Nesbat (Arabic)

Adding a nesbat ( _ar. نسبة "nisbah" "relation") is the practice of adding a word at the end of a person's name as a specifier [http://articles.syl.com/thenamesarabicacceptandreject.html] .

Original Use

Nisba in Arabic means to relate someone or something to another thing or person. This is done by adding a suffix (i for male, iyya for female) to the end of the word. The suffix "i" was taken from the Persian language. As an example, the word "Arabi" (عربي) means an Arab or Arabian; it relates a person (the Arab) or a thing (Arabic thing) to a culture (Arabic culture).

In this sense it is not necessarily part of the name of the person neither does it necessarily have to be permanent.

Use in Names

Arabic names do not include family names or surnames, but rather patronymics ("nasab"), where the name of the person is followed by the name of his father, usually linked by "ibn" or "bin" ('son'). Patronymics may be long as they may include all known forefathers. When a name is simplified to one or two ancestors, it may become confused with other persons' names, so an additional specifier, a "nisbat", may be added as an attribute.

A nisba is usually prefixed by "al" ('the') and may be to almost anything:

Nisba to a Place

*Al Baghdadi, related to the city of Baghdad. ex. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Junayd al-Baghdadi.
*Al Masri, related to Egypt. ex. Taher al-Masri, Abu Hamza al-Masri.
*Al Hijazi, related to the region of Hijaz in Saudi Arabia. ex. Amal Hijazi, Farouk Hijazi.

Nisba to a Tribe of Clan

*Al Tamimi, from the tribe or clan of Bani Tamim. ex. Modher Sadeq-Saba al-Tamimi, Talib al-Suhail al-Tamimi, Alaa al-Tamimi, Azzam Tamimi.
*Al Qurashi, from the tribe or clan of Quraish. ex. ibn Kathir Al-Qurashi, Abû 'Uthmân Sa'îd ibn Hakam al Qurashi.
*Al Ta'i, from the tribe of Tai'. ex. Hatem at-Ta'i.

Nisba to a Person

*Al Maliki, related to Malik ibn Anas. ex. Nouri al-Maliki.
*Al Farouqi, related to Farouq. ex. Ismail al-Faruqi.

Multiple Nisba

One can have more than one nisba, one can be related to a city, a clan, a profession and a person at the same time. Examples include:
* Ali ibn Abi-Hazm al-Qarshi al-Dimashqi, from the tribe of Quraish and from Damascus (Dimashq).
* Abd al-Qahir ibn Tahir al-Tamimi al-Shaffi al-Baghdadi, from the tribe of Bani Tamim, from the city of Baghdad and a follower of Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i.

The nisba is optional but is quite widespread.

Uses within Other Cultures

These additions have migrated to Iranian names, but since Iranians use family names, this additions have sometimes "become" family names

List

*Ansari — from Ansar, Medina people who helped prophet Muhammad
*Tabataba'i — someone who has two Seyyed as parents
*Bukhari — someone born in Bukhara
*Thalabi (nesbat)

ee also

*Kunya (Arabic)

References