Lisan Al-Arab

This is ‘Lisan al-‘Arab’ [لسان العرب]:

Ibn Manzur says in the intro to this 20-volume book

:فجمعت هذا الكتاب في زمن أهله بغير لغته يفخرون، وصنعته كما صنع نوح الفلك وقومه منه يسخرون

‘𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗿𝗮 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀. 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸, 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝗮𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗶𝗺.’

[‘Lisan al-‘Arab’, 1/8].

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This is a dictionary of the Arabic language. It was completed by the linguist Ibn Manzur in the year 1290 – as many Arabs were starting to forget the original Arabic. The way Noah’s Ark saved many people, in the same way ‘Lisan al-‘Arab’ played a big role in preserving the Arabic language. The people of Noah were mocking him, saying he’s building a ship on dry land… because they didn’t believe the flood would come. Many Arabs had no idea that Arabic would be lost if they didn’t preserve it.