How beautiful is our Arabic language — within it lies eloquence and beauty, and in its lines are secrets and puzzles that add beauty upon beauty and deepen our love for it. In these funny stories about the Arabic language you will hear amusing anecdotes of the Arabs that will only increase your pride and love for it. Here on your site (Belaraby Apps) we present a variety of funny stories about the Arabic language, to teach our little ones that the beauty of our language lies in the beauty of its expression, for it is one of a kind in its vocabulary. Come, let us sail through some funny anecdotes of the Arabs…
Funny Stories about the Arabic Language
Because the Arabic language has so many words, and because of the beauty of its style — varying between clarification, emphasis, double-meaning (tawriya), and simile — wordplay became the secret of its beauty and the reason behind every witty anecdote and amusing story. Here we present a collection of stories that rely on eloquence and the skillful use of words, with the main aim of confirming just how remarkable the Arabic language is.
Funny Stories about the Arabic Language
It is said that there was a Persian man who spoke Arabic so fluently that whenever he spoke with Arabs, they would ask him which Arab tribe he belonged to.
He would laugh and say: “I am Persian, and I speak Arabic better than the Arabs themselves!” One day, as usual, he came upon a gathering of Arabs; he sat with them and talked, and they asked him: “Which Arab tribe are you from?”
He laughed and said: “I am from Persia, and I speak Arabic better than you.” So one of those present said to him: “Go to so-and-so, son of so-and-so, a Bedouin man,
and speak with him. If he cannot tell that you are a foreigner, then you have succeeded and beaten us, as you claim.” Now this Bedouin had an extremely sharp instinct. The Persian went to the Bedouin’s house
and knocked on the door. The Bedouin’s young daughter was behind it. She said: “Who is at the door?” The Persian replied: “I am a man of the Arabs, and I want your father.”
The little girl said: “أبي ذهب إلى الفيافي فإذا فاء الفي أفى” (“My father has gone out to the open wilderness, and when the shade lengthens he will return”). He said: “Where has he gone?” She answered him again,
saying: “أبي فاء إلى الفيافي فإذا فاء الفي أفا” (using rare, highly classical words to mean that her father had gone out to the desert and would come back when darkness fell).
The Persian kept questioning the little girl, and she kept answering from behind the door… until her mother called out: “My daughter, who is at the door?” The girl replied: “A foreigner is at the door, mother!”
(If this little girl had such command of logic and language, imagine what it would have been like had he met her father!)
⇐ Read also: Written Nasheeds about the Arabic Language — A Nasheed about Arabic, the Language of the Daad
Funny Anecdotes of the Arabic Language
Among the funny anecdotes of the Arabic language is one told about one of the great masters of Arabic.
Ibn Alqama the grammarian had a servant boy. One morning Ibn Alqama wanted to go out to attend to some errands…
He said to him: “يا غلام، أصقعت العتاريف؟!” (“Boy, have the cockerels crowed?” — using extremely rare, archaic words for “crowed” and “cockerels”).
The boy replied: “زقفيلم!” (a nonsense word).
Abu Alqama said: “And what is زقفيلم?”
The boy said to him: “And what does أصقعت العتاريف mean?”
He said: “I told you: have the roosters crowed?!”
The boy said: “And I told you: not a single one of them has crowed!”
⇐ Read also: Sayings and Quotes about the Arabic Language — The Finest Things Said about Classical Arabic
Amusing Anecdotes of the Arabs
One of the loveliest amusing anecdotes of the Arabs:
Al-Asmai said to a Bedouin: “Do you compose poetry?” The Bedouin said: “I am the son of its mother and its father” (i.e., a master of it).
Al-Asmai grew annoyed, so he searched for the most difficult rhyme he could — the silent waaw preceded by a fatha, as in “لَوْ” (law — “if”). He said: “I’ll start; you continue.” The Bedouin said: “Go ahead.”
Al-Asmai said: “A people we once knew… may Allah water them from the rain…” (rhyming on -aw).
