Transliteration is the means of presenting an Arabic word using English letters. This guide aims to explain the way Arabic words and names should be interpreted, in order for the result to be clear to the English speaker and to enable him/her to pronounce words correctly. There are various schools of transliteration, for example: IE (The Encyclopedia of Islam), ISO (The International Organization for Standardization), and ALA (Library of Congress). The system that is followed here is an eclectic one. Our aim at Adage is to adhere to the Arabic pronunciation as closely as possible while removing the awkward symbols that can make difficult the smooth comprehension of the text.

Arabic Alphabet

Audio sample	English Transliteration	Example in Arabic	Sound in English	Letter in Arabic
See in Table 2	Ahmad Jamāl	أحمد جمـال	a/ā	أ*
B	Banu-Hāshim	بـنو هاشم	b	ب
T	Tamīm	تـميم	t	ت
Th	at-Takāthur	التكاثـر	th	ث
J	Jamāl	جـمال	j	ج
H	Haydar	حـيدر	h	ح
Kh	Khālid	خـالد	kh	خ
D	Duraid	دريد	d	د
Thal	Abu-Tharr	أبو ذر	th	ذ
R	Rahmān	رحمن	r	ر
Z	Zaynab	زينب	z	ز
S	Islām	إسـلام	s	س
Sh	Shāfi'iy	شـافعي	sh	ش
Saad	Sālih	صالح	s	ص
Daad	Damīr	ضـمير	d	ض
Tah	Tāhā	طـه	t	ط
Dh	Dhāhir	ظـاهر	dh	ظ
iy	Aliy	عـلي	a	ع*
Gh	Gharīb	غـريب	gh	غ
F	Fātimah	فـاطمة	F	ف
Q	Qur'ān	قـرآن	q	ق
K	Kāmil	كـامل	k	ك
L	Luqmān	لـقمان	l	ل
M	Muhammad	محمد	m	م
N	Nūr	نور	n	ن
Ha2	Hājar	هاجر	h	هـ
W long_waw	Walā' Hūd	ولاء هـود	w/ū	و
Y long_yaa2	Yāsir Kabīr	يــاسر كبيــر	y/ī	ي

* The pronunciation of these two letters differs according to their position within the word. More details are in the following table.

Letters with diacritical marks in Arabic

Audio sample	English Transliteration	Example in Arabic	Sound in English	Letter in Arabic
Ahmad	Ahmad	أَحمد	/a/ in the beginning of the word	همزة مفتوحة في بداية الكلمة أَ
Uhud	Uhud	‏‏أُحُدً	/u/ in the beginning of the word	همزة مضمومة في بداية الكلمة ‏أ
Ishraq	Ishrāq	إِشراق	/i/ in the beginning of the word	همزة مكسورة في بداية الكلمة إِ
Isti'naf	Isti'nāf	إستئِناف	Glottal stop in the middle/at the end of the word /'/	همزة في وسط/آخر الكلمة ئـ
Amr	Amr	عَـمرو	/a/ in the beginning of the word	عين مفتوحة في بداية الكلمة عَـ
Umar	Umar	عُـمَر	/u/ in the beginning of the word	عين مضمومة في بداية الكلمة عُـ
Imran	Imrān	عِـمران	/i/ at the beginning of the word	عين مكسورة في بداية الكلمة عِـ
Mos'ab	Mos'ab	مصـعَـب	/'a/ in the middle of the word	عين مفتوحة في وسط الكلمة ـعَـ
Al-Ma'un	Al-Mā'ūn	الماعُون	/'u/ in the middle of the word	عين مضمومة في وسط الكلمة ـعُـ
Shafi'iy	Shāfi'iy	شافـعِـي	/'i/ in the middle of the word	عين مكسورة في وسط الكلمة ـعِـ
Fat-ha	Fat-hah	فتْحة	/t/ followed by /h/ /t-h/	تاء يتبعها حرف الحاء أو الهاء تحـ/تهـ
h-ALLAH h-Mennah t-Mennahot-ALLAH	Allāh Minnah Minnatullāh	اللّـه منة منة اللّـه	/h/ /t/	ة/ه
iy	Aliy	علي	Stressed /i/ /iy/	ياء مشددة

Please note the difference in transliteration with regards to the position of the letter ع. If it occurs at the beginning of a word, the apostrophe is not be used (for example: Imrān). Only when it occurs in the middle or at the end of the word should the apostrophe be placed before the letter indicating it (example: Mos'ab). The same rule applies for الهمزة as well. The apostrophe is an indication of the glottal stop that accompanies such letters, which should not be missed in pronunciation. However, this indication is not needed at the beginning of the word, because when a new syllable/word starts with a vowel, a glottal stop naturally occurs.

Short and long vowels in Arabic

Audio sample	English Transliteration	Example in Arabic	Sound in English	Letter in Arabic
Adel	Ādel Imrān	عادل عمران	Long /a/: /ā/	مد بالألف
Abu-Thar	Abu-Tharr	أبو ذر	Short /a/	ألف
Ahmad	Ahmad	أحمَد	Diacritical mark indicating a very short /a/	فتحة
long_waw	Hūd	هـود	Long /u/: /ū/	مد بالواو
W	Walā'	ولاء	Short /u/	واو
al-Bukhariy1	al-Bukhāriy	الْبُخَارِيّ	Diacritical mark indicating a very short /u/	ضمة
long_yaa2	Kabīr	كبيــر	Long /i/: /ī/	مد بالياء
Y	Yāsir	ياسِر	Short /i/	ياء
Muslim1	Muslim	مسلِم	Diacritical mark indicating a very short /i/	كسرة