عʿayn
How it is made
phoneticsmiddle of the throat; voiced, between stop and continuant.
In brief, from the lines below. English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic AI
Sībawayh · al-Kitāb (d. c. 180/796)
ومن أوسط الحلق مخرج العين والحاء
From the middle of the throat is the place of the ʿayn and the ḥāʾ. lines 26548–26549 ↗
وأما العين فبين الرخوة والشديدة، تصل إلى الترديد فيها لشبهها بالحاء
As for the ʿayn, it is between the continuant and the stop: you can come to repeat it, because it resembles the ḥāʾ. line 26586 ↗
Ibn Jinnī · Sirr ṣināʿat al-iʿrāb (d. 392/1002)
ومن وسط الحلق مخرج العين والحاء
From the middle of the throat is the place of the ʿayn and the ḥāʾ. line 970 ↗
On the texts (our observation): Both put the ʿayn between stop and continuant. Ibn Jinnī makes this a class of eight letters (L1206–1209); Sībawayh names it for the ʿayn alone and gives the lām, nūn, mīm, rāʾ, wāw and yāʾ descriptions of their own.
Reference
Ibn Jinnī’s chapter on the ʿaynits opening
العين حرف مجهور، يكون أصلا وبدلا
The ʿayn is a voiced letter; it is a radical and a substitute. line 3319 ↗
The chapter begins at line 3318 ↗; the rest of it is on the letter's substitutions, assimilation and uses.
In the Breath of the All-MercifulIbn ʿArabī · metaphysics
Level of existence: الطبيعة · Nature
Divine Name: الباطن · The Inward (al-Bāṭin)
Lunar mansion: الثريا · al-Thurayyā (the Pleiades)
الفصل الثالث عشر في الاسم الألهي الباطن وتوجهه على خلق الطبيعة وما تعطيه من أنفاس العالم وحصرها في أربع حقائق وأفتراقها وأجتماعها وتوجهها على إيجاد العين المهملة من الحروف وإيجاد الثريا من المنازل المقدرة
Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 