ASMA`I, Abd al-Malik ibn Kuraib (c. Arabian scholar, was born of pure Arab stock in Basra and died in Bagh dad. He became tutor to the son of Harun-al-Rashid, and acquired property in Basra, where he again settled for a time. Asma`i was one of the greatest scholars of his age. While Abu `Ubaida fol lowed (or led) the Shu`ubite movement and declared for the excellence of all things not Arabian, Asma`i was the avowed sup porter of the superiority of the Arabs over all people, and of the freedom of their language and literature from all foreign influence. Of Asma`i's many works mentioned in the catalogue known as the Fihrist, only about half a dozen are extant. Of these the Book of Distinction has been edited by D. H. Muller (1876) ; the Book of the Wild Animals by R. Geyer (1887) ; the Book of the Horse, by A. Haffner (1895) ; the Book of the Sheep, by A. Haffner (1896).