The Bedouin continued, completing every line on the same difficult rhyme as al-Asmai kept asking “…the what?” after each one. Each time, the Bedouin improvised a flawless verse ending on that rhyme, describing rain, a knight, a hunting falcon, and more.
Al-Asmai: “…rises to what?”
The Bedouin kept extending the poem, line after line, each ending on the same tricky rhyme, every time al-Asmai pressed him with “…the what?” The Bedouin never faltered, weaving images of battle, falcons, and combat — until at last he warned, in verse, that anyone who did not understand his words was a fool, and that he would strike with his staff anyone who kept interrupting.
Al-Asmai said: “I feared that if I said ‘…the what?’ one more time, he would take his staff and strike me!”
⇐ Read also: The Story of Juha, His Donkey, and His Son — Funny Tales and Anecdotes of Juha
Witty Short Stories in the Arabic Language
Here are some short, witty stories in the Arabic language — brief anecdotes about Arabic.
The First Story: An Arabic teacher asked his wife: “Umm Tariq, what do you know about النحو والصرف (grammar and morphology)?”
She replied: “What I know about al-sarf and al-nahw is this: that you should صرِف (spend) your salary على النحو (in the manner) I see fit for the household.” — a pun on the two grammatical terms.
The teacher fell silent and did not utter a single word.
The Second Story: One of the grammarians, named Umar ibn Isa, was passing through one of the streets of Baghdad when a gallstone illness that had afflicted him before flared up, and he fell off his mount unconscious.
Some people gathered around him, sprinkling water on him, calling the adhan in his ear, and biting his thumb.
When he came to, he became irritated and exasperated with them, and shouted his famous line: “ما لكم تكأكأتم عليّ كتكأكؤكم على ذي جنة، افرنقعوا عني” (“Why have you crowded (‘takakatum’) around me like crowding around a madman (‘dhi jinna’)? Disperse (‘ifranqiu’) from me!” — using extraordinarily obscure words).
Since the people did not understand his speech, one of them said: “Leave him be… he has a jinn upon him speaking Hindi.”
⇐ Read also: Arabic Language Riddles for Kids — Brain-Teasing Riddles for Clever Children, with Answers
Short, Funny, Written Anecdotes
In one short, funny written anecdote, someone wrote:
A certain prince was praying behind an imam who would draw out the recitation at length, so the prince asked of him, in front of the people, saying:
“Recite no more than a single verse in each rak’ah.”
So the imam led them in the Maghrib prayer, and after reciting al-Fatiha he recited the Almighty’s words:
(“And they will say: Our Lord, we obeyed our masters and our great ones, and they led us astray from the path.”)
And after reciting al-Fatiha in the second rak’ah, he recited the Almighty’s words:
(“Our Lord, give them double the punishment and curse them with a mighty curse.”)
So the prince said to him: “You there!
Take as long as you wish and recite whatever you wish — but anything other than these two verses!”
- The moral of the story: Reflecting on the Quran requires learning Arabic well. Notice how the imam used his understanding of the Quranic verses to admonish the ruler without disobedience — he merely reminded him of what he had forgotten.
⇐ Read also: Ideas for World Arabic Language Day for Kids — Educational Activities about the Arabic Language
Rare Gems and Anecdotes of the Arabic Language
Among the rare gems, anecdotes — and indeed the wonders — of the Arabic language:
Two poets competed in their mastery of poetry, so a wise judge ruled and said: whoever produces a line of verse that reads the same from right to left as from left to right, without changing the meaning, wins.
It is said that the Arabic language “wronged” women in five places (a lighthearted observation), namely:
First: When a man is alive, he is called “حي” (hayy), but when a woman is alive, she is called “حيّة” (hayya) — which also means “a snake.”
Second: When a man is correct in what he says, he is called “مصيب” (musib — “one who is right”), but when a woman is correct in what she says, she is called “مصيبة” (musiba) — which also means “a calamity.”
