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48-768: The English term scimitar is attested from the mid-16th century and derives partly from the Middle French cimeterre (15th century) and partly the Italian scimitarra . The ultimate source of these terms is corruptions of the Persian shamshir . Scimitar became used to describe all curved oriental blades, in contrast to the straight and double-edged European swords of the time. The term سَيْف saif in Arabic can refer to any Middle Eastern (or North African, South Asian) sword, straight or curved. Saif cognates with

96-669: A Semitic language, as both saif and xiphos go back to an old ( Bronze Age ) wanderwort of the Eastern Mediterranean of unknown ultimate origin. Richard F. Burton derives both words from the Egyptian sfet . The earliest evidence of scimitars is from the 9th century among soldiers in Khurasan . They were used in horse warfare because of their relatively light weight when compared to larger swords and their curved design, good for slashing opponents while riding on

144-463: A border region between the east and the west. From this context, the sword and scimitar have found their way into the coat of arms of Finland , which depicts a lion brandishing a sword and trampling a scimitar. In Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy , Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg argue that the scimitar has been appropriated by Western culture and Hollywood to symbolize Arab Muslims in

192-408: A border region between the east and the west. From this context, the sword and scimitar have found their way into the coat of arms of Finland , which depicts a lion brandishing a sword and trampling a scimitar. In Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy , Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg argue that the scimitar has been appropriated by Western culture and Hollywood to symbolize Arab Muslims in

240-521: A horse. Nomadic horsemen learned from experience that a curved edge is better for cutting strikes because the arc of the blade matches that of the sweep of the rider's arm as they slash the target while galloping. Turks, Mongols, Rajputs and Sikhs used scimitars in warfare, among many other peoples. The scimitar was widespread throughout the Middle East from at least the Ottoman period until

288-407: A horse. Nomadic horsemen learned from experience that a curved edge is better for cutting strikes because the arc of the blade matches that of the sweep of the rider's arm as they slash the target while galloping. Turks, Mongols, Rajputs and Sikhs used scimitars in warfare, among many other peoples. The scimitar was widespread throughout the Middle East from at least the Ottoman period until

336-607: A kunya implies a familiar but respectful setting. A kunya is expressed by the use of abū (father) or umm (mother) in a genitive construction , i.e. "father of" or "mother of" as an honorific in place of or alongside given names in the Arab world . A kunya may also be a nickname expressing the attachment of an individual to a certain thing, as in Abu Bakr , "father of the camel foal", given because of this person's kindness towards camels. A common name-form among Arab Muslims

384-593: A long naming system. Many people from Arabic-speaking and also non-Arab Muslim countries have not had given , middle , and family names but rather a chain of names. This system remains in use throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds. The ism ( اسم ) is the given name, first name, or personal name; e.g. " Ahmad " or " Fatima ". Most Arabic names have meaning as ordinary adjectives and nouns , and are often aspirational of character. For example, Muhammad means 'Praiseworthy' and Ali means 'Exalted' or 'High'. The syntactic context will generally differentiate

432-536: A negative light. Even though Muslims used straight-edge swords for the first two centuries of the Crusades , European Christians may have more closely tied the Christian cross -like shape of the swords to their cause. The authors commented that American cartoonists use the scimitar to symbolize "Muslim barbarity", despite the irony in scimitars being worn with some American military uniforms. In Shakespeare's works,

480-424: A negative light. Even though Muslims used straight-edge swords for the first two centuries of the Crusades , European Christians may have more closely tied the Christian cross -like shape of the swords to their cause. The authors commented that American cartoonists use the scimitar to symbolize "Muslim barbarity", despite the irony in scimitars being worn with some American military uniforms. In Shakespeare's works,

528-576: A social (i.e. to whom was the mother legally married during the conception of the child), not a biological sense, because the father's biological identity can be grounds for speculation. In early Islamic contexts this function is not yet well established. This stems from a legal principle introduced by Islam regarding the legal status of children (they can only arise from marriage) and changes to waiting periods relating to divorce to establish an undisputed legal father for any child. This function only developing with Islam means that one can find many Companions of

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576-595: A space, not a hyphen) should be used. Ahl , which has a similar meaning, is sometimes used and should be used if the Arabic spelling is أهل . Dynasty membership alone does not necessarily imply that the dynastic آل is used – e.g. Bashar al-Assad . محمد بن سلمان بن أمین الفارسي Muḥammad ibn Salmān ibn Amīn al-Fārisī "Muḥammad, son of Salmān, son of Amīn, the Persian" This person would simply be referred to as "Muḥammad" or by his kunya , which relates him to his first-born son, e.g. Abū Karīm "father of Karīm". To signify respect or to specify which Muḥammad one

