Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi

Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi was born in Oman of the Azd tribe and settled in Basra, living an ascetic life of deep intellectual contemplation. Known for his astonishing mathematical and linguistic mind, he walked through the coppersmith souk of Basra, listening to the rhythmic clang of hammers on anvils, and deduced the complete metrical system of classical Arabic poetry.

Al-Farahidi codified the fifteen (later sixteen) classical poetic meters (al-buhur) that governed Arabic verse for twelve centuries. He also compiled Kitab al-Ayn, the earliest dictionary of the Arabic language, arranged phonetically according to the vocal tract from the deepest pharyngeal guttural (ayn) to the lips, mentoring Sibawayh.