Al-Kisa'i Explained

Al-Kisa'i should not be confused with Kisai Marvazi.

Al-Kisā’ī (Arabic: الكسائي)
Othernames:Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī ibn Ḥamzah ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Uthman, (Arabic: أبو الحسن على بن حمزة بن عبد الله بن عثمان); Bahman ibn Fīrūz (Persian: بهمن بن فيروز); Abū ‘Abd Allāh (Arabic: أبو عبد الله).
Birth Place:Al-Kūfah, Irāq
Death Date:804
Death Place:Al-Rayy, Iran
Era:Abbāsid Caliphate
School Tradition:Grammarians of Kufa
Main Interests:philology, Arabic language, Bedouin poetry, idioms Quran
Influences:Al-Ru’āsī, Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi, Yunus ibn Habib, et al.
Influenced:Hisham ibn Muawiyah and Al-Farrā'

Al-Kisā’ī (Arabic: الكسائي) Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī ibn Ḥamzah ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Uthman (Arabic: أبو الحسن على بن حمزة بن عبد الله بن عثمان), called Bahman ibn Fīrūz (Arabic: بهمن بن فيروز),[1] surnamed Abū ‘Abd Allāh (Arabic: أبو عبد الله), and Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī ibn Hamzah of al-Kūfah (d. ca. 804 or 812) was preceptor to the sons of caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd and one of the ‘Seven Readers’ of the seven canonical Qira'at.[2] [3] [4] He founded the Kufi school of Arabic grammar, the rival philology school to the Basri school founded by Sibawayh.

Life

A Persian[1] [2] born in al-Kūfah, he learned grammar from al-Ru’āsī and a group of other scholars. It is said that al-Kisā’ī took this moniker from the particular kind of mantle he wore called a kisā’.

Al-Kisā’ī entered the court of the Abbāsid caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd at Baghdād as tutor to the two princes, al-Ma’mūn and al-Amīn. His early biographer Al-Nadim relates Abū al-Ṭayyib's written account that Al-Rashīd held him in highest esteem. When the caliph moved the court to al-Rayy as the capital of Khurāsān, al-Kisā’ī moved there but subsequently became ill and died. During his illness al-Rashīd paid him regular visits and deeply mourned his death. It seems he died in 804 (189 AH) on the day that the hanīfah official of Al-Rashīd, Muḥammad al-Shaybānī also died. It is also said he shared his date of death with the judge Abū Yūsuf in 812 (197 AH).When al-Kisā’ī died al-Farrā' was elected to teach in his stead, according to the account of Ibn al-Kūfī.

Rival Schools

A famous anecdote relates a grammatical contest in Baghdad between the leaders of the two rival schools, with al-Kisā’ī representative of Al-Kufah, and Sibawayh of the Baṣrans. The debate was organized by the Abbasid vizier Yahya ibn Khalid,[5] and became known as al-Mas'ala al-Zunburīyah (The Question of the Hornet). At issue was the Arabic phrase: كنتُ أظن أن العقربَ أشد لسعة من الزنبور فإذا هو هي\هو إياها I always thought that the scorpion is more painful than the hornet in its sting, and so it is (lit. translation).[6] At issue was the correct declension of the last word in the sentence. Sibawayh proposed:[7]

... fa-'ida huwa hiya (فإذا هو هي), literally ... sure-enough he she
meaning "so he (the scorpion, masc.) is she (the most painful one, fem.)"; In Arabic syntax the predicative copula of the verb to be or is, has no direct analogue, and instead employs nominal inflexion. Al-Kisa'i argued the correct form is:
... fa-'ida huwa 'iyyaha(فإذا هو إياها), literally ... sure-enough he her
meaning "he is her".

In Sibawayh's theoretical argument the accusative form can never be the predicate. However, when al-Kisa'i was supported in his assertion by four Bedouin -Desert Arab, whom he had supposedly bribed-[6] [8] that the correct form was huwa 'iyyaha, his argument won the debate. Such was Sibawayh's bitterness in defeat, he left the court[7] to return to his country where he died sometime later at a young age. Al-Kisa'i was accosted by one of Sibawayh's students after the fact and asked 100 grammatical questions, being proved wrong by the student each time. Upon being told the news about Sibawayh's death, al-Kisa'i approached the Caliph Harun al-Rashid and requested that he be punished for having a share in "killing Sibawayh."[9]

Legacy

Al-Naqqāsh wrote Al-Kitāb al-Kisā’ī.and Bakkār wrote The Reading of al- Kisā’ī.

Works

Among his books there were:

Al-Kisā’ī composed ten leaves of poetry.

See also

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Book: Frye. R.N.. The Cambridge history of Iran.. 1975. Cambridge U.P.. London. 978-0-521-20093-6. 467. Repr.. Of these four were Persians: Asim b. Abi'l-Najiid, whom Ibn al-Nadim lists among the mawali, Nafi', whom the same source considers as having originated in Isfahan, Ibn al-Kathir and Kisa'i, whose full name, 'Ali b. Hamza b. 'Abd- Allah b. Bahman b. Firuz, reveals his Persian origin..
  2. Book: Donzel. E. J. van. Islamic Desk Reference. 1 January 1994. BRILL. 90-04-09738-4. 218. al-Kisai *, Abu l-Hasan*: well-known Arab philologist and "reader" of the Quran*, of Persian origin; ca. 737805. He is said to have stayed for some time among the Bedouins in order to become fully conversant in Arabic. He is the real founder of the grammatical school of Kufa. His discussion with Sibawayhi, the prominent grammarian of the school of Basra, has become famous.. registration.
  3. Muhammad Ghoniem and MSM Saifullah, The Ten Readers & Their Transmitters. (c) Islamic Awareness. Updated January 8, 2002; accessed April 11, 2016.
  4. Shady Nasser, Canonization, pg. 38.
  5. Book: Touati. Houari. Cochrane. Lydia G.. Islam and Travel in the Middle Ages. 2010. University of Chicago Press. 978-0-226-80877-2. 51.
  6. [Kees Versteegh]
  7. M.G. Carter, Sibawayhi, pg. 13. London: I.B. Tauris, 2004.
  8. [Franz Rosenthal]
  9. al-Qāsim Ibn-ʻAlī al- Ḥarīrī, The Assemblies of Al Ḥarîri: 1: containing the first 26 assemblies, vol. 1, pg. 499. Trns. Thomas Chenery. Williams and Norgate, 1867.