World Arabic Language Day, December 18
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On the occasion of World Arabic Language Day, which falls on December 18 of every year, I would like to share with you one of the most beautiful things I have read in praise of the Arabic language:
ألا ليت السلاح بلا حاءٍ ونبدلها بأمر الله ميمًا
وليت الحرب تغدو بلا راءٍ ونحذفها تمامًا أجمعينا
ونلغي نون قنبلة المآسي لتصبح قبلةً للمسلمينا
متى يا قوم نفقه مثل هذا فها الفقه راءً إن نسينا
لقد أغنى الملك لنا قلوبًا وغين قد بدّلت فاءً علينا
ملأناها سلامًا لا نبالي وفارقنا سلام المؤمنينا
فصار كلامنا من غير ضبطٍ وحلّ كلامنا حتى رُثينا
What a beautiful language! With a single letter the meaning changes: silāh (a weapon) becomes salām (peace), harb (war) becomes hubb (love), qunbula (a bomb) becomes qubla (a kiss), and fiqh (jurisprudence) becomes farah (joy). And in this there is proof that the Arabic language is a language of magic, beauty, and eloquence.
The original article is published on the Mafateeh Al-Hamdani | The Veteran blog by Mohammed Taher Al-Hamdani.