Third: When a man takes the office of judge, he is called “قاضي” (qadi — “judge”), but when a woman takes the same office, she is called “قاضية” (qadiya) — and al-qadiya is the great disaster that befalls a person and finishes him off.
Fourth: When a man has a hobby to amuse himself, he is called “هاو” (haw — “a hobbyist”), but a woman is called “هاوية” (hawiya) — and al-Hawiya is one of the names of Hell, may Allah protect us.
Fifth: When a man enters parliament or the representative council, he is called “نائب” (naib — “deputy/MP”), but a woman is called “نائبة” (naiba) — and al-naiba is the sister of calamity (a misfortune).
⇐ Read also: Coloring Drawings about the Arabic Language — World Arabic Language Day in Pictures
A Story from the Anecdotes of the Arabs
This story is all about “إنّ” (inna)!
Do you know the story of “إنّ”?
What is the tale of this “إنّ”?
In the city of Aleppo there was a clever, sharp, and brave prince named Ali ibn Munqidh, who was a vassal of King Mahmud ibn Mirdas.
A dispute arose between the king and the prince, and the prince realized that the king meant to kill him, so he fled from Aleppo to the city of Damascus.
The king asked his scribe to write a letter to Prince Ali ibn Munqidh reassuring him and inviting him to return to Aleppo.
Kings used to appoint clever men as scribes so they could skillfully compose the letters sent to kings — and sometimes a scribe would even become king if the king died.
The scribe sensed that the king intended to betray the prince, so he wrote him an utterly ordinary letter, but at its end he wrote:
“إنَّ شاء الله تعالى” (“If Allah Almighty wills”) — with a doubled noon (shadda) on “إنَّ”!
When the prince read the letter, he paused, puzzled, at that error at its end, for he knew the scribe’s skill and brilliance,
and he immediately understood that the scribe was warning him of something by stressing that noon!
Funny Stories about the Arabic Language
Before long, he recalled the Almighty’s words:
“إنّ الملأَ يأتمرون بك ليقتلوك” (“Indeed, the chiefs are conspiring against you to kill you”).
Then the prince sent back his reply in an ordinary letter, thanking the king for his kindnesses and reassuring him of his deep trust in him, ending with the phrase:
“إنّا الخادمُ المُقِرُّ بالإنعام” (“We are indeed the servant who acknowledges the favor”) — with a doubled noon!
When the scribe read it, he understood that the prince was letting him know he had grasped the hidden warning, and that he was replying with the Almighty’s words:
“إنّا لن ندخلَها أبدًا ما داموا فيها” (“Indeed, we will never enter it as long as they remain in it”). And so the scribe was reassured that Prince Ibn Munqidh would never return to Aleppo as long as that treacherous king was there.
⇐ Read also: The Loveliest Cards about the Arabic Language — Beautiful Designs for World Arabic Language Day
Arabic Children’s Stories
Abu al-Aswad al-Duali had a freeloading neighbor who would only ever visit at mealtimes, eating whatever was in front of him and leaving nothing. This freeloader had a habit of drawing Abu al-Aswad into conversation
while he busied himself with eating. Abu al-Aswad resolved to get rid of him. One day, while Abu al-Aswad was having lunch in the market, the freeloader came and sat beside him, greeting him, and he returned the greeting. Then the neighbor said: “I passed by your family.”
Abu al-Aswad said: “That was, of course, on your way.”
He said: “And your wife is pregnant!”
He said: “That is how I left her.”
He said: “She has given birth!”
He said: “She was bound to give birth.”
He said: “She gave birth to two boys!”
He said: “So was her mother.”
He said: “One of them died!”
He said: “She could not have nursed both.”
He said: “Then the other died too!”
He said: “He could not survive after his brother’s death.”
He said: “And the mother died!”
He said: “She died of grief over her two sons.”
He said: “How delicious your food is!”
He said: “That is why I am eating it alone — and by Allah, you shall not taste it, you freeloader!”
