What they said about Arabic Via a reliable witness
Reported of him by al-Nahhas in ʿUmdat al-kuttab:
“We have found that the speech of the Arabs has an excellence over the language of every other nation – a distinction God, Mighty and Majestic, gave them, and an honour with which He honoured them: He sent His Messenger Muhammad from among them, and revealed to him a Qurʾan in a clear Arabic tongue.”
al-Farraʾ
d. 207 AH / 822 CE
Yahya ibn Ziyad, leading grammarian of the Kufan school, author of Maʿani al-Qurʾan.
The Arabic original
وَجَدْنا لِلُغاتِ العَرَبِ فَضْلاً عَلَى لُغَةِ جَمِيعِ الأُمَمِ، اخْتِصاصاً مِنَ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَهُمْ، وَكَرامَةً كَرَّمَهُمْ بِها، فَبَعَثَ مِنْهُمْ رَسُولَهُ مُحَمَّداً ﷺ، وَأَنْزَلَ عَلَيْهِ قُرْآناً بِلِسانٍ عَرَبِيٍّ مُبِينٍ.
Source
Abu Jaʿfar al-Nahhas, ʿUmdat al-kuttab, ed. Bassam ʿAbd al-Wahhab al-Jabi, Beirut: Dar Ibn Hazm, 1st ed., 2004, p. 79, §165
The English translation is Voice of Arabic's, made from the original.
Al-Nahhas gives it about a century and a third after al-Farraʾ, without a chain of transmission; al-Qalqashandi repeats it in Subh al-aʿsha 1:184.
Tap a card to see it full size; each has a download button below it for sharing.
Spotted a mistake, or have something to add?
Your note comes to us only; it is not published here. We read it, and if it holds we correct the card.
