Abū al-Aswad al-Duʾalī, famous poet and follower (tābiʿ) of the Prophet's Companions, widely known as a companion of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib and regarded by some as the founder of the science of naḥw (Arabic grammar, and more specifically, syntax).

Our knowledge of Abū al-Aswad's life is very limited, with various occasional historical discrepancies. Furthermore, because of the cultural and political environment of Baṣra and the tumultuous era in which …