Amr ibn Uthman ibn Qanbar is better known by his nickname, Sibaweih, which has become a title of scholarly esteem, given to scholars who excel in the same field. Even today, more than 12 centuries after his death, his nickname is used in ordinary conversation to indicate very high standard in Arabic linguistics. In fact his nickname, which is always mentioned, has replaced his original name, which is far less known. It has become synonymous with excellence in Arabic grammar. Indeed, four later scholars of Arabic linguistics have been nicknamed Sibaweih in honor of our scholar.
Yet Sibaweih was of Persian origin. He was born in Al-Baidha’ in Persia, while some reports suggest that he was born in Al-Ahwaz, the southern province of Iran today. His family then moved to Basrah in southern Iraq, where the young Amr ibn Uthman, or Sibaweih, began his learning. The most important disciplines at the time were Fiqh and Hadith. Sibaweih was interested in both and he worked hard to learn both. One of his main teachers was Hammad ibn Salamah. On a few occasions, Hammad pointed out to his young student his grammatical errors. Sibaweih felt embarrassed and determined to study linguistics and excel in it. He began attending the circle of Al-Khaleel ibn Ahmad, who was the top linguistics scholar of the time. He continued to attend him until his death which occurred after 160 A.H., corresponding to A.D. 777.
Sibaweih found in Al-Khaleel’s circle the type of learning that he greatly loved, and he enjoyed a special position with his teacher. It is reported that when Sibaweih visited his teacher, Al-Khaleel would welcome him saying, “Welcome to the one with whom we are never tired.” Nevertheless, Sibaweih continued to read under other scholars, in different disciplines. He did not stop attending Hammad ibn Salamah, but he also studied under Al-Akhfash, the first, who was a top scholar of Arabic and Ya’qoob Al-Hadhrami, a leading figure in Qur’anic recitation and Arabic scholarship. He also includes in his book reports from Abu Amr ibn Al-Alaa, a highly famous linguist and one of the seven most distinguished reciters of the Qur’an over the centuries.
Although Abu Amr died at an age when Sibaweih was probably in his thirties, the two did not meet, and Sibaweih did not learn directly from him.
Sibaweih was highly respected for his knowledge, but he had few students. This is due mainly to a defect in his pronunciation, which is not properly identified by those who wrote about him. They speak of a block in his speech, which is perhaps a stammer. But apparently there was much exaggeration of the extent of this defect by scholars and students in the same field. There are also reports about his debates with other scholars, the most famous of which was one with Al-Kissaie, himself a top linguist and a leading figure in Qur’anic recitation. The two, Sibaweih and Al-Kissaie, belonged to the two famous schools of linguistics, Basrah and Kufah respectively. Since there was much rivalry between the two schools, reports playing on Sibaweih’s speech difficulty were grossly exaggerated. Some reports suggest that Al-Kissaie held Sibaweih in much respect, advising the chief minister, Yahya Al-Barmaki, to give him a generous gift.
This debate with Al-Kissaie took place when Sibaweih visited Baghdad toward the end of his life, but he felt ill at ease there. So he decided to leave and he traveled to Al-Ahwaz where he was born. He soon died there around 180 A.H., corresponding to A.D. 797.
Sibaweih wrote one book toward the end of his life. He did not give his book a title. So, it is known as Sibaweih’s Book, which is equivalent to saying The Authority on Arabic Grammar. Indeed, many scholars refer to it as simply, The Book. The book has been highly praised by a large number of scholars. Ibn Al-Nadeem, who died two centuries later, says: “Sibaweih wrote this book which was unique: no one had ever written any thing similar to it before Sibaweih, and no one wrote anything to rival it later.” The Andalusi scholar Saa’id ibn Ahmad (d. 417) says: “I do not know of any book in a certain specialty, old or contemporary, which incorporates all the principles and essentials of its subject matter, except for three: Ptolemy’s book, Aristotle’s book on logic and Sibaweih’s book on linguistics.”
It appears that Sibaweih wrote his book toward the end of his life. Indeed it is most probably the case that he wrote it after the death of his teacher, Al-Khaleel ibn Ahmad. He was motivated by the desire to preserve Al-Khaleel’s knowledge by recording it in a book. But he did not limit himself to what he learnt from his closest teacher. He in fact quotes many other distinguished linguists, but he often attributes his statements to Al-Khaleel without naming him. He would say: “I asked him,” and “he says.” Any such report is indeed referring to Al-Khaleel.
The book was highly valued by Sibaweih’s contemporaries. It is reported by Al-Akhfash that “Al-Kissaie visited Basrah and asked me to read to him Sibaweih’s book. I did and he sent me 50 dinars.” It is also reported that this was done in private, because of Al-Kissaie’s position as a top scholar of the other linguistics schools of Kufah. Many other distinguished scholars who were contemporaries of Sibaweih and of following generations studied his book and praised it highly.
Apparently Sibaweih resorted to a highly scholarly way in writing his book, making most of it straight forward so that people could learn it easily. But he left certain questions ambiguous, so that only people of scholarly distinction could grasp these and have their views on them. In this, he achieved a continuing interest in the book by laymen and scholars. Moreover, Sibaweih makes extensive quotations from early Arabic poetry and different styles of prose in support of the rules he outlines. Thus, the book is well documented and highly challenging. It has been annotated by many scholars over successive generations.
The book was first published in 1881 in Paris, edited by Hartuig Derenbourg, Professor of Classical Arabic in the Eastern Languages School in Paris. He published Sibaweih’s book in two volumes with an extensive French introduction. The book was also translated into German by Dr. D. Gustave Jahn and published in five volumes in 1900. It was also published in its original Arabic in several places. More recently, it was re-edited and annotated by Abd Al-Salam Haroon, a well-known contemporary Arabic linguist, and published by Dar Al-Jeel in Beirut. The book remain influential in Arabic linguistics. May God reward its author who has rendered a great service to Arabic.
