The 5ᵗʰ/11ᵗʰ-century folios of Sībawayh’s Kitāb that we are editing here are particularly notable for containing three distinct Western (Andalusian or North African) recensions of the famous grammatical text. The first recension, by a certain ʾAbū al-Ḥasan ʾAḥmad bin Naṣr, was subsequently emended by a second scribe to align it with the recension of ʾAbū Ǧaʿfar al-Naḥḥās (d. 338/949), and later by a third scribe who aligned it with the recension of ʾAbū ʿAbd Allāh al-Rabāḥī (d. 358/969).
To this day, the first recension has remained unknown to the grammatical tradition. The second recension, though known to scholars, is being published here for the first time, while the third recension is found in numerous manuscripts across the world.