624-415: A wife (who would keep her own maiden , family, and surnames), their children will take Saleh's family name. Therefore, their son Mohammed would be called Mohammed ibn Saleh ibn Tariq al-Fulan. However, not all Arab countries use the name in its full length, but conventionally use two- and three-word names, and sometimes four-word names in official or legal matters. Thus the first name is the personal name,

672-414: Is a teknonym in Arabic names. It is a component of an Arabic name, a type of epithet , in theory referring to the bearer's first-born son or daughter. By extension, it may also have hypothetical or metaphorical references, e.g. in a nom de guerre or a nickname, without literally referring to a son or a daughter. For example, Sabri Khalil al-Banna was known as Abu Nidal , "father of struggle". Use of

720-578: Is a single surviving Seljuk saber from approximately the year 1200, which may indicate that under that empire curved blades saw some popularity. Following the Mongol invasions of the 13th century the curved swords favored by the Turkic cavalry, formed lasting impacts across much of the Middle East. The adoption of these swords was incremental, starting not long after Mongol conquest, and lasting well into

768-411: Is a single surviving Seljuk saber from approximately the year 1200, which may indicate that under that empire curved blades saw some popularity. Following the Mongol invasions of the 13th century the curved swords favored by the Turkic cavalry, formed lasting impacts across much of the Middle East. The adoption of these swords was incremental, starting not long after Mongol conquest, and lasting well into

816-409: Is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, scimitar does not refer to one specific sword type, but an assortment of different Eastern curved swords inspired by types introduced to the Middle East by Central Asian ghilmans . These swords include the Persian shamshir (the origin of the word scimitar),

864-400: Is corruptions of the Persian shamshir . Scimitar became used to describe all curved oriental blades, in contrast to the straight and double-edged European swords of the time. The term سَيْف saif in Arabic can refer to any Middle Eastern (or North African, South Asian) sword, straight or curved. Saif cognates with the ancient Greek xiphos , which may have been borrowed from

912-487: Is no longer used (unless it is the official naming style in a country, region, etc.: Adnen bin Abdallah). The plural is 'Abnā for males and Banāt for females. However, Banu or Bani is tribal and encompasses both sexes. The laqab ( لقب ), pl. alqāb ( ألقاب ), can be translated to English as agnomen ; cognomen ; nickname; title, honorific; last name, surname , family name. The laqab

960-531: Is of the family of al-Fulan." The Arabic for "daughter of" is bint. A woman with the name Fatimah bint Tariq ibn Khalid al-Rashid translates as "Fatimah, daughter of Tariq, son of Khalid; who is of the family al-Rashid." In this case, ibn and bint are included in the official naming. Most Arab countries today, however, do not use 'ibn' and 'bint' in their naming system. If Saleh were an Egyptian, he would be called Saleh Tariq Khalid al-Fulan and Fatimah would be Fatimah Tariq Khalid al-Rashid. If Saleh marries

1008-503: Is speaking about, the name could be lengthened to the extent necessary or desired. Non-Arabic speakers often make these mistakes: Conventionally, in Arab culture, as in many parts of the world, a person's ancestry and family name are very important. An example is explained below. Assume a man is called Saleh ibn Tariq ibn Khalid al-Fulan . Hence, Saleh ibn Tariq ibn Khalid al-Fulan translates as "Saleh, son of Tariq, son of Khalid; who

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1056-413: Is the father's personal name or, in this particular case, the name of a remote male ancestor. ʿAmmār ibn Sumayya means "ʿAmmār son of Sumayya ". Sumayya is the personal name of ʿAmmār's mother, the same person can also be identified by his father's personal name "ʿAmmār ibn Yasir". In later Islamic periods the nasab was an important tool in determining a child's father by means of describing paternity in

1104-409: Is the prefix ʿAbd ("Worshipper", fem. Amah ) combined with the word for God ( Allah ), Abdullah ( عبد الله "Worshipper of God"), or with one of the epithets of God . As a mark of deference, ʿAbd is usually not conjoined with the prophet's names. Nonetheless, such names are accepted in some areas. Its use is not exclusive to Muslims and throughout all Arab countries,

1152-548: Is typically descriptive of the person. An example is the name of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid , which uses the definite article al- . Harun is the Arabic version of the name Aaron and al-Rasheed means "the Rightly-Guided". Another common form of laqab is that of compounds ending with al-Dīn ( lit.   ' of the faith ' or ' of the religion ' ), al-Dawla ('of

1200-760: Is used as a metaphor in many phrases in the Arabic language. The word occurs also in various symbolic and status titles in Arabic (and adopted in other languages) used in Islamic states, notably: Saif and Saif al Din "Sword of the religion" are also common masculine (and male) Islamic names . The scimitar appears as a symbol of the Russians in the Finnish coat of arms of the Province of Karelia , which depicts two armored arms fighting with swords – one Western and one Eastern, representing Karelia's troubled history as

