Bahá’í glossary of Arabic & Fársí transliteration Contents

Abbaside Caliphs..

1. Abu’l-‘Abbás ‘Abdu’lláh as-Saffáḥ (750–54)

2. Abú-Ja‘far al-Manṣúr (754–75)

3. Muḥammad al-Mahdí (775–85)

4. Músá al-Hádí (785–86)

5. Hárún Ar-Rashíd (786–809)

6. Muḥammad al-Amín (809–13)

7. ‘Abdu’lláh al-Ma’mún (813–33)

8. Muḥammad al-Mu’taṣim (“al-Mu’taṣim-Bi’lláh”—‘He who is steadfast in God’) (833-42)

9. Hárún al-Wáthiq (“al-Wáthiq-Bi’lláh”—‘He who has his trust in God’) (842–47)

10. Ja‘far al-Mutawakkil (“al-Mutawakkil-u-‘Al’-Alláh”—‘He who puts his reliance in God’) (847–61)

Arabic letters and abjad values..

Arabic

Name

Transcription

Abjab

Arabic

Name

Transcription

Abjab

ﺍ

Alif

á (long vowel)

1

ظ

Ẓá’

ẓ

900

ﺏ

Bá’

b

2

ع

‘Ayn

‘ (left) or `

70

ت

Tá’

t

400

غ

Ghayn

gh

1,000

ث

Thá’

th

500

ف

Fá’

f

80

ج

Jím

j

3

ق

Qáf

q

100

ح

Ḥá’

ḥ

8

ك

Káf

k

20

خ

Khá’

kh

600

ل

Lám

l

30

د

Dál

d

4

م

Mím

m

40

ذ

Dhál

dh

700

ن

Nún

n

50

ر

Rá’

r

200

ه

Há’

h

5

ز

Záy

z

7

و

Wáw

w (consonantal)

6

س

Sín

s

60

ۈ

Ḍamma wáw

ú (long vowel)

6

ش

Shín

sh

300

ى

‘Alif maqṣúra

y (consonantal)

10

ص

Ṣád

ṣ

90

ي

Kasra Yá’

í (long vowel)

10

ض

Ḍad

800

ء

Hamza

’ (right)

–

ﻁ

Ṭá’

ṭ

9

The Arabic alphabet contains 28 letters.

Some grammarians regard alif (ا) and hamza (ء) as two distinct letters, while others regard them as two realizations of the same letter. They are a problematic aspect of Arabic writing and are often confusing to native and non-native speakers alike.

The Arabic letters are divided into 14 sun (red in the above table) and 14 moon letters. This classification is based on the way these letters affect the pronunciation of the definite article (ال) at the beginning of words. The definite article is assimilated into the sun letters and loses its distinctive sound. As a result, the sound at the beginning of the word is doubled. The definite article retains its distinctive sound when it occurs before one of the moon letters.

Examples of changes to the definite article when placed in front of words beginning with a sun letter:

at-taj	the crown	adh-dhikr	the remembrance	ash-shams	the sun	aẓ-ẓafar	the victory
ath-thalj	the ice	ar-rajul	the man	aṣ-Ṣalát	the prayer	al-lawḥ	the tablet
ad-dub	the bear	az-zamán	the time	at-ṭa‘ám	the food	an-nabát	the vegetable

Arabic numbers..

Arabic numbers are written from left to right.

	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	٠	١	٢	٣	٤	٥	٦	٧	٨	٩	١٠
Ar. mas/fem	ṣifr	wáḥid	ithnáni ithnatání	thalátha thalát	arba‘a arba‘	khamsa khams	sita sitt	sab‘a sab‘	thamániya thamánin	tis‘a tis‘a	‘ashara ‘ashar
Pers. mas/fem	ṣifr	yak	du	sih	chahár	panj khams	shash sitt	haft sab‘	hasht	nuh tis‘a	dah