Arabic Beyond the Arabs
al-Farraʾ: «Were it not for al-Farraʾ, there would be no Arabic»
الفرّاء: «لولا الفرّاء لما كانت عربيّة»
Yahya ibn Ziyad, known as al-Farraʾ, is called al-Daylami after the Daylam, a non-Arab people of the mountains south of the Caspian Sea. He learned grammar from al-Kisaʾi and became the most brilliant of the Kufans in grammar and language. Thaʿlab, the leading Kufan after him, said: were it not for al-Farraʾ there would be no Arabic, for he refined it and set it in order. Among his books is Maʿani al-Qurʾan.
- In brief
- Called al-Daylami, and the most brilliant of the Kufans in grammar and language
- Outside Arabic
- al-Farrāʾ · Maʿānī al-Qurʾān
«كان أبرع الكوفيين وأعلمهم بالنحو واللغة وفنون الأدب. حكي عن أبي العباس ثعلب أنه قال: لولا الفراء لما كانت عربية، لأنه خلصها وضبطها، ولولا الفراء لسقطت العربية.»
Ibn Khallikan says «al-Daylami» and no more, and such a name may refer to the people or to the place; so the card says he «is called after the Daylam», not that he was Daylamite by descent. The location of the Daylam and his book Maʿani al-Qurʾan come from outside the source.
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Sources
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