ʿAjam (Arabic:عجم,lit. 'mute') is an Arabic word for a non-Arab, especially aPersian.[1][2][3]: 26–27 It was historically used as a pejorative—figuratively ascribingmuteness to those whose native language is not Arabic—during and after theMuslim conquest of Iran.[4] Since theearly Muslim conquests, it has been adopted in various non-Arabic languages, such asTurkish,Azerbaijani,Chechen,Kurdish,Malay,Sindhi,Urdu,Hindi,Bengali,Punjabi,Kashmiri, andSwahili. Today, the termsʿAjam andʿAjamī continue to be used to refer to anyone or anythingIranian, particularly in theArab countries of the Persian Gulf. Communities speaking thePersian language in theArab world exist among theIraqis, theKuwaitis, and theBahrainis, in addition to others. A number of Arabs with Iranian heritage may have the surnameʿAjamī (عجمي), which has the same meaning as the original word.
According to traditional etymology, the wordAjam comes from theSemitic rootʿ-j-m. Related forms of the same root include, but are not limited to:[5]
Homophonous words, which may or may not be derived from the same root, include:
Modern use of "ajam" has the meaning of "non-Arab".[1]Its development from meaning "mute" to meaning "non-Arabic-speaking" is somewhat analogous to that of the wordbarbarian (<Greekβαρβαρόφωνοςbarbarophonos), orNemtsy for Germans inSlavic languages, which descend fromProto-Slavic*němьcь, itself from*němъ meaning "mute". (From there also comesالنمسا(an-Namsa), the Arabic name forAustria).
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The verbʿajama originally meant "to mumble, and speak indistinctly", which is the opposite ofʿaraba, "to speak clearly". Accordingly, the nounʿujma, of the same root, is the opposite offuṣḥa, which means "chaste, correct, Arabic language".[6] In general, during theUmayyad periodajam was a pejorative term used by Arabs who believed in their social and political superiority, in early history after Islam. However, the distinction between Arab and Ajam is discernible in pre-Islamic poetry.[6] According to the bookDocuments on the Persian Gulf's name[citation needed] the Arabs likewise referred to Iran and the Persian (Sassanian) Empire asBilād Fāris (Arabic:بلاد فارس), which means "Lands of Persia", and usingBilād Ajam (Arabic:بلاد عجم) as an equivalent or synonym to Persia. The Turks also were using bilad (Belaad) e Ajam as an equivalent or synonym to Persian andIranian, and in theQuran the word ajam was used to refer to non-Arabs.Ajam was first used for people of Persia in the poems of pre-Islamic Arab poets; but after the advent of Islam it also referred to Turks,Zoroastrians, and others. Today, in Arabic literature,Ajam is used to refer to all non-Arabs. As the bookDocuments on the Persian Gulf's name explained, during theIranian Intermezzo native Persian Muslim dynasties used both the words Ajam and Persian to refer to themselves. According toThe Political Language of Islam, during theIslamic Golden Age, 'Ajam' was used colloquially as a reference to denote those whomArabs viewed as "alien" or outsiders.[2] The early application of the term included all of thenon-Arabpeoples with whom the Arabs had contact includingPersians,Byzantine Greeks,Ethiopians,Armenians,Mandaeans,Jews,Georgians,Sabians,Egyptians, andBerbers.
