He narrated from: Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani, ʿAsim al-Ahwal, al-ʿAwwam ibn Hawshab, and Ghalib al-Qattan.

Those who studied under him include: the grammarian Sibawayh, al-Nadr ibn Shumayl, Harun ibn Musa the grammarian, Wahb ibn Jarir, al-Asmaʿi, and many others.

He was a foremost authority on the Arabic tongue—devout, God-fearing, content with little, humble, and of high standing.

It is said that he prayed to Allah to grant him a branch of knowledge in which no one had preceded him; as a result, the science of prosody was opened up for him. He also authored the lexicon Kitab al-ʿAyn.

Ibn Hibban declared him reliable.

It is further reported that he lived austerely and was devoted to worship.

Al-Nadr said: “Al-Khalil stayed in a small reed hut (1) of his in Basra; he could not lay his hands on two small coins, while his students were making fortunes from his learning. He would often recite:
If you should seek a treasure and find none,
No hoard is like the store of righteous deeds.” (2)

He—may Allah have mercy on him—was extraordinarily intelligent.

He was born in the year 100 AH.

He died in the year sixty-odd and one hundred AH.

Another report says he lived until 170 AH.

He and Yunus were the two leading imams of Basra in Arabic, and he passed away before completing the Book of (