al-Aswad (1): ‘All speech falls into three categories: a noun, a verb, and a particle,’ and he taught him (2) the forms of grammatical inflection.”

The response is as follows: First, it may be said that this is not one of the prophetic sciences. Rather, it is a discipline formulated by deduction and a means of preserving the rules of the language in which the Quran was revealed. During the time of the first three caliphs, people did not make grammatical errors (3), so there was no need for it. When Alī settled in Kūfa, which had a Nabataean population, it is related that he said to Abū al-Aswad al-Du’alī:

“Speech consists of nouns, verbs, and particles.”

He also said:

“Follow this method.”

He did this because the need had arisen, just as those who came after Alī devised dots and vowel marks for the script, as well as signs for vowel lengthening and consonant doubling (4), and similar devices, as the need arose. Thereafter, the grammarians of Kūfa and Basra expanded the science of grammar, while al-Khalīl formulated the science of prosody.

Section

The Rāfidī (5) said:

“In jurisprudence, the jurists refer back to him (6).”

The response is that this is a patent lie. Not one of the four imams—or any of the other leading jurists (7)—derived his jurisprudence from him. As for Mālik, he acquired his knowledge from