Al-Asma’i or Asma`i, scientific: ʿAbd al-Malik b. Quraib al-Aṣmaʿī (c. 740-828) (Arabic: ‏أبو سعيد عبد الملك ابن قريب الأصمعي‎) was an Arab scholar, philologist and anthologist, one of the earliest Arabic lexicographers and one of the three leaders of the Basra school of Arabic grammar. He was also a pioneer of natural science and zoology. He is considered as the first Muslim scientist to study animals in detail. He wrote many works such as: Kitab al-Khail (The Book of the Horse), Kitab al-Ibil (The Book…