In the Arab world al-Farahidi had become a household name by the time he died, and become almost as mythic[according to whom?] a figure as Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali in Arabic philology. He was the first to codify the complex metres of Arabic poetry,[1] and an outstanding genius of the Muslim world.[2] Sibawayh and Al-Asma'i were among his students,[3] with the former having been more indebted to al-Farahidi than to any other teacher.[22][23] Al-Nadim, the 10th century bibliophile biographer from Basra, reports that in fact Sibawayh's "Kitab" (Book), was a collaborative work of forty-two authors, but also that the principles and subjects in the "Kitab" were based on those of al-Farahidi.[24] He is quoted by Sibawayh 608 times, more than any other authority.[25] Throughout the Kitab Sibawayh says "I asked him" or "he said", without naming the person referred to by the pronoun, however, it is clear that he refers to al-Farahidi.[8] Both the latter and the former are historically the earliest and most significant figures in the formal recording of the Arabic language.[26]