During the early age of the Caliphates, Ajam was often synonymous with "foreigner" or "stranger".[citation needed] In Western Asia, it was generally applied to thePersians, while inal-Andalus it referred to speakers ofRomance languages – becoming "Aljamiado" in Spanish in reference to Arabic-script writing of those languages – and inWest Africa refers to theAjami script or the writing of local languages such asHausa andFulani in the Arabic alphabet.[citation needed] InZanzibarajami andajamo means a Persian person which comes from thePersian Gulf and the cities of Shiraz andSiraf. In Turkish, there are many documents and letters that used Ajam to refer to Persian. In thePersian Gulf region, people still refer to Persians as Ajami, referring to Persian carpets assajjad al Ajami (Ajami carpet), Persian cats as Ajami cats, and Persian kings as Ajami kings.[7]
According toClifford Edmund Bosworth, "by the 3rd/9th century, the non-Arabs, and above all the Persians, were asserting their social and cultural equality (taswīa) with the Arabs, if not their superiority (tafżīl) over them (a process seen in the literary movement of theŠoʿūbīya). In any case, there was always in some minds a current of admiration for the ʿAǰam as heirs of an ancient, cultured tradition of life. After these controversies had died down, and the Persians had achieved a position of power in the Islamic world comparable to their numbers and capabilities,"ʿAjam" became a simple ethnic and geographical designation."[8] Thus by the ninth century, the term was being used by Persians themselves as an ethnic term, and examples can be given by Asadi Tusi in his poem comparing the superiority of Persians and Arabs.[9]Accordingly: "territorial notions of 'Iran' are reflected in such terms asirānšahr,irānzamin, orFaris, the Arabicized form ofPārs/Fārs (Persia). The ethnic notion of 'Iranian' is denoted by the Persian wordsPārsi orIrāni, and the Arabic termAhl Faris (inhabitants of Persia) orʿAjam, referring to non-Arabs, but primarily to Persians as inmolk-e ʿAjam (Persian kingdom) ormoluk-e ʿAjam (Persian kings)."[10]
During the Umayyad period, the term developed a derogatory meaning as the word was used to refer to non-Arab speakers (primarily Persians) as illiterate and uneducated. Arab conquerors in that period tried to impose Arabic as the primary language of the subject peoples throughout their empire. Angry with the prevalence of the Persian language in theDivan and Persian society, Persian resistance to this mentality was popularised in the final verse ofFerdowsi'sShahnameh; this verse is widely regarded by Iranians as the primary reason that they speak Persian and not Arabic to this day.[11] Under the Umayyad dynasty, official association with the Arab dominion was only given to those with the ethnic identity of the Arab and required formal association with an Arab tribe and the adoption of the client status (mawālī, another derogatory term translated to mean "slave" or "lesser" in this context).[12] The pejorative use to denote Persians as "Ajam" is so ingrained in the Arab world that it is colloquially used to refer to Persians as "Ajam" neglecting the original definition and etymology of the word.
According toThe Political Language of Islam, during theIslamic Golden Age, 'Ajam' was used colloquially as a reference to denote those whomArabs in theArabian Peninsula viewed as "alien" or outsiders.[2] The early application of the term included all of the non-Arab peoples with whom the Arabs had contact includingPersians,Byzantine Greeks,Ethiopians,Armenians,Assyrians,Mandaeans,Jews,Georgians,Sabians,Copts, andBerbers.
During the early age of the Caliphates,Ajam was often synonymous with "foreigner" or "stranger".[citation needed] In Western Asia, it was generally applied to thePersians, while inal-Andalus it referred to speakers ofRomance languages – becoming "Aljamiado" in Spanish in reference to Arabic-script writing of those languages – and inWest Africa refers to theAjami script or the writing of local languages such asHausa andFulani in the Arabic alphabet.[citation needed] InZanzibarajami andajamo mean Persian, which came from thePersian Gulf and the cities of Shiraz andSiraf. In Turkish, there are many documents and letters that usedAjam to refer to the Persians.[citation needed]
In thePersian Gulf region today, people still refer toPersians/Iranians as Ajami, referring to Persian carpets assajjad al Ajami (Ajami carpet), Persian cat as Ajami cats, and Persian kings as Ajami kings.[7]
گفتمش چو دیوانه بسی گفتی و اکنون
پاسخ شنو ای بوده چون دیوان بیابان
عیب ار چه کنی اهل گرانمایه عجم را
چه بوید شما خود گلهء غر شتربان
Jalal Khaleqi Motlaq, "Asadi Tusi",Majaleyeh Daneshkadeyeh Adabiyaat o Olum-e Insani [Literature and Humanities Magazine], Ferdowsi University, 1357 (1978). page 71.