronunciations/Dialects ()
  • Weapons ()
  • Languages/Vernaculars ()
  • Etymology ()
  • Rare Words ()
  • Origins of Words ()
  • Change and Substitution [gram.] ()
  • The Arabian Peninsula ()
  • The Utterance/Pail) ()
  • Migration ()
  • The Meaning of Poetry ()
  • Infinitive/Verbal Noun ()
  • The Six Poems ()
  • Rajaz Poems ()
  • Date Palm/Creed ()
  • Plants and Trees ()
  • The Land Tax ()
  • Synonyms ()
  • The Strange in the Ḥadīth ()
  • The Saddle, Bridle, Halter and Horse Shoe ()
  • The Strange in the Ḥadīth-Uncultured Words ()
  • Rare Forms of the Arabians/Inflections/Declensions ()
  • Waters of the Arabs ()
  • Genealogy ()
  • Vocal Sounds ()
  • Masculine and Feminine ()
  • The Seasons

Contribution to early Arabic literature

Al-Aṣma’ī was among a group of scholars who edited and recited the Pre-lslāmic and Islāmic poets of the Arab tribes up to the era of the Banū al-‘Abbās

He memorised thousands of verses of rajaz poetry and edited a substantial portion of the canon of Arab poets, but produced little poetry of his own. He met criticism for neglecting the ‘rare forms’ (nawādir - ) and lack of care in his abridgments.

List of edited poets

  • Al-Nābighah al-Dhubyānī (whom he also abridged)
  • Al-Ḥuṭay’ah
  • Al-Nābighah al-Ja‘dī
  • Labīd ibn Rabī‘ah al-‘Āmirī
  • Tamīm ibn Ubayy ibn Muqbil
  • Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah
  • Muhalhil ibn Rabī‘ah
  • Al-A‘shā al-Kabīr, Maymūn ibn Qays, Abū Baṣīr:
  • A‘shā Bāhilah ‘Amir ibn al-Ḥārith
  • Mutammim ibn Nuwayrah
  • Bishr ibn Abī Khāzim
  • Al-Zibraqān ibn Badr al-Tamīmī
  • Al-Mutalammis Jarīr ibn ‘Abd al-Masīḥ
  • Ḥumayd ibn Thawr al-Rājiz
  • Ḥumayd al-Arqaṭ
  • Suhaym ibn Wathīl al-Riyāḥī
  • Urwah ibn al-Ward
  • ‘Amr ibn Sha’s
  • Al-Namir ibn Tawlab
  • Ubayd Allāh ibn Qays al-Ruqayyāt
  • Muḍarras ibn Rib‘ī
  • Abū Ḥayyah al-Numayrī
  • Al-Kumayt ibn Ma‘rūf
  • Al-‘Ajjāj al-Rājaz, Abū Shāthā’ ‘Abd Allāh ibn Ru’bah.. For his son, see Ru’bah.
  • Ru’bah ibn al-‘Ajjāj, called Abū Muḥammad Ru’bah ibn ‘Abd Allāh , was a contemporary of al-Aṣma’ī whose poetry al-Aṣma’ī recited.
  • Jarīr ibn ‘Aṭīyah al-Aṣma’ī was among group of editors who included Abū ‘Amr [al-Shaybānī], and Ibn al-Sikkīt.

See also

  • List of Arab scientists and scholars
  • Encyclopædia Britannica Online

Notes

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References

Sources