The Arab Calendar and Its Earliest Historical Evidence in Poetry and Prose

Abstract

This study addresses the issue of the pre-Islamic Arab calendar, exploring its existence and determining whether it was lunar or solar. It also examines the most prominent calendars before and after Islam, investigating the names of their months and correlating them with their counterparts in Roman and Aramaic-Syriac calendars. The research delves into the earliest historical references to these calendars in poetry and prose, wherever possible.

The study relies on the chronological arrangement of historical references as presented in the online portal of the Doha Historical Dictionary of Arabic, except for the Himyarite calendar. However, it acknowledges a considerable margin of approximation in these dates, given their estimated nature. Nevertheless, such estimations ensure precedence, even if approximate in nature.

The names of the months have been standardized based on lexicographical principles, without adhering to contemporary colloquial usage. For non-Arabic names, the study relied on the work of the distinguished Indian scholar F. Abdul Rahim in his book A Dictionary of Foreign Words in Modern Arabic and Its Dialects. As a polyglot fluent in fourteen living languages, his contributions to cataloging loanwords in Arabic, both ancient and modern, are highly regarded.

In conclusion, the research opens new avenues for specialists to conduct in-depth studies on individual Arab calendars. Such studies would establish their origins, delineate subtle differences among them, and trace their earliest historical beginnings in accordance with the principles of historiography. However, this endeavor requires more time, extensive investigation, and detailed writing—beyond the scope of a paper published in a journal.