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On their way to him, the young men agreed together to put some questions to Jelāl on certain points of Arabic grammar, with the design of comparing his knowledge in that science with that of their professor, whom they looked upon as unequalled.

When they were seated, Jelāl addressed them on various fitting subjects for a while, and thereby paved the way for the following anecdote:—

“An ingenuous jurist was once travelling with an Arabic grammarian, and they chanced to come to a ruinous well.

“The jurist hereupon began to recite the text (of Qur’ān xxii. 44): ‘And of a ruined well.’

“The Arabic word for ‘well’ he pronounced ‘bīr,’ with the vowel long. To this the grammarian instantly objected, telling the jurist to pronounce that word with a short vowel and hiatus—bi’r, so as to be in accord with the requirements of classical purity.

“A dispute now arose between the two on the point. It lasted all the rest of the day, and well on into a pitchy dark night; every author being ransacked by them, page by page, each sustaining his own theory of the word. No conclusion was arrived at, and each disputant remained of his own opinion still.