—and he reinforced this with the most solemn oaths, declaring, “You shall be my heir after me.” They even committed the agreement to writing. ʿAmr was deceived, opened the gates of Damascus for him, and ʿAbd al-Malik entered; what transpired between them after that has been recounted above. (1)

Among the other notable personalities who died this year was Abū al-Aswad al-Duʾalī (2)—also called al-Daylī—chief judge of Kūfa and a distinguished Successor. His full name was Ẓālim ibn ʿAmr ibn Sufyān ibn Jandal ibn Yaʿmar ibn Hils ibn Naffātha (3) ibn ʿAdī ibn al-Duʾal ibn Bakr. He is the very Abū al-Aswad to whom the science of naḥw (Arabic grammar) is traced, and some maintain that he was the first to speak on the subject, having taken it from the Commander of the Believers ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. His personal name is disputed, the most common view being Ẓālim ibn ʿAmr, though some reverse the order.

Al-Wāqidī said that his name was ʿUwaymir ibn Ẓuwaylim. He added that Abū al-Aswad embraced Islam during the Prophet’s ﷺ lifetime without ever meeting him, fought at the Battle of the Camel on ʿAlī’s side, and was among the most eminent and clear-sighted of his supporters. ʿAlī instructed him to lay down the principles of grammar, and when he read what Abū al-Aswad had produced he remarked, “How excellent is this naḥw (method) you have devised!” (4) Abū al-Aswad died during the governorship of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād.

Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn and Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿIjli said: “He was reliable (thiqa) and the first to discuss grammar.”

Ibn Maʿīn and others also stated that he died in the sweeping plague (al-ṭāʿūn al-jārif) in the year 69 AH.

Qāḍī Ibn Khallikān (5) reported another view, namely that he died during the caliphate of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, which began in 99 AH. I say: this is exceedingly strange.

Ibn Khallikān and others further note that the first to impart to him the science of grammar was the Commander of the Believers ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, who explained that speech consists of noun, verb, and particle. Abū al-Aswad then followed his lead, elaborated on his statement, and pursued his method; hence the discipline came to be called naḥw (“method, direction”). What moved Abū al-Aswad to expand the subject was the corruption of people’s Arabic and the spread of solecism during the days when Ziyād governed Iraq. At that time Abū al-Aswad was teaching his own children. One day a man came to Ziyād and said, “Our father has died and left behind bunun (sons),” whereupon Ziyād ordered Abū al-Aswad to devise something by which the people could be guided to the proper speech of the Arabs.