Of particular importance were the proximity of the two towns...

Of particular importance were the proximity of the two towns to the northern Arabian desert, long regarded as the preserve of the linguistic norm, and the market-place of al-Mirbad – on the outskirts of Basrah – was no less a close-by rendezvous of the A‘rab (Bedouin Arabs of the desert) and the literati until the former, becoming aware of the demand, themselves came to offer their linguistic materials to the elite of Iraq and western Persia.

According to the classical tradition, it was Abu al-Aswad (Zalim b. ‘Amr) of al-Du’ali (or Dili), a poet, warrior, and teacher died (69/688 – 89) at the age of 85), who took the first step to stem the tide of growing laxity and error in the use of the Arabic tongue. He was an active partisan of ‘Ali in politics and actually fought against Mu‘awiyah at Siffin. It is, therefore, no surprise that he should take pride in claiming that the rudiments of Arabic grammar were confided to him by ‘Ali.

This assertion can safely be dismissed as only an instance of the too frequent attempt to trace all learning to ‘Ali, the “Gateway of the City of Knowledge.” It is also true that Abu al-Aswad himself cannot be credited with having worked out the fundamentals of Arabic grammar as such.[^4] But it is reasonably certain that he did institute something which, to later historians of the development of grammar, appeared to be the genesis of it. Let us examine what it was actually.

Until the time with which we are concerned, the Arabic script, originally taken over from the Syriac-Nabataean writing, remained without a system of i‘rab , i.e. vowel-marks. Nor was there any established practice as to the i‘jam , i.e. diacritical marks, to distinguish letters of similar shape.

Of course, there was no urgent need for either so long as the main dependence was on memory and writing was regarded as a mere casual help.[^5] In context of the new demands made by the change in the social pattern, the alert and acute mind of Abu al-Aswad realized the inadequacy of the written consonantal letter to evoke the correct unmarked vowel, which had ceased to come natural as of yore.

He, therefore, must have been the first to conceive the idea of introducing some further aid to make the people “know and observe correct speech.” It appears that at the first innovation was opened Ziyad b. Abihi, the Governor of Basrah, with whose sons Abu al-Aswad might have discussed it.