17 centuries of Arabic language in 8 books
Sheikh Sultan unveils first volumes of historic project
We promise you that, in the next few years, we will be publishing dozens of volumes that will enable Arabic language learners, enthusiasts and scholars to enjoy the largest linguistic repository ever developed.” Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi
sharjah — His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, on Thursday unveiled the first eight volumes of the Historical Corpus of the Arabic Language — a first-ofits-kind project that chronicles the evolution of the Arabic language in over 17 centuries.
With this historic project — which Sheikh Sultan had personally supervised — Sharjah becomes the first city in the world to bring to fruition more than 80 years of hard work.
The Historical Corpus of the Arabic Language is a project close to the Sharjah Ruler’s heart.
“This project has been on my mind for a long time, and my keenness to support it increased when I learnt that the previous attempts could not see success for various reasons. To succeed in our efforts was what I asked for in my prayers to Allah, and I am still praying, seeking divine guidance for the successful completion of this enormous project,” Sheikh Dr Sultan said.
Known attempts in the region to record the development of the Arabic language date back to 1936, starting with the efforts of the Union of Arab Scientific Language Academies in Cairo — led by a member of
the Union, a German orientalist and Arabist named Fisher. The process was stalled shortly after the completion of some of the entries of the first letter ( hamzah).
The first two letters
With its first eight volumes, the corpus details the history of the first two letters of the Arabic alphabet — the hamzah and the ba. Their evolution was outlined throughout five distinct time periods in history: Pre-Islamic period, the Islamic era from 1AH to 132AH, the Abbasid Caliphate from 133AH to 656AH, the development of nation states from 657AH to 1213AH, and the modern-day era from 1214 AH to date.
Hundreds of senior researchers and linguists, editors, and experts from 10 Arabic language academies across the Arab world have
collaborated on the project.
The team will continue uncovering the history of the rest of the Arabic alphabet, with a target to finish the entire corpus in six years.
All the work will be done under the supervision of the Union of Arab Scientific Language Academies in Cairo, Egypt, and with the Arabic Language Academy in Sharjah managing the project’s executive committee.
Wealth of information
“We promise you that, in the next few years, we will be publishing dozens of volumes that will enable Arabic language learners, enthusiasts and scholars to enjoy the largest linguistic repository ever developed,” Sheikh Dr Sultan said.
The Sharjah Ruler noted that the wealth of information in these
volumes will enable Arab nations, the academia and Arabic language enthusiasts to make the most of its lexical and semantic connotations, as well as its vibrant examples steeped in both historical and modern-day contexts.
“What was a dream, a wish, 80 years ago has become a global reality, thanks to the generosity of Allah and the undeterred perseverance of sincere scholars who worked on the project,” he said.
Dr Hassan El Shafei, chairman of Union of Arab Scientific Language Academies, said: “Having a comprehensive historical corpus of the Arabic language has been a long-cherished aspiration. It will be one of Sharjah Ruler’s landmark projects (for) the Arab and Islamic Worlds.”