His father had been a Greek slave owned by Sulaymān ibn Fahd al-Mawṣilī (1).
A lengthy biographical notice on him appears in Yāqūt’s Taʾrīkh al-Udabāʾ.
He remained in the company of Abū ʿAlī al-Fārisī (2) for many years, travelling with him until he achieved mastery, authored numerous works, took up residence in Baghdad, and produced students who themselves became leading authorities.
Among his writings are: Sirr al-Ṣināʿa (The Secret of Linguistic Craft) (3); al-Lumaʿ (Linguistic Flashes); al-Taṣrīf (Morphology) (4); al-Talqīn fī al-Naḥw (Instruction in Grammar); al-Taʿāqub (Reciprocal Review); al-Khaṣāʾiṣ (Linguistic Characteristics) (5); al-Maqṣūr wa-l-Mamdūd (Short and Extended Vowels); Mā Yudhakkar wa-Yuʾannath (What Is Considered Masculine and What Is Considered Feminine); Iʿrāb al-Ḥamāsa (Parsing the Ḥamāsa); and al-Muḥtasab fī al-Shawādh (Justified Irregularities) (6).
(1) On this theme Ibn Jinni recites:
If ever I should wake with no known lineage, my knowledge among mankind is lineage enough.
Yet I still trace back to eminent, noble lords—sovereign caesars;
When they speak, the very age of trials grows silent.
For them the Prophet prayed; a Prophet’s prayer is honour sufficient.
See: Inbaʾ al-ruwat, 2/335–336; Wafayat al-aʿyan, 3/246.
(2) His biography appeared earlier in volume 16.
(3) For the manuscript copies, consult Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur (Arabic ed.), 2/245–246. The first volume was edited by Mustafa al-Saqqa and others and printed at the Mustafa al-Halabi Press, Cairo, 1954.
(4) Published under the care of Hoebergh, Leipzig, 1885; reissued in Egypt, 1331 AH/1913 CE, with commentaries by Shaykh Muhammad Naʿsan al-Hamawi.
(5) Printed in Egypt, 1376 AH/1956 CE, at Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya in three volumes, edited by Muhammad ʿAli al-Najjar.
(6) Published in Cairo, 1386 AH/1966 CE, under the supervision of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs under the title Al-Muhtasib fi tabyin wujuh shawadhdh al-qiraʾat wa-l-idah ʿanha. Ibn Jinni’s work Al-Muqtadab fi ism al-mafʿul al-thulathi al-muʿtal al-ʿayn was also printed in Leipzig, 1903, and again in Cairo, 1922, under the title Al-Muqtadab min kalam al-ʿArab within a collection of three treatises, accompanied by Ma yahtaju ilayhi al-katib min mahmuz wa-maqsur wa-mamdud and ʿUqud al-hamz wa-khawas amthilat al-fiʿl, and was subsequently published…