Al-Hamadhani’s Thesaurus: Selected Arabic Words and Usage

Compiled by Anwar Wright

In Subh al-A’sha, al-Qalaqshandi said: “Ibn Atheer stated in al-Mathal al-Sa’eer: ‘Writers carefully sifted through the [Arabic] language and selected from them phenomenal words which they put into practice. These words make up nouns and verbs…and what is entailed in al-Alfaz by al-Hamadhani lies sufficiency.”

Arabic Grammarians worked diligently in compiling dictionaries in order to document the pure language of the Arabs. Some of these dictionaries gave importance to Arabic words, while other dictionaries gave importance to documenting expressions and usage. These were known as ‘Ma’ajim al-Ma’aniyy wa al-Usloob’.

Meaning, if a person desires to express himself about a particular matter in the pure Arabic tongue, but could not find the proper words, he would be able to find them in a dictionary of usage, then express himself with the utmost precision and eloquence.

Several dictionaries were written in this manner, and perhaps the best of them is al-Alfaz al-Kitabiyyah Fi ‘Ilm al-‘Arabiyyah by al-Hamadhani.

Hence, this type of dictionary is the crown jewel for the learner who desires to express him or herself in Arabic, whether through prose, poetry, writing, khutab, admonitions, etcetera, and I thank Allah who facilitated for me the ability to present selections from al-Hamadhani’s book to the English-speaking world.