What others said about Arabic Read in the original
Opening his chapter on Islamic civilisation:
“During the period of greatness of the Arab and Islamic Empires in the Near and Middle East a flourishing civilisation grew up that is usually known as Arabic. It was not brought ready-made by the Arab invaders from the desert, but was created after the conquests by the collaboration of many peoples, Arabs, Persians, Egyptians and others. Nor was it even purely Muslim, for many Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians were among its creators. But its chief medium of expression was Arabic, and it was dominated by Islam and its outlook on life. It was these two things, their language and their faith, which were the great contributions of the Arab invaders to the new and original civilisation which developed under their aegis.”
Bernard Lewis
1916–2018
British-American historian of the Middle East (London, Princeton).
In Arabic
نَمَتْ خلالَ فترةِ الأَوْجِ التي بلغتْها الإمبراطوريّاتُ العربيّةُ والإسلاميّةُ في الشرقَيْن الأدنى والأوسط حضارةٌ زاهرةٌ تُعرَف عادةً بالحضارة العربيّة. ولم يأتِ العربُ بها معهم من الصحراء جاهزةً، لكنْ خلقَها بعد الفتوح تعاونُ أممٍ عديدةٍ من عربٍ وفرسٍ ومصريّين وغيرِهم؛ بل لم تكن إسلاميّةً خالصةً، إذ كان بين مُبدعيها نصارى ويهودٌ وزرادشتيّون كثيرون. إلّا أنّ أداةَ التعبير الرئيسيّةَ فيها كانت اللغةَ العربيّةَ، كما أنّ الإسلامَ ونظرتَه إلى الحياة سيطرا عليها. وكان هذان الشيئان، أي اللغةُ والدينُ، أعظمَ ما قدّم العربُ الفاتحون إلى الحضارة الجديدة الأصيلة التي نمت تحت لوائهم.
Source
The Arabs in History, ch. VIII, London: Hutchinson's University Library, 1954, p. 131
The opening of his chapter on Islamic civilisation.
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