Arabic Language and Literature
Sabataean writing
Arabic is in the Semitic language group, which seems to have originated somewhere near modern Syria, and to have spread from there through Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan down to the Arabian peninsula.
Until the time of Mohammed,
in the 600's AD, Arabic was mainly spoken and
not written. Still, there are some written records from the Arabian
peninsula from before the 600's AD. These are called Sabataean. But
they are only short inscriptions in stone, not really literature.
Arabic script
After the Islamic conquests
of the late 600's AD, people soon began to speak Arabic all over the
Islamic Empire, from Afghanistan to Spain, and people speak Arabic in
even more places today (though not in Spain). By 1000 AD, people spoke
Arabic in India.
Many people began to write in Arabic. Among the first things to
be written was the Koran, but soon
many scientific texts and medical
books and math books were written
in Arabic, and also stories like the Arabian
Nights or the story of
Aladdin. There were many Arab historians,
geographers, philosophers, and poets.
Also, in the eastern part of the Islamic Empire, many people spoke and
wrote in Persian (an Indo-European
language). One famous Persian story, written about 1000 AD, is the story of Sohrab
and Rustem.
Here's a song by Yusuf Islam (who used to be Cat Stevens)
to teach the Arabic alphabet:
