Background
Al-Asma'i was born c. 741 in Basra, Iraq.
Al-Asma'i was born c. 741 in Basra, Iraq.
Al Asma'i was a pupil of the Basra scholar he learned from his master the technique of using Bedouins as informants on the "pure" grammar and vocabulary of the desert.
Al Asma'i enjoyed the patronage of the powerful Barmecide (Barmakid) family, who brought his work to the notice of the caliph Harun al-Rashid, whom al-Asmai entertained with his learning and wit. After Harun's death he returned to Basra, where he established his own school. Through his disciples, who diligently preserved his lectures and writings, he exercised a dominant influence on later lexicographers. He compiled an anthology, known as al-Asmaiyat (edited by W. Ahlwardt in 1902), of 72 pieces by pre-Islamic or early Islamic poets. However, al-Asmai's general method was to compose monographs on particular topics, such as names of plants and insects, the horse, the camel, and homonyms, and a considerable number of these monographs have survived.
He was one of the earliest Arabic lexicographers and one of the three leaders of the Basra school of Arabic grammar.
He was also a pioneer of natural science and zoology. He is considered as the first Muslim scientist to study animals in detail.
He also provides detailed information on human anatomy and was credited with composing an epic on the life of Antarah ibn Shaddad.
