al-Dīnawarī, Abū Ḥanīfa Aḥmad b. Dāwūd (d. 282/895), an expert in lexicography who also studied several other fields including syntax, ḥadīth, mathematics, astronomy, botany and history, and possibly also Qurʾānic exegesis and philosophy.

As his nisba suggests, Abū Ḥanīfa was from the now ruined city of Dīnawar in western Iran in the vicinity of Kirmānshāh. During his lifetime, Dīnawar was a flourishing city of some importance due to its geographical position as the gateway to ʿIrāq-i …