and Minjab ibn al-Ḥārith, and others.
He was reliable, a grammarian and historian of traditions, a man of great standing who never accepted any stipend for his judgeship. Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal transmitted this. Abū Ḥātim said, “Trustworthy; of all people he narrated the most ḥadith and poetry, and he was the most knowledgeable among them in Arabic and jurisprudence.” I add: he was chaste and firm, and counted among the foremost disciples of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah. Muḥammad ibn Ziyād ibn al-Aʿrābī (1) studied Arabic under him, and the caliph al-Mahdī appointed him as judge of Kūfah. It was also said that he was called “the Shaʿbī of his age.” Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasāʾī relate a few reports from him. He died in 175 AH.
29 – Yūnus Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥabīb al-Ḍabbī, their client *
The master of grammar.
He is Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Yūnus ibn Ḥabīb al-Ḍabbī, their client, of Basra.
(1) Ibn al-Aʿrabi—the hadith transmitter, genealogist, and one of the foremost authorities on Arabic philology—was highly renowned for his mastery of the language. Thaʿlab relates: “I attended Ibn al-Aʿrabi’s sessions, where roughly one hundred people would gather; each would either pose a question or read to him, and he answered without ever consulting a book. I kept his company for more than fifteen years and never once saw a book in his hand. I am convinced he dictated to his students materials that would fill pack-loads on camels. No one has been seen whose knowledge of poetry and language was more abundant than his.” He died in 231 AH/845 CE. Maʿjam al-udabaʾ, 18/189.
(*) Further biographical notices: Ibn Qutaybah, al-Maʿarif, 541; al-Jahiz, al-Bayan wa-l-tabyin, 1/77; al-Tabari, Tarikh, 7/23; Murat al-nahwiyyin, 21; al-Zabidi, Tabaqat, 48; Ibn al-Nadim, al-Fihrist, 42; Ibn Bassam, Nuzhat al-albaʾ, 31; Yaqut, Maʿjam al-udabaʾ, 20/64; Ibn al-Athir, Tarikh, 6/165; Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-aʿyan, 7/244–249; Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, 5/346; al-Yafiʿi, Mirʾat al-janan, 1/388; Nur al-qabas, 48–55; al-Suyuti, al-Muzhir, 2/231; al-Suyuti, Bughyat al-wuʿat, 426.