Arabic Abjad Numerals Reference Document

Description

  1. Overview
    1. In Arabic, letters also have traditional numerical values in a system called ʾabjad numerals (أبجد).
    2. The name Allah is written: الله
    3. This numerical symbolism is especially encountered in classical manuscripts, Sufi traditions, talismanic inscriptions, chronograms, and Islamic calligraphy.
    4. Mainstream Islamic theology, however, does not treat the number 66 itself as having doctrinal significance; it is primarily a linguistic/numerological observation.
  2. Letter-by-letter breakdown
    1. ا (alif) = 1
    2. ل (lām) = 30
    3. ل (lām) = 30
    4. ه (hāʾ) = 5
    5. Total: 1 + 30 + 30 + 5 = 66
    6. This is why the number 66 is traditionally associated with the name “Allah” in some forms of Islamic numerology, calligraphy, and mystical traditions.
  3. System background
    1. The system itself is ancient and predates Islam, deriving from Semitic alphabetic numeral systems similar to Hebrew gematria.
  4. Examples from the Arabic ʾabjad system
    1. ا = 1
    2. ب = 2
    3. ج = 3
    4. د = 4
    5. ه = 5
    6. و = 6
    7. ز = 7
    8. ح = 8
    9. ط = 9
    10. ي = 10
    11. … and so on by tens and hundreds.