What others said about Arabic Read in the original
“The Arabic language is of very great richness, and this richness has only kept growing through the addition of new expressions borrowed from the languages with which it came into contact. The dictionary of Ibn Sīda already ran to twenty volumes.”
Gustave Le Bon
1841–1931
French physician and social psychologist, author of «La Civilisation des Arabes».
Original text — French
La langue arabe est d'une richesse très grande, et cette richesse n'a fait que s'accroître constamment par l'adjonction d'expressions nouvelles empruntées aux idiomes avec lesquels elle s'est trouvée en contact. Le dictionnaire d'Ibhn Seid, mort en 1065, comprenait déjà vingt volumes.
In Arabic
اللُّغَةَُ العَرَبِيَّةُ عَلَى غِنًى عَظِيمٍ جِدّاً، وَمَا بَرِحَ هَذَا الغِنَى يَزْدَادُ عَلَى الدَّوَامِ بِمَا يُضَافُ إليهَا مِنْ تَعَابِيرَ جَدِيدَةٍ مَأْخُوذَةٍ مِنَ الأَلْسِنَةِ الَّتِي احْتَكَّتْ بِهَا. وَكَانَ مُعْجَمُ ابْنِ سِيدَهْ وَحْدَهُ يَقَعُ فِي عِشْرِينَ مُجَلَّداً.
Source
La Civilisation des Arabes, livre IV, ch. II, Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1884, p. 475
The English translation is Voice of Arabic's, made from the original.
Le Bon writes 'Ibhn Seid', dying in 1065: this is Ibn Sīda of al-Andalus (d. 458/1066).
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