Foreign Words in an "Arabic Quran"? The Classical Loanword Lists
The Quran calls itself "a clear Arabic tongue," yet al-Suyuti's al-Itqan and al-Mutawakkili list words identified as Persian, Syriac, Ethiopic, Greek and Hebrew. Al-Shafi'i's denial, Ibn Abbas's identifications — both columns as-is. The verdict is yours.
By John Shaqi · July 21, 2026 · 15 min read
The Caliph's Request
Cairo, near the end of the ninth Islamic century. Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti — among the most prolific authors in Islamic history — receives a request linked to the caliph al-Mutawakkil: gather in one place the Quranic words scholars have identified as not originally Arabic.
Al-Suyuti does not refuse. He compiles a treatise, names it al-Mutawakkili in the caliph's honour, and arranges dozens of Quranic words under headings that read like a map of the ancient Near East: Persian. Greek ("Rumi"). Syriac. Hebrew. Ethiopic. Coptic. Nabataean. He had already covered the same ground in a chapter of his handbook of Quranic sciences, al-Itqan.
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