A trustworthy narrator informed me—and I in turn have transmitted it—that Abū Zayd died a little over thirty years after Sībawayh. (1)
He also said: It is related that al-Aṣmaʿī had committed one-third of the Arabic language to memory, Abū Zayd two-thirds, al-Khalīl one-half, while ʿAmr ibn Karkirah the Bedouin knew the entire language. (2)
I remark: This ʿAmr is not a figure of any fame.
Al-Mubarrad said: Among al-Aṣmaʿī, Abū ʿUbaydah, and Abū Zayd, the most knowledgeable of the three in grammar is Abū Zayd; he used to conduct a teaching circle in Basra.
Abū Zayd related: “I once said to a nephew of mine, ‘Hire something for us.’ He thereupon shouted, ‘Company of boatmen!’ I exclaimed, ‘Woe to you! What are you saying?’ He replied, ‘I am fond of the accusative case.’” (3)
Abū Mūsā al-Zamin and others stated that Abū Zayd died in the year 215 AH. (4)
Abū Ḥātim said that he lived to the age of ninety-three. (5)