Arabic language is one of the Sematic languages. It is the official and literary language in all the 22 Arab nations, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Gulf. There is over 185 million people speak Arabic in the Arab World. It is the language of Qura’an, so that Arabic language became the religious language of Islam. It was also the language of science and culture in the Arab Golden Ages.
Arabic language has many characteristics and advantages
It is a flexible language and rich in vocabulary. One of its features is that although the great promotion that has developed in it during ages, Arabic language could reserve its basis and principles which have been founded since the Ignorant State and beginnings of Islam Age.
Arabic language has a great importance. In the past, people used to held competitions in poetry between each other, and some of the ancient Arabic poetry that reached to us considered the most sensitive and the closest poetry to heart and mind.
Most linguistics experts will agree that the Classical Arabic language is perhaps the most fundamentally well structured of all languages. It is also a well known fact that it is a very rich and comprehensive language
The following is a list of these languages in terms of the number of countries where each is spoken. The number that follows is the total number of countries that use that language (from Weber, 1997):
- English (115)
- French (35)
- Arabic (24)
- Spanish (20)
- Russian (16)
- German (9)
- Mandarin (5)
- Portuguese (5)
- Hindi/Urdu (2)
- Bengali (1)
- Japanese (1)
Arabic language is one of the best languages in the world, God Almighty honored it by making the language of the Qur’an the Arabic language, and there is no other language that has been honored with this great honor. Glory be to Him, the Most High, from distortion, and for the great virtue of the Arabic language, God made it the language of the people of Paradise, and Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned in his book Hady al-Awwaah, “Dawud ibn al-Husayn narrated on the authority of Ikrimah on the authority of Ibn Abbas who said: The tongue of the people of Paradise is Arabic. Aqeel said: Al-Zuhri said: The tongue of the people of Paradise is Arabic.
The most beautiful thing that was said about the Arabic language
And now we will present to you some of the best that has been said about the Arabic language by many Arab and foreign writers and imams:
Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, may God have mercy on him, said: It is known that learning Arabic and teaching Arabic is an obligation of sufficiency.
Al-Shafi’i said: People were not ignorant and did not differ except for their abandonment of the tongue of the Arabs, and their inclination to the tongue of Aristotle, Thales.
The French Ernest Renan said: One of the strangest things that happened in human history is the Arabic language!! It was unknown, so it suddenly began in a very perfect rich series, having neither childhood nor old age, a language that surpassed its sisters in the abundance of its vocabulary, the accuracy of its meanings, and the good order of its structures.
The German Johann Fick said: The might of the immortal Arab heritage has proven that it is stronger than any attempt intended to move classical Arabic from its dominant position.
The German Kar Berkelmann said: Thanks to the Qur’an, Arabic has reached an extent that hardly any other language of the world knows.
The Italian Carlonilino said: The Arabic language is superior to all other languages in splendor, and the tongue is unable to describe its advantages.
The Belgian George Sarton said: The Arabic language is the easiest and clearest language in the world.
The Italian Calo Nilino said: The Arab intellectuals who have not mastered their language are not only deficient in culture, but in their manhood is a great and humiliating deficiency as well.
Wonderful phrases about the Arabic language
Imam Al-Shafi’i said: No one knows of the clarification of the phrases of the book’s knowledge, who is ignorant of the vastness of the Arabic tongue, the multiplicity of its faces, and the summation and superiority of its meanings. And whoever knows it, the resemblance that entered into the ignorance of her tongue is removed from him.
Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, may God have mercy on him, said: The Arabic tongue is the symbol of Islam and its people, and languages are among the greatest symbols of nations by which they are distinguished.
A German orientalist said: How can a person resist the beauty of this language, its sound pronunciation, and its unique charm? The neighbors of the Arabs themselves in the countries they conquered fell under the spell of that language.
Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, may God have mercy on him, said: The Arabic language is part of the religion, and knowing it is an obligation. Understanding the Book and the Sunnah is an obligation, and it can only be understood in the Arabic language, and whatever a duty is not completed without it, it is an obligation.
William Work said: Arabic has a softness and flexibility that enables it to adapt according to the requirements of the times.
Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya said: The virtue of the Qur’an is known only to the one who knows the words of the Arabs, then knows the science of language, the science of Arabic, and the science of eloquence.
Dr. Abdul-Wahhab Azzam said: Arabic is a complete, endearing and wonderful language, its words almost depict scenes of nature, and its words represent dangers of souls, and its meanings are almost manifested in the bells of words, as if its words are steps of conscience, heartbeats and tones of life.
The Frenchman William Mercier said: The Arabic phrase is like the lute, if you tap on one of its strings, all the strings will ring and flicker, then the language moves in the depths of the soul beyond the boundaries of direct meaning, a convoy of emotions and images.
Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, said: Learn Arabic, for it increases virility. He also said in his book to Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari: Learn Arabic, for it is part of your religion.. Express the Qur’an, for it is Arabic.
The Spaniard Qilaspaza said: The Arabic language is one of the richest languages in the world, rather it is superior to the languages of Europe because it includes all the tools of expression in its origins.