Yaḥyā’s light-hearted banter with youthful beardless boys was a well-known matter, though some of the stories are not authentic; all of that occurred before he grew old—may Allah pardon him and us.
2- Ibn al-Sikkīt, Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq al-Baghdādī, the Grammarian
The master of Arabic, Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq ibn al-Sikkīt (1) al-Baghdādī—grammatian, tutor, and author of the work “Iṣlāḥ al-Manṭiq”—was a pious, upright scholar and an authoritative reference in the Arabic language.
He studied under Abū ʿAmr al-Shaybānī and a number of others.
Transmitters from him include Abū ʿIkrimah al-Ḍabbī, Aḥmad ibn Farah the exegete, and several others.
His father had been a tutor, so Yaʿqūb learned under him, excelled in grammar and philology, and went on to tutor the children of the emir Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭāhir (2). His rank then rose, and he became the tutor of al-Mutawakkil’s son.
He left behind roughly twenty works (3).
(*) Tabaqat al-nahawiyyin wa-l-lughawiyyin, pp. 202, 204; al-Fihrist, p. 79; Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 14, pp. 273–274; Nuzhat al-albaʾ, p. 122; Muʿjam al-udabaʾ, vol. 20, pp. 50, 52; Wafayat al-aʿyan, vol. 6, pp. 395, 402; al-ʿIbar, vol. 1, p. 443; al-Bidaya wa-l-nihaya, vol. 1, p. 346; al-Nujum al-zahira, vol. 2, pp. 317-318; Bughyat al-wuʿat, vol. 2, p. 349; Shadharat al-dhahab, vol. 2, p. 106; Nuzhat al-albaʾ, pp. 178, 180; Idah al-maknun, vol. 1, p. 94 and vol. 2, pp. 13, 261, 262; al-Kamil li-Ibn al-Athir, vol. 5, p. 30; Tarikh Abi al-Fidaʾ, vol. 2, p. 40; Talkhis Ibn Maktum, p. 277; Mirʾat al-jinan, vol. 2, pp. 147, 149; Maratib al-nahawiyyin, pp. 95, 96; al-Muzhir, vol. 2, p. 412.
(1) Ibn Khallikan explains that “al-Sukayt” is pronounced with a kasra on the initial sin, a geminated kaf, followed by a yaʾ, then a taʾ; he received this epithet because he was notably taciturn. Any noun on the pattern faʿil or faʿlil likewise carries a short vowel i on the first consonant.
(2) See Wafayat al-aʿyan, vol. 6, p. 398.
(3) Among these works are Islah al-mantiq (Correction of Language), al-Qalb wa-l-ibdal (Metathesis and Substitution), and Maʿani al-shiʿr (The Meanings of Poetry).