Abi Ishaq

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Isḥāq (died 117 H (735/6)) is the earliest known grammarian of the Arabic language. He compiled a prescriptive grammar by referring to the usage of the Bedouins, whose language was seen as especially pure.

Two students of Abi Ishaq's were ʿIsa ibn ʿUmar al-Taqafi (died 149 H) and Abu ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAla' (died 154 H.). Al-Taqafi seems to have had more prescriptive views while al-Ala's were more descriptive. Their differences have been suggested to lie at the core of the later division of Arabic grammar into the schools of Kufa and Basra.