Wikipedia's first sentence called it “reputable 8th-century arab linguist”. Today it says “reputable 8th-century persian linguist of the arabic language”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “8th-century Iranian poet and linguist”. It now reads “8th-century AD Iranian poet and linguist”.
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Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in October 6, 2023
Yunus ibn Habib ( ; died after 183 AH/798 CE) was a reputable 8th-century Arab linguist.1 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 tribal last name, date of birth and age at death have been an issue of contention. Medieval historian Ibn Khallikan mentions three possible tribes that he belonged to, 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 , Al-Kisa'i , Yaḥyá ibn Ziyād al-Farrāʼ and Abu ʿUbaidah . 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 famous Kitab , Ibn Habib is one of two figures (the other being Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi ) regarded as Sibawayhi's formative teachers. The encyclopaedia of Islam (New ed.).2 He is presented as a mawla of several Arab tribes. Ibn Khallikan, Deaths , vol. 4, pg. 587. Sībawayh, ʻAmr ibn ʻUthmān (1988), Hārūn, ʻAbd al-Salām Muḥammad (ed.), Al-Kitāb Kitāb Sībawayh Abī Bishr ʻAmr ibn ʻUthmān ibn Qanbar , vol. Part of the Makers of Islamic Civilization series. Volume 3 of Oriental translation fund. Volume 19 of Studies in Semitic languages and linguistics.
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1167027658.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Yunus ibn Habib ( ; died after 183 AH/798 CE) 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 famous Kitab , and is one of two figures (the other being Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi ) regarded as Sibawayhi's formative teachers. Ibn Khallikan, Deaths , vol. 4, pg. 587. Sībawayh, ʻAmr ibn ʻUthmān (1988), Hārūn, ʻAbd al-Salām Muḥammad (ed.), Al-Kitāb Kitāb Sībawayh Abī Bishr ʻAmr ibn ʻUthmān ibn Qanbar , vol. Part of the Makers of Islamic Civilization series. Volume 3 of Oriental translation fund. Volume 19 of Studies in Semitic languages and linguistics.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 659396830.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Yunus ibn Habib ( ; died after 183 AH/798 CE) was a reputable 8th-century Persian 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 , Al-Kisa'i , Yaḥyá ibn Ziyād al-Farrāʼ and Abu ʿUbaidah . 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 famous Kitab , and is one of two figures (the other being Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi ) regarded as Sibawayhi's formative teachers. The encyclopaedia of Islam (New ed.).He is presented as a mawla of several Arab tribes. Ibn Khallikan, Deaths , vol. 4, pg. 587. Sībawayh, ʻAmr ibn ʻUthmān (1988), Hārūn, ʻAbd al-Salām Muḥammad (ed.), Al-Kitāb Kitāb Sībawayh Abī Bishr ʻAmr ibn ʻUthmān ibn Qanbar , vol. Part of the Makers of Islamic Civilization series. Volume 3 of Oriental translation fund. Volume 19 of Studies in Semitic languages and linguistics.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 943093133.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
8th-century AD Iranian poet and linguist Yunus ibn Habib ( Arabic : أبو عبد الرحمن يونس بن حبيب الضبي ; died after 183 AH/798 AD) was a reputable 8th-century Persian linguist of the Arabic language. 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 tribal last name, date of birth and age at death have been an issue of contention. Medieval historian Ibn Khallikan mentions three possible tribes that he belonged to, 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 , Al-Kisa'i , Yaḥyá ibn Ziyād al-Farrāʼ and Abu ʿUbaidah . 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 famous Kitab , Ibn Habib is one of two figures (the other being Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi ) regarded as Sibawayhi's formative teachers. The encyclopaedia of Islam (EI2 ed.). He is presented as a mawla of several Arab tribes. A Persian origin was mentioned by a Shu'ubi author (Talmon, Arabic grammar, 7 n. 35). Ibn Khallikan, Deaths , vol. 4, pg. 587. Sībawayh, ʻAmr ibn ʻUthmān (1988), Hārūn, ʻAbd al-Salām Muḥammad (ed.), Al-Kitāb Kitāb Sībawayh Abī Bishr ʻAmr ibn ʻUthmān ibn Qanbar , vol. Part of the Makers of Islamic Civilization series. Volume 3 of Oriental translation fund. Volume 19 of Studies in Semitic languages and linguistics.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1285386980. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “reputable 8th-century arab linguist”. Today it says “reputable 8th-century persian linguist of the arabic language”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “8th-century Iranian poet and linguist”. It now reads “8th-century AD Iranian poet and linguist”. Read the current article and compare.
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2015, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
reputable 8th-century arab linguist
Now
reputable 8th-century persian linguist of the arabic language
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.