Arabic Language Service

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: The idealists and visionaries, foolish enough to throw caution to the winds and express their ardor and faith in some supreme deed, have advanced mankind and have enriched the world. -Emma Goldman, social activist (27 Jun 1869-1940)

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness. -Blaise Pascal, philosopher and mathematician (19 Jun 1623-1662)

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Language is mobile and liable to change. It is a free country, and man may call a "vase" a "vawse", a "vahse", a "vaze", or a "vase", as he pleases. And why should he not? We do not all think alike, walk alike, dress alike, write alike, or dine alike; why should not we use our liberty in speech also, so long as the purpose of speech, to be intelligible, and its grace, are not interfered with? -James Murray, lexicographer and editor of the Oxford English Dictionary (7 Feb 1837-1915)

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: In its original literal sense, "moral relativism" is simply moral complexity. That is, anyone who agrees that stealing a loaf of bread to feed one's children is not the moral equivalent of, say, shoplifting a dress for the fun of it, is a relativist of sorts. But in recent years, conservatives bent on reinstating an essentially religious vocabulary of absolute good and evil as the only legitimate framework for discussing social values have redefined "relative" as "arbitrary". -Ellen Jane Willis, writer (14 Dec 1941-2006)

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first. -Charles de Gaulle, French president (22 Nov 1890-1970)

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: The truth isn't always beauty, but the hunger for it is. -Nadine Gordimer, novelist, Nobel laureate (20 Nov 1923-2014)

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: We have probed the earth, excavated it, burned it, ripped things from it, buried things in it, chopped down its forests, leveled its hills, muddied its waters, and dirtied its air. That does not fit my definition of a good tenant. If we were here on a month-to-month basis, we would have been evicted long ago. -Rose Bird, Chief Justice of California Supreme Court (2 Nov 1936-1999)

"Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see." Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you."

Arabic Poetry Arabic poetry (Arabic: ash-shi‘ru al-‘Arabyyu) is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that. Arabic poetry is categorized into two main types, rhymed or measured, and prose, with the former greatly preceding the latter. The rhymed poetry falls within fifteen different meters collected and explained by al-Farahidi in The Science of ‘Arud. Al-...Akhfash, a student of al-Farahidi, later added one more meter to make them sixteen. The meters of the rhythmical poetry are known in Arabic as "seas" (bur). The measuring unit of seas is known as "taf‘lah", and every sea contains a certain number of taf'ilas which the poet has to observe in every verse (bayt) of the poem. The measuring procedure of a poem is very rigorous. Sometimes adding or removing a consonant or a vowel can shift the bayt from one meter to another. Also, in rhymed poetry, every bayt has to end with the same rhyme (qfiyah) throughout the poem. Al-Kall b. Amad al-Farhd (711 786 A. D.) was the first Arab scholar to subject the prosody of Arabic poetry to a detailed phonological study. He failed to produce a coherent, integrated theory which satisfies the requirements of generality, adequacy, and simplicity; instead, he merely listed and categorized the primary data, thus producing a meticulously detailed but incredibly complex formulation which very few indeed are able to master and utilize. Researchers and critics of Arabic poetry usually classify it in two categories: classical and modern poetry. Classical poetry was written before the Arabic renaissance (al-Nahah). Thus, all poetry that was written in the classical style is called "classical" or "traditional poetry" since it follows the traditional style and structure. It is also known as "vertical poetry" in reference to its vertical parallel structure of its two parts. Modern poetry, on the other hand, deviated from classical poetry in its content, style, structure, rhyme and topics.

Arabic (Arabic: ) al-arabiyyah [alarabija] ( listen) or (Arabic: ) arab [arabi] ( listen) or Arabic pronunciation: [arabij]) is a Central Semitic language that first emerged in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world.

The History of Arabic Language The Arabic language has been around for well over 1000 years. It is believed to have originated in the Arabian Peninsula. It was first spoken by nomadic tribes in the northwestern frontier of the Peninsula. In fact, Arabic, means nomadic. Arabs (aka nomads), from which the word Arabic is derived, primarily occupied the area between Mesopotamia to the east to the Lebanon mountains in the west, to the Sinai in the south, and from northwestern A...Continue reading