⇐ Read also: Arabic Language Competition Questions with Their Answers
A Story from the Anecdotes of Classical Arabic
It is related that a man was invited to attend one of the grammar lessons. When he arrived, he noticed that the grammarians always used the same names in their examples: “زيدٌ جاء” (“Zayd came”), “ضرب زيدٌ عمرًا” (“Zayd struck Amr”), “حدَّث زيدٌ عمرًا حديثًا” (“Zayd told Amr a tale”)… and so on.
He grew weary of it, and began to recite — jokingly:
“It was not for grammar that I came to you, nor do I desire it.
Leave Zayd to his own affairs — let him go wherever he pleases.
What is it to me, or to anyone, that forever and ever someone is being ‘struck’?”
And on the same theme, another said:
“They took the waaw from Daawud (داود)
and said: with it we’ll fix the case of Amr (عمرو).”
“So Daawud was left grieving for his waaw,
while Zayd was set loose to forever ‘strike’ Amr.” (a joke on grammar’s recurring examples).
From the Anecdotes of the Arabic Language
Among the anecdotes of the Arabic language are two remarkable lines of verse!
This line can be recited without the tongue moving at all:
“آب همي وهم بي أحبابي ** همهم ما بهم وهمي مابي” — composed entirely of letters that require no tongue movement.
And this line can be recited without the lips moving at all:
“قطعنا على قطع القطا قطع ليلة ** سراعًا على الخيل العتاق اللاحقي” — containing no letters that require the lips.
⇐ Read also: Illustrated Arabic Alphabet Stories for Kids — Teaching the Arabic Letters
From the Rare Gems of the Arabs
There was a man who could not easily pronounce the letter raa (the equivalent of a “lisp” in today’s terms), yet he was famous for the power of his speech and the strength of his arguments.
One day, some who envied him wished to put him in an embarrassing spot, so they said to the caliph: why not have him announce a piece of news we have crafted for him, in which not a single word is free of the letter raa?
So they said to him: “أمر أمير الأمراء وزير الوزراء بحفر بئر في الصحراء ليشرب منه الشارد والوارد” (“The Commander of Commanders, the Vizier of Viziers, has ordered a well dug in the desert so that all who pass, near and far, may drink from it” — every word packed with raa).
At once the man cried out before the assembly: “حكم حكيم الحكماء على نديم الندماء بشق جب في البيداء، ليسقي منه الغادي والبادي!” (“The wisest of the wise has decreed to the dearest of companions that a pit be dug in the wilderness, to give drink to all who come and go!”) — conveying the very same meaning without using a single raa.
⇐ Read also: Linguistic Riddles about the Arabic Language to Celebrate Arabic Language Day
Illustrated Stories about the Arabic Language for Kids
There is no doubt that stories are an effective way to make learning easy. Here is a gift for friends of the Hekayat Belaraby app: a series of illustrated stories for teaching the Arabic language and Arabic children’s stories,
to encourage little ones to love reading and to plant a love of Arabic in them from an early age,
and to help teach them the basics of correct reading and sound spelling.
⇐ To read more illustrated stories, click here
Don’t miss these illustrated children’s stories about teaching Arabic to kids — they motivate little ones to learn the language in a simple way. Here are the loveliest educational illustrated stories about Arabic to use as teaching aids.
Read them, written and illustrated, in the Hekayat Belaraby app — perfect as kindergarten teaching aids for World Arabic Language Day activities
For more illustrated stories for children, read to your child and teach them to love reading with more than 500 illustrated Arabic stories for kids and new, purposeful children’s tales in the Hekayat Belaraby app
Download the Hekayat Belaraby app here:
We have brought you funny stories about the Arabic language — amusing anecdotes of the Arabs. Share with us in a comment any anecdotes about Arabic that you know, in celebration of our beautiful language on World Arabic Language Day. We hope, dear followers, that you will share your comments and suggestions, for your opinion matters to us.
We always strive to offer everything useful and new. Don’t forget to follow the official Belaraby Apps page on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
We offer everything beneficial with all our love — so please keep us in your prayers.
