Introduction

For generations, Arabic has been described, particularly within Islamic tradition, as a “divine,” “eternal,” or “unchanging” language.

The Qurān itself repeatedly claims that it was revealed in “clear Arabic” (Qurān: chapter 12, verse 2; chapter 26, verse 195; chapter 41, verse 3; chapter 43, verse 3), implying that the language was fully developed, uniform, and uniquely suited for divine revelation¹.

 

Yet historical, linguistic, and archaeological evidence paints a very different picture.

 

Arabic, in the form we recognise today, particularly Classical Quranic Arabic, did not emerge fully formed in the 7th century CE. Instead, it developed gradually from older Semitic languages such as Aramaic, Syriac-Aramaic, Hebrew, and various North and South Arabian dialects.

Its written script evolved from Nabataean Aramaic, and its vocabulary reflects extensive borrowing from neighbouring cultures. Understanding this historical-linguistic evolution allows us to situate Arabic, including its sacralization in Islam, within the broader context of Near Eastern languages and cultures.

 

This essay examines the origins and evolution of Arabic from pre-Islamic dialects to the Qurʾānic language, using archaeological inscriptions, philological analysis, and comparative Semitic linguistics. It also explores how Islamic tradition later canonised and standardised these linguistic forms, creating the perception of a “pure” Arabic.

 

1. Defining “Ancient” and Arabic’s Historical Position

In historical linguistics, a language is considered “ancient” if it meets at least one of the following criteria:

1. Documented in written form in antiquity, typically before 500 BCE;

2. Supported by archaeological or epigraphic evidence;

3. Possesses a literary corpus predating modern codification or religious use.

 

Classical Arabic, as attested in the Qurān and related texts, does not satisfy these conditions.

Its standardisation emerges only in the 8th-9th centuries CE, and its script is derived from Nabataean Aramaic, rather than constituting an independent invention.

 

Before this, the Arabic-speaking world was a mosaic of dialects, with scripts such as Safaitic, Hismaic, Dadanitic, and Thamudic reflecting diverse regional varieties6.

 

2. Timeline of Semitic Languages

The history of Arabic is best understood within the broader context of Semitic languages, which have been spoken across the Near East for millennia.

The earliest attested Semitic language is Akkadian, used in Mesopotamia from approximately 2500 BCE to 100 CE.

Written in cuneiform, Akkadian served as the administrative and literary language of Babylon and Assyria, laying the groundwork for later Semitic linguistic developments.

 

Around the same time, Eblaite emerged in northern Syria, evidenced in clay tablets from the ancient city of Ebla dating to 2400–1600 BCE.

This language demonstrates early Northwest Semitic features that would influence later tongues such as Hebrew and Aramaic.

Ugaritic, preserved in a cuneiform alphabet at Ras Shamra, flourished from approximately 1400 to 1200 BCE. It provides crucial insights into Northwest Semitic vocabulary, grammar, and literary forms, influencing Phoenician and Hebrew.

 

Phoenician itself, used from around 1200 BCE to 300 CE, served as a maritime language across the Levant and left a lasting legacy on Punic, Hebrew, and early alphabetic writing systems.

Biblical Hebrew emerged around 1000 BCE, with inscriptions such as the Gezer Calendar, and continued to be used until approximately 200 CE.

Hebrew, particularly in its literary form, preserved religious texts, poetic forms, and lexical structures that would later inform Arabic religious terminology.

 

Imperial Aramaic, spanning roughly 900 BCE to 300 CE, became the lingua franca of the Neo-Assyrian and Achaemenid empires, standardising administrative and commercial language across the Near East. Its wide diffusion facilitated later borrowing into Arabic and Syriac.

Syriac-Aramaic, a Christian Aramaic dialect emerging in the 1st century CE, has been preserved as a liturgical language to the present day. It influenced religious vocabulary in Arabic, particularly in the Qurān, and acted as a conduit for Greek theological and philosophical concepts.

Nabataean Arabic, spoken between the 1st century BCE and the 4th century CE, represents a transitional form.

Its script, derived from Aramaic, evolved into early Arabic, demonstrating both linguistic continuity and innovation.

 

Classical Arabic, which started as a hybrid form of Arabic, in the form later codified for the Qurān, appears in inscriptions from the 7th century CE onward, with the earliest examples such as the Zabad inscription dated to 512 CE. Arabic writing and grammar only became standardised under the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, reflecting a late and gradual consolidation of linguistic forms.

 

Arabic did not emerge in isolation but is the product of a long process of interaction with older Semitic languages, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, and the various North and South Arabian dialects.

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3. Arabic’s Hybrid Origins

Arabic did not develop in isolation; it evolved within a multilingual environment influenced by:

• Aramaic, the lingua franca of the Near East, provides religious, administrative, and commercial vocabulary;

• Hebrew, which contributed religious and poetic terminology;

• Syriac, the liturgical language of Eastern Christianity;

• Old South Arabian languages, including Sabaic and Minaic, were spoken in Yemen and southern Arabia.

 

3.1 Evidence from Inscriptions

Archaeological inscriptions demonstrate the gradual emergence of Arabic:

• Namārah inscription (328 CE, southern Syria) – earliest fully Arabic text in Nabataean-derived script, marking a transitional stage between Aramaic and Arabic.

• Zabad inscription (512 CE, near Aleppo) – trilingual (Arabic, Greek, Syriac), indicating Arabic was still regional and marginal.

• Ḥarrān inscription (568 CE) – mixes Arabic names and phrases with Syriac or Greek, highlighting a hybrid environment.

• Safaitic, Hismaic, Thamudic scripts – pre-Islamic North Arabian dialects with non-standardised orthography.

These sources reveal that Arabic script and vocabulary were still in flux when Islam emerged.

 

3.2 Linguistic Borrowing

A defining feature of early Arabic is its extensive borrowing from neighbouring Semitic and non-Semitic languages, reflecting the multilingual environment in which it developed.

Many terms central to the Qurān, as well as to early Islamic religious practice, originate outside Arabic.

 

For instance, the word Qurān itself is widely believed to derive from the Syriac qeryanā, meaning “reading” or “lectionary”.

Similarly, Injīl, used in the Qurān to denote the Gospel, comes from the Greek euangelion, likely mediated through Syriac Christian usage.

Hebrew also contributed significantly to the Arabic vocabulary.

Terms such as Tawrāt (Torah), Zabūr (Psalms), and Jahannam (Gehenna, the Valley of Hinnom) were adopted from Hebrew, often through Syriac intermediaries.

 

The Qurānic word malāʾika (“angels”) derives from the Hebrew mal’ākh, meaning “messenger,” again reflecting cross-linguistic influence.

 

Other religious and theologically significant terms also reveal this process of borrowing.

 

The Qurānic concept of the “criterion” or divine revelation, Furqān, is traced to the Syriac word purqānā, signifying salvation or deliverance.

Even everyday religious vocabulary, such as Ṣalāt (prayer) corresponds directly to the Syriac ṣlōtā, while Zakāt (almsgiving) has parallels in the Hebrew zəqūth, associated with acts of charity or merit.

 

This evidence demonstrates that Arabic, far from being an isolated, self-contained language at the time of the Qurān’s composition, was deeply intertwined with the broader Semitic linguistic milieu.

Borrowed words were not marginal; they formed the very core of Qurānic theology, reflecting the shared cultural and religious lexicon of Jews, Christians, and Arabs in late antiquity.

 

As such, the notion of the Qurān being revealed in a “pure” or uniquely Arabic language must be understood as a later theological claim, not a reflection of the historical linguistic reality of 7th-century Arabia.

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4. Arabic in Pre-Islamic Formulaic Expressions

Many religious formulas commonly thought of as “Islamic” predate Islam entirely. Examples include:

• Inshāʾ Allāh (إن شاء الله, “If God wills”) – parallels Hebrew im yirtzeh Elohim; Aramaic ʾen yitʿel.

• Al-ḥamdu li-llāh (الحمد لله, “Praise belongs to God”) – Hebrew ha-todah la-YHWH; Syriac tašbuḥta l-ʾAlāhā.

• Bismillāh (بسم الله, “In the name of God”) – parallels Aramaic b’shem Alāhā and South Arabian b-s-m + deity name.

• Allāhu Akbar (الله أكبر, “God is greater”) – Hebrew Eloah gadol; Syriac Alāhā rabbā.

 

Over 50 Qurʾānic phrases demonstrate this continuity with pre-Islamic Semitic religious formulas, showing that Islam largely canonised and standardised existing linguistic patterns rather than inventing them.

 

5. The Qurānic Claim of “Clear Arabic”

The Qurān emphasises that it is revealed in “clear Arabic” (e.g., Quran: chapter 12, verse 2; chapter 26, verse 195; chapter 41, verse 3; and chapter 43, verse 3).

However, the archaeological and manuscript evidence indicates otherwise:

• Early Qurʾānic manuscripts, such as the Ṣanʿāʾ palimpsest, use Hijazi script, which lacked diacritical marks and short vowel signs.

• Consonantal sequences could be read in multiple ways; e.g., ktb could mean kataba (“he wrote”), kutiba (“it was decreed”), or kitāb (“book”).

• Oral tradition was necessary to resolve ambiguities, indicating that the text was not inherently “clear” to readers.

 

6. Hybridisation of Qurānic Arabic

The Qurān’s vocabulary exhibits extensive borrowing from neighbouring languages:

• Hebrew: Tawrāt (Torah), Zabūr (Psalms), Jahannam (Gehenna).

• Syriac: Injīl (Gospel), Furqān (salvation/revelation), Ṣalāt (prayer).

• Greek: Some philosophical and technical terms mediated through Syriac.

This hybridisation reflects Arabia’s status as a multilingual crossroads, influenced by Jewish, Christian, and pagan communities, and by trade linking the Arabian Peninsula with the Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, and the Indian Ocean.

 

7. Standardisation and the Myth of “Pure Arabic”

By the 8th and 9th centuries, Muslim scholars sought to codify the Qurānic text:

• Diacritics and vowel marks were introduced in Basra and Kūfa to fix pronunciation and meaning.

• Classical Arabic grammar was formalised by scholars such as Sībawayh (d. 796 CE), projecting a uniform linguistic structure onto the Qurān.

• Theological motivation reinforced the notion of Arabic as a sacred, flawless language, central to Islamic identity.

 

These innovations created the perception of a “pure Arabic Qurān,” but historically, Arabic was a developing, hybrid language shaped by centuries of interaction with older Semitic languages.

 

8. Conclusion

The linguistic and historical evidence demonstrates that Arabic, including Qurʾānic Arabic, is not an ancient, isolated, or unchanging language.

Rather, it emerged gradually from a complex web of Semitic dialects and scripts. Its vocabulary and formulaic expressions were heavily influenced by Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac-Aramaic, and Old South Arabian languages. Early inscriptions, such as the Namārah (328 CE), Zabad (512 CE), and Ḥarrān (568 CE) documents, illustrate that Arabic was still in a transitional phase when Islam arose.

 

The Qurān’s claim to be revealed in “clear Arabic” must be understood within this context: the earliest manuscripts were ambiguous, requiring oral supplementation, and the language itself was a linguistic hybrid.

Only through later standardisation and theological codification was Classical Arabic retroactively imposed as a unified, sacred tongue.

 

Recognising this historical reality allows scholars and readers to appreciate Arabic and its role in Islam as a dynamic product of centuries of cultural, linguistic, and religious exchange, rather than as a timeless, divinely preserved language.