Yunus ibn Habib

Who is Yunus ibn Habib?

Yunus ibn Habib was a reputable 8th-century Arab linguist. An early literary critic and expert on poetry, Ibn Habib's criticisms of poetry were known, along with those of contemporaries such as Al-Asma'i, as a litmus test for measuring later writers' eloquence.

Ibn Habib's exact origins, date of birth and age at death have been an issue of contention. Medieval historian Ibn Khallikan mentions three possible ethnic origins, two possible dates of birth and two possible ages at the time of his death. He never married nor did he ever take a mistress, having devoted all of his life to either studying or teaching.

His notable teachers include: Hammad ibn Salamah from whom he took knowledge in Arabic grammar, Al-Akhfash al-Akbar and Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala'. His students include Sibawayh, ʻAlī ibn Ḥamzah al-Kisāʼī, Yaḥyá ibn Ziyād al-Farrāʼ and Abu 'Ubaida. Abu Ubaida once remarked that he attended the lessons of Ibn Habib every day for forty years, and every day he left with pages of notes copied from what Ibn Habib dictated from memory.

Sibawayhi, considered the father of Arabic grammar despite being Persian, quoted Ibn Habib 217 times in his infamous Kitab, and is one of two figures regarded as Sibawayhi's formative teachers.