1248-538: Is used as a metaphor in many phrases in the Arabic language. The word occurs also in various symbolic and status titles in Arabic (and adopted in other languages) used in Islamic states, notably: Saif and Saif al Din "Sword of the religion" are also common masculine (and male) Islamic names . The scimitar appears as a symbol of the Russians in the Finnish coat of arms of the Province of Karelia , which depicts two armored arms fighting with swords – one Western and one Eastern, representing Karelia's troubled history as

1296-562: The Akkadians , the scimitar, or harpe , was represented in art as something held by kings and the goddess Ishtar . In the Old Babylonian period , art depicts gods such as Marduk , Ishtar, Ninurta , and Nergal holding scimitars as a symbol of royalty. A common scene depicted in this period is a king or a god trampling on an enemy, a scimitar in their left hand. The sword (or saif ) is an important symbol in Arab cultures , and

1344-442: The Akkadians , the scimitar, or harpe , was represented in art as something held by kings and the goddess Ishtar . In the Old Babylonian period , art depicts gods such as Marduk , Ishtar, Ninurta , and Nergal holding scimitars as a symbol of royalty. A common scene depicted in this period is a king or a god trampling on an enemy, a scimitar in their left hand. The sword (or saif ) is an important symbol in Arab cultures , and

1392-530: The Philippines , due to its almost ubiquitous use as a first name, a person will often be referred to by their second name: The nasab ( Arabic : نسب , lit.   'lineage') is a patronymic or matronymic , or a series thereof. It indicates the person's heritage by the word ibn ( ابن "son of", colloquially bin ) or ibnat ("daughter of", also بنت bint , abbreviated bte. ). Ibn Khaldun ( ابن خلدون ) means "son of Khaldun". Khaldun

1440-654: The 15th century. During Islamization of the Turks, the kilij became more and more popular in the Islamic armies. When the Seljuk Empire invaded Persia and became the first Turkic Muslim political power in Western Asia, kilij became the dominant sword form. The Iranian shamshir was created during the Turkic Seljuk Empire period of Iran. The scimitar has been a symbol since ancient times. To

1488-405: The 15th century. During Islamization of the Turks, the kilij became more and more popular in the Islamic armies. When the Seljuk Empire invaded Persia and became the first Turkic Muslim political power in Western Asia, kilij became the dominant sword form. The Iranian shamshir was created during the Turkic Seljuk Empire period of Iran. The scimitar has been a symbol since ancient times. To

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1536-738: The Arab saif , the Indian talwar , the North African nimcha , the Turkish kilij , and the Afghan pulwar . All such swords are originally derived from earlier curved swords developed in Turkic Central Asia ( Turkestan ). The English term scimitar is attested from the mid-16th century and derives partly from the Middle French cimeterre (15th century) and partly the Italian scimitarra . The ultimate source of these terms

1584-575: The Arabian Peninsula, when descendant of a famous ancestor, start their last name with Āl "family, clan" ( آل ), like the House of Saud ﺁل سعود Āl Suʻūd or Al ash-Sheikh ("family of the sheikh "). Āl is distinct from the definite article ( ال ). If a reliably-sourced version of the Arabic spelling includes آل (as a separate graphic word), then this is not a case of the definite article, so Al (capitalised and followed by

1632-651: The Disadvantages, by Degrees contracted its Length and lighten'd its Weight in to the more handy Form of the Scymitar ; which was first invented by the Eastern Nations, and has continued to be their principal Weapon to this Day:...." "The Saracens, Turks and Persians, made use of but three different Throws with the Scymitar , and one of those, only on Horseback; the other two on Foot." Islamic name Arabic names have historically been based on

1680-495: The Disadvantages, by Degrees contracted its Length and lighten'd its Weight in to the more handy Form of the Scymitar ; which was first invented by the Eastern Nations, and has continued to be their principal Weapon to this Day:...." "The Saracens, Turks and Persians, made use of but three different Throws with the Scymitar , and one of those, only on Horseback; the other two on Foot." scimitar A scimitar ( / ˈ s ɪ m ɪ t ər / or / ˈ s ɪ m ɪ t ɑːr / )

1728-455: The Prophet bearing a maternal nasab, as the naming conventions reflected in their names still stem from pre-Islamic attitudes and beliefs. Several nasab names can follow in a chain to trace a person's ancestry backwards in time, as was important in the tribal society of medieval Arabs, both for purposes of identification and for socio-political interactions. Today, however, ibn or bint

