His real name is "Zalem Ibn Amr". He was one of the great jurisconsults and also the companion and friend of Imam Ali (p.b.u.h). He was appointed as the Governor General of Basra -Iraq by Imam Ali. Although Abu Asvad was the founder of syntax, he had learnt the base of this knowledge from Imam Ali (p.b.u.h). He wrote an elegy on the martyrdom of Imam Hossein (p.b.u.h). Abu Asvad died in 688, at the age of 85.