كتاب العين

"Kitab al-Ayn", the first Arabic dictionary arranged by phonetic order of the letters, attributed to al-Khalil ibn Ahmad. The attribution is disputed, and Ahmad Amin sets out the dispute in "Duha al-Islam". ²

Al-Nawawi said that it was a compilation by al-Layth from al-Khalil. Ibn Jinni said in "Al-Khasa'is" that it contains such drawing, error and corruption that it cannot be attributed even to the least of al-Khalil's followers. ²

Abu Ali al-Qali reported that when the book arrived from Khurasan in the time of Abu Hatim, he and his companions rejected it vehemently. He said that the grammatical meanings in it follow the doctrine of the Kufans, unlike the doctrine of the Basrans that Sibawayh reports from al-Khalil. ²

On the other hand, al-Mubarrad valued it and transmitted it, and so did Ibn Darastawayh. Almost no account of al-Zajjaj in language is found except from it. ²

Ibn Duraid said that the book reached Basra in the year 208 AH, brought by a copyist from Khurasan in forty-eight parts, and that he sold it for fifty dinars. ²

Ahmad Amin says that scholars almost agree that the idea of collecting the language in this way belongs to al-Khalil, though they differ on whether he wrote all of it or only part of it. ³