Note the exceptional treatment of the preposition ل followed by the article:
lil-Shirbīnī ﻟﻠﺸﺮﺑﻴﻨﻰ
See also rule 23.
(c) The ل of the article is always romanized l, whether it is followed by a “sun letter” or
not, i.e., regardless of whether or not it is assimilated in pronunciation to the initial
consonant of the word to which it is attached.
al-ḥurūf al-abjadīyah اﻻﺑﺠﺪﻳﺔ اﻟﺤﺮوف
Abū al-Layth al-Samarqandī اﻟﺴﻤﺮﻗﻨﺪى اﻟﻠﻴﺚ اﺑﻮ
Orthography of Arabic in Romanization
18. Capitalization:
(a) Rules for the capitalization of English are followed, except that the definite article al is
given in lower case in all positions.
(b) Diacritics are used with both upper and lower case letters.
al-Ījī اﻻﻳﺠﻰ
al-Ālūsī اﻵﻟﻮﺳﻰ
19. The macron or the acute accent, as appropriate, is used to indicate all long vowels,
including those which in Arabic script are written defectively. The macron or the acute
accent, as the case may be, is retained over final long vowels which are shortened in
pronunciation before hamzat al-waṣl.
اﺑﺮاﻫﻴﻢ ، اﺑﺮﻫﻴﻢ Ibrāhīm
داؤود ، داؤد Dā’ūd
Abū al-Ḥasan اﻟﺤﺴﻦ اﺑﻮ
ru’ūs رؤس
ذﻟﻚ dhālika
‘alá al-‘ayn اﻟﻌﻴﻦ ﻋﻠﻰ
20. The hyphen is used:
(a) To connect the definite article al with the word to which it is attached. See rule 17(a).
(b) Between an inseparable prefix and what follows. See rules 16(b) and 17(b) above. (c) Between bin and the following element in personal names when they are written in
Arabic as a single word. See rule 25.
21. The prime ( ʹ ) is used:
(a) To separate two letters representing two distinct consonantal sounds, when the
combination might otherwise be read as a digraph.
Adʹham ادﻫﻢ
akramatʹhā اﻛﺮﻣﺘﻬﺎ
(b) To mark the use of a letter in its final form when it occurs in the middle of a word.
Qal‘ahʹjī ﻗﻠﻌﺔﺟﻰ
ﺷﻴﺦ زاده Shaykhʹzādah
22. As in the case of romanization from other languages, foreign words which occur in an
Arabic context and are written in Arabic letters are romanized according to the rules for
romanizing Arabic.
Jārmānūs (not Germanos nor Germanus) ﺟﺎرﻣﺎﻧﻮس
Lūrd Ghrānfīl (not Lord Granville) ﻏﺮاﻧﻔﻴﻞ ﻟﻮرد
Īsāghūjī (not Isagoge) اﻳﺴﺎﻏﻮﺟﻰ
For short vowels not indicated in the Arabic, the Arabic vowel nearest to the original
pronunciation is supplied.
Gharsiyā Khayin (not García Jaén) ﺧﻴﻦ ﻏﺮﺳﻴﺎ
Examples of Irregular Arabic Orthography
23. Note the romanization of ﷲ, alone and in combination.
ﷲ Allāh
billāh
lillāh
ﺑﺴﻢ ﷲ bismillāh
al-Mustanṣir billāh
24. Note the romanization of the following personal names:
ﻃﻪ Ṭāhā
ﻳﺲ ، ﻳﺴﻦ Yāsīn
ﻋﻤﺮو Amr’
ﺑﻬﺠﺖ ، ﺑﻬﺠﺔ Bahjat
25. اﺑﻦ and ﺑﻦ are both romanized ibn in all positions.
Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Rabī‘ اﻟﺮﺑﻴﻊ اﺑﻰ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ اﺣﻤﺪ
ﺷﺮح اﺑﻦ ﻋﻘﻴﻞ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻔﻴﺔ اﺑﻦ ﻣﺎﻟﻚ Sharḥ Ibn ‘Aqīl ‘alá Alfīyat Ibn Mālik Exception is made in the case of modern names, typically North African, in which the
element ﺑﻦ is pronounced bin.
ﺑﻦ ﺧﺪه Bin Khiddah
Bin-‘Abd Allāh ﷲ ﺑﻨﻌﺒﺪ
26. Note the anomalous spelling ﻣﺎﺋﺔ, romanized mi’ah.