What they said about Arabic From the author's own Arabic
In the introduction to Lisan al-ʿArab, explaining why he wrote it:
“My only aim was to preserve the roots of this prophetic language and set down its excellence, for on it turn the rulings of the Book and the Sunna… I did so because of what I saw prevailing in this age – the confusion of tongues and colours, until speaking correctly came to be counted a fault and speaking Arabic a defect, while people vied in writing works on foreign languages and showed off their eloquence in a tongue other than Arabic. So I compiled this book in an age whose people take pride in a language other than its own, and I built it as Noah built the Ark while his people mocked him.”
Ibn Manzur
d. 711 AH / 1311 CE
Muhammad ibn Mukarram, compiler of Lisan al-ʿArab, the largest classical Arabic dictionary.
The Arabic original
فَإِنَّنِي لَمْ أَقْصِدْ سِوَى حِفْظِ أُصُولِ هَذِهِ اللُّغَةِ النَّبَوِيَّةِ وَضَبْطِ فَضْلِها، إِذْ عَلَيْها مَدارُ أَحْكامِ الكِتابِ العَزِيزِ وَالسُّنَّةِ النَّبَوِيَّةِ… وَذَلِكَ لِما رَأَيْتُهُ قَدْ غَلَبَ، فِي هَذا الأَوانِ، مِنِ اخْتِلافِ الأَلْسِنَةِ وَالأَلْوانِ، حَتَّى لَقَدْ أَصْبَحَ اللَّحْنُ فِي الكَلامِ يُعَدُّ لَحْناً مَرْدُوداً، وَصارَ النُّطْقُ بِالعَرَبِيَّةِ مِنَ المَعايِبِ مَعْدُوداً، وَتَنافَسَ النّاسُ فِي تَصانِيفِ التَّرْجُماناتِ فِي اللُّغَةِ الأَعْجَمِيَّةِ، وَتَفاصَحُوا فِي غَيْرِ اللُّغَةِ العَرَبِيَّةِ، فَجَمَعْتُ هَذا الكِتابَ فِي زَمَنٍ أَهْلُهُ بِغَيْرِ لُغَتِهِ يَفْخَرُونَ، وَصَنَعْتُهُ كَما صَنَعَ نُوحٌ الفُلْكَ وَقَوْمُهُ مِنْهُ يَسْخَرُونَ.
Source
Ibn Manzur, Lisan al-ʿArab, Beirut: Dar Sadir, 3rd ed., 1414 AH, vol. 1, p. 8 (introduction)
The English translation is Voice of Arabic's, made from the original.
A misprint in this edition («naṣānīf») is corrected to «taṣānīf».
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.