1776-514: The State'), al-Mulk ('of the Kingdom'), or al-Islām ('of Islam'). Examples include Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn , Shams al-Dīn , Nūr al-Dīn , Izz al-Din , Nāṣir al-Dawla , Niẓām al-Mulk , Sayf al-Islām . In ancient Arab societies, use of a laqab was common, but today is restricted to the surname, or family name, of birth. The nisbah ( نسبة ) surname could be an everyday name, but is mostly

1824-488: The age of smokeless powder firearms relegated swords to dress and ceremonial function. The Egyptian khopesh , brought to Egypt by the Hyksos , resembled scimitars. The khopesh is sometimes considered a scimitar. Early swords in Islamic lands were typically straight and double-edged, following the tradition of the weapons used by the Islamic prophet Muhammad . Though the famous double-edged sword, Zulfiqar wielded by Ali

1872-432: The age of smokeless powder firearms relegated swords to dress and ceremonial function. The Egyptian khopesh , brought to Egypt by the Hyksos , resembled scimitars. The khopesh is sometimes considered a scimitar. Early swords in Islamic lands were typically straight and double-edged, following the tradition of the weapons used by the Islamic prophet Muhammad . Though the famous double-edged sword, Zulfiqar wielded by Ali

1920-549: The ancient Greek xiphos , which may have been borrowed from a Semitic language, as both saif and xiphos go back to an old ( Bronze Age ) wanderwort of the Eastern Mediterranean of unknown ultimate origin. Richard F. Burton derives both words from the Egyptian sfet . The earliest evidence of scimitars is from the 9th century among soldiers in Khurasan . They were used in horse warfare because of their relatively light weight when compared to larger swords and their curved design, good for slashing opponents while riding on

1968-546: The middle name is the father's name and the last name is the father's family name. The Arabic names listed below are used in the Arab world with correspondent Hebrew, English, Syriac and Greek equivalents in many cases. Most are derived from Syriac transliterations of the Hebrew Bible. Often Arabic names can be spelled multiple ways in English, and sometimes a person's name may be treated inconsistently. According to

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2016-432: The name Abdel-Massih , "Servant of Christ", is a common Christian last name. Converts to Islam may often continue using the native non-Arabic non-Islamic names that are without any polytheistic connotation, or association. Generally, Arab Christians have names indistinguishable from Muslims, with the exception of some explicitly Islamic names, e.g. Muhammad . Some common Christian names are: Some people, especially in

2064-439: The name from the noun or adjective. However Arabic newspapers will occasionally place names in brackets, or quotation marks, to avoid confusion. In fact, the name Muhammad is so popular throughout parts of Africa , Arabia , the Middle East , South Asia and Southeast Asia , that it is often represented by the abbreviation "Md.", "Mohd.", "Muhd.", or just "M.". In India , Pakistan , Bangladesh , Malaysia , Indonesia and

2112-547: The name of the ancestral tribe, clan, family, profession, town, city, country, or any other term used to show relevance. It follows a family through several generations. A demonym example is الحلبي al-Halabi , meaning that the person is originally from Aleppo or a descendant of people from Aleppo. For a profession example, الخياط al-khayyat meaning "the tailor". The laqab and nisbah are similar in use, but they could be used simultaneously. For example: Sayf Al-Dīn Al-Halabi. A kunya ( Arabic : كنية , kunyah )

2160-602: The scimitar was a symbol for the East and the Islamic world . Scimitars were used in 19th century orientalist depictions of Middle Eastern men. In the 20th century, they were often used to indicate that a character was Middle Eastern and occupying a villain role. "The Sword was of enormous length and breadth, heavy and unweildy, design'd only for right down chopping by the Force of a strong Arm; till Time and Experience discovering

2208-442: The scimitar was a symbol for the East and the Islamic world . Scimitars were used in 19th century orientalist depictions of Middle Eastern men. In the 20th century, they were often used to indicate that a character was Middle Eastern and occupying a villain role. "The Sword was of enormous length and breadth, heavy and unweildy, design'd only for right down chopping by the Force of a strong Arm; till Time and Experience discovering

2256-436: Was of a curved design, the curved design was probably introduced into central Islamic lands by Turkic warriors from central Asia who were employed as royal body-guards in the 9th century and an Abbasid era blade has been discovered from Khurasan . These Turkic warriors sported an early type of sabre which had been used in central Asia since the 7th century, but failed to gain wider appeal initially in Islamic lands. There

2304-433: Was of a curved design, the curved design was probably introduced into central Islamic lands by Turkic warriors from central Asia who were employed as royal body-guards in the 9th century and an Abbasid era blade has been discovered from Khurasan . These Turkic warriors sported an early type of sabre which had been used in central Asia since the 7th century, but failed to gain wider appeal initially in Islamic lands. There

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