A POSITIVE TURNING POINT

The famous Arabic grammarian Sibawayh (d. 177 AH) was born in Iran and raised in Basra. As a young man, he was initially a student of hadith and Islamic jurisprudence. One day, while attending a lecture by Hammad ibn Salamah (d. 167 AH), a renowned scholar of hadith, he heard him dictate a hadith. During the dictation, Sibawayh made a grammatical error. Hammad remarked, “You are mistaken.”

Realizing his mistake, Sibawayh reflected that his knowledge of grammar was lacking and decided to master it. He began studying under the great grammarians of Basra and Kufa, such as Khalil, Yunus ibn Habib (d. after 183 AH), and Isa ibn Umar ath-Thaqafi (d. 149 AH) (Tabaqaat an-Nahwiyyeen wal-Lughawiyyeen by Abu Bakr Az-Zubaydi, p. 66).

Through intense effort and dedication, Sibawayh eventually became the foremost authority in Arabic grammar. He authored a legendary book known simply as Al-Kitab (The Book), which scholars continue to regard as unmatched in the field of Arabic grammar.

This was a young man whose understanding of grammar was once weak—but he went on to become the greatest grammarian in history.

Every person experiences moments in life where they feel hurt, humiliated, or dismissed—as though they have no place among their peers.

There are two ways a person can respond:

1.  One may become disheartened, lose self-confidence, and retreat into helplessness—essentially defeating oneself.

2.  Or one may allow such experiences to ignite determination—using failure as fuel for growth and transformation.

Such a person rises again—with renewed effort—and the one who was once dismissed becomes a remarkable success.

A positive response leads to progress and achievement,
while a negative response leads only to stagnation and ruin.