The Devising and Spread of Arabic Script

وضع الخط العربي وانتشاره

Al-Sharqi ibn al-Quttami: three Tayyi' men met at Baqqa — Muramir ibn Murra, Aslam ibn Sidra and Amir ibn Jadara — and devised the script, measuring Arabic's spelling against the Syriac. Men of al-Anbar learned it from them, al-Hira from al-Anbar; and Bishr ibn Abd al-Malik — brother of Ukaydir, the Christian lord of Dumat al-Jandal who sojourned at al-Hira — learned it there, came to Mecca, and taught its letters then its script to Sufyan ibn Umayya ibn Abd Shams and Abu Qays ibn Abd Manaf ibn Zuhra ibn Kilab. The three went trading to al-Ta'if; Ghaylan ibn Salama al-Thaqafi learned with them. Bishr went on to Mudar's lands where Amr ibn Zurara ibn Udas learned — he is called Amr the Scribe — then to al-Sham where men learned it; and a man of Tabukha learned from the Tayyi' three and taught a man of Wadi al-Qura, who settled there and taught its people.

Overview

al-Baladhuri relays from al-Sharqi ibn al-Qatami a report about the origin of the Arabic script. Three men of Tayy gathered at Baqqa, namely Maramir ibn Murra, Aslam ibn Sidra and Amir ibn Jadra. They devised the script, measuring the spelling of Arabic against the spelling of Syriac. ¹

How the script spread

A people from al-Anbar learned it from them, and then the people of al-Hira learned it from the people of al-Anbar. Bishr ibn Abd al-Malik, brother of Ukaydir lord of Dumat al-Jandal, who was a Christian from the people of al-Hira, also learned it. ¹

Bishr then came to Mecca and taught the spelling and then the script to Sufyan ibn Umayya and Abu Qays ibn Abd Manaf. In al-Ta'if, Ghaylan ibn Salama al-Thaqafi learned it from them. Bishr then went to the lands of Mudar, and Amr ibn Zurara learned it from him, and was called Amr the Scribe. People in Syria learned it too. ¹

A man of Tabikha, one of the three Tayyi, learned it and taught it to a man of Wadi al-Qura, who settled there and taught its people. ¹

Note

This is a single report attributed to a single narrator, and the data gives no date for it. It needs an additional source.

Abu Ubayd's Dispatch to Iraq

In al-Baladhuri: when Umar succeeded he sent Abu Ubayd ibn Mas'ud ibn Amr ibn Umayr ibn Awf ibn Uqda ibn Ghiyara ibn Awf ibn Thaqif — being Abu al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd — to Iraq in a thousand, writing al-Muthanna to receive, hear and obey him, and sent with him Salit ibn Qays ibn Amr al-Ansari, telling him 'but for the haste in you I'd have appointed you — war is cunning, only the patient man suits it.' Abu Ubayd came on urging every Arab tribe to jihad and booty till a host joined him; at al-Mudhayyib he heard Jaban the Persian was at Tustar in a great host — met him, routed his host and took captives; then to Durna whose Persian host he routed to Kaskar; then to the Jalinus at Barusma where Ibn al-Andarzghar made peace at four dirhams a head on withdrawing; he sent al-Muthanna to Zandaward — found repudiated, fought, prevailed and captured — and Urwa ibn Zayd al-Khayl al-Ta'i to al-Zawabi whose dihqan he pacified on Barusma's terms.

The Devising and Spread of Arabic Script

At a glance

Overview

How the script spread

Note

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

People

Abu Ubayd's Dispatch to Iraq