al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi

Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi al-Basri (100-175H) was one of the most original intellects in early Islamic civilization. He established the science of Arabic prosody ('ilm al-'arud), identifying 15 of the 16 meters of Arabic poetry. He compiled al-'Ayn, widely considered the first comprehensive Arabic dictionary, organized by the place of articulation of letters. He is also credited with systematizing the Arabic vowel marks (tashkil/harakaat) that allow the Quran and Arabic texts to be read accurately. His student Sibawayhi went on to write al-Kitab, the foundational Arabic grammar.