I don't know Arabic. I can't speak or write it.

“Yet even when such languages did not face direct official sanction, speakers of older tongues knew that they had little chance of getting on…

— Philip Jenkins

We were the outliers: my mother was the only Western woman (khawagayya, in Egyptian Arabic) to have married into the family, and during my…

— Shereen El Feki

“The Arabic language has had a great history, and in many respects is more remarkable than any other Semitic speech.”

— James John Courtenay

World music can be sometimes like the lumber room in which all the non-English singers are dumped. When you are singing in Arabic, no…

— Yasmine Hamdan

“In its classical form Arabic is of later date than Hebrew, but in its ancient form akin to Hebrew and Aramaic, certainly as old,…

— James John Courtenay

It's complicated for my music to be accepted, even in Lebanon and the Arabic world - I sing in Arabic, but there's no lute,…

— Yasmine Hamdan

“By the affirmation of all scholars, Arabic is the most honourable language among all Semitic ones.”

— Clemens Joseph David

All the sciences came to exist in Arabic. The systematic works on them were written in Arabic writing.

— Ibn Khaldun

“Assad whistled a few notes of one of his native country's melancholic songs. It sounded as though he was whistling backwards”

— Jussi Adler-Olsen

I have never known what is Arabic or English, or which one was really mine beyond any doubt. What I do know, however, is…

— Edward Said

“Fuck the Bureau! Their entire outfit is half the size of the NYPD. I've got more officers who speak Arabic in one precinct that…

— Brian K. Vaughan

Pomegranate molasses is ubiquitous in Arabic cooking: it's sweet, sour and adds depth.

— Yotam Ottolenghi

I've been working a lot with identity and roots, being part of your roots. I went into this topic where I was trying to…

— eL Seed

“Ancient Arabic may naturally be regarded as the chief source of the Hebrew language.”

— John Courtenay James

Being published in Arabic is a strong and consistent wish I have. I live in the Middle East and want to be in some…

— Etgar Keret