| Arabic. | Names. | Roman. | Pronunciation. | |
| ا | Alif | A | a, i, u, at the beginning of a word. | |
| ب | Bā | B | As in English. | |
| ت | Tā | T | A soft dental, like the Italian t. | |
| ث | S̤ā | S̤ | Very nearly the sound of th in thing. | |
| ج | Jīm | J | As in English. | |
| ح | Ḥā | Ḥ | A strong aspirate. | |
| خ | K͟hā | K͟h | Guttural, like the Scotch ch in loch. | |
| د | Dāl | D | Soft dental. | |
| ذ | Ẕāl | Ẕ | A sound between dh and z. | |
| ر | Rā | R |  | As in English. |
| ز | Zā | Z | ||
| س | Sīn | S | ||
| ش | Shīn | Sh | ||
| ص | Ṣād | Ṣ | A strongly articulated s; in Central Asia as sw. | |
| ض | Ẓād | Ẓ | Something like the foreign pronunciation of the th in that; in Central Asia and India z or zw. | |
| ط | T̤ā | T̤ | A strongly articulated palatal t. | |
| ظ | Z̤ā | Z̤ | A strongly articulated z. | |
| ع | ʿAin | ʿ | A guttural, the pronunciation of which must be learnt by ear. | |
| غ | G͟hain | G͟h | A strong guttural g͟h. | |
| ف | Fā | F | As in English. | |
| ق | Qāf | Q | Like ck in stuck. | |
| ك | Kāf | K |  | As in English. |
| ل | Lām | L | ||
| م | Mīm | M | ||
| ن | Nūn | N | ||
| ه | Hā | H | ||
| و | Wau | W | ||
| ى | Yā | Y | ||
| َ | Fatḥah | a |  | As in Italian. |
| ِ | Kasrah | i | ||
| ُ | Ẓammah | u | ||
| ء | Hamzah | ʾ | Pronounced as a, i, u, preceded by a very slight aspiration. | |
DICTIONARY OF ISLĀM.
A.
AARON. Arabic Hārūn (هارون). The account given of Aaron in the Qurʾān will be found in the article on Moses. In [Sūrah xix. 29], the Virgin Mary is addressed as “the Sister of Aaron.” [[MARY], [MOSES].]
ABAD (ابد). Eternity; without end, as distinguished from Azal (ازل), without beginning.
ʿABASA (عبس). “He frowned.” The title of the LXXXth chapter of the Qurʾān. It is said that a blind man, named ʿAbdu ʾllāh ibn Umm Maktūm, once interrupted Muḥammad in conversation with certain chiefs of Quraish. The Prophet, however, took no notice of him, but frowned and turned away; and in the first verse of this Sūrah, he is represented as reproved by God for having done so:—“He frowned and turned his back, for that the blind man came unto him.”
ʿABBĀS (عباس). The son of ʿAbdu ʾl-Mut̤t̤alib, and consequently the paternal uncle of Muḥammad. The most celebrated of the “Companions,” and the founder of the Abbaside dynasty, which held the Khalifate for a period of 509 years, namely, from A.D. 749 to A.D. 1258. He died in A.H. 32. His son Ibn-ʿAbbās was also a celebrated authority on Islamic traditions and law. [[IBN ʿABBAS], [ABBASIDES].]
ABBASIDES. Arabic al-ʿAbbāsīyah (العباسية). The name of a dynasty of K͟halīfahs descended from al-ʿAbbās, the son of ʿAbdu ʾl-Mut̤t̤alib, and a paternal uncle of Muḥammad. On account of their descent from so near a relation of the Prophet, the Abbasides had, ever since the introduction of Islām, been very high in esteem amongst the Arabs, and had at an early period begun to excite the jealousy of the Umaiyade K͟halīfahs, who after the defeat of ʿAlī occupied the throne of the Arabian Empire. The Abbasides had for some time asserted their claims to the Khalifate, and in A.D. 746 they commenced open hostilities. In 749 the Abbaside K͟halīfah Abū ʾl-ʿAbbās, surnamed as-Saffāḥ, “the blood-shedder,” was recognized as K͟halīfah at al-Kūfah, and Marwān II., the last of the Umaiyade K͟halīfahs, was defeated and slain.
Thirty-seven K͟halīfahs of the Abbaside dynasty reigned over the Muḥammadan empire, extending over the period from A.H. 132 (A.D. 749–50) to A.H. 656 (A.D. 1258).