George Sale, The Koran, commonly called the Alcoran of Mohammed, translated into English immediately from the original Arabic; with Explanatory Notes, taken from the most approved Commentators. To which is prefixed A Preliminary Discource (1734)

language, as frequented by the Arabs from the country all around, not only on a religious account, but also for the composing of their differences, from whose discourse and verses, they took whatever words or phrases they judged more pure and elegant; by which means, the beauties of the whole tongue became transfused into this dialect. The Arabians are full of the commendations of their language, and not altogether without reason; for it claims the preference of most others in many respects, as being very harmonious and expressive, and withal so copious, that they say, no man, without inspiration, can be perfect master of it, in its utmost extent; and yet they tell us, at the same time, that the greatest part of it has been lost; which will not be thought strange, if we consider, how late the art of writing was practised among them. For tho’ it was known to Job ¹, their countryman, and also to the Hamyarites (who used a perplexed character called al Mosnad, wherein the letters were not distinctly separate, and which was neither publickly taught, nor suffered to be used without permission first obtained) many centuries before Mohammed, as appears from some ancient monuments, said to be remaining in their character; yet the other Arabs, and those of Mecca in particular, were, for many ages, perfectly ignorant of it, unless fuch of them as were Jews, or Christians ²: Morâmer Ebn Morra of Anbar, a city of Irâk, who lived not many years before Mohammed, was the inventor of the Arabic character, which Bashar the Kendian is said to have learned from those of Anbar, and to have introduced at Mecca, but a little while before the institution of Mohammedism. These letters of Morâmer were different from the Hamyaritic; and tho’ they were very rude, being either the same with, or very much like the Cufic ³, which character is still found in inscriptions, and some ancient books, yet they were those which the Arabs used for many years, the Korân itself being at first written therein; for the beautiful character they now use, was first formed from the Cufic by Ebn Moklah, Wazîr (or Visir) to the Khalîfs al Moktader, al Kâher, and al Râdi, who lived about 300 years after Mohammed, and was brought to great perfection, by Ali Ebn Bowâb ⁴, who flourished in the following century, and whose name is yet famous among them, on that account; yet, it is said, the person who compleated it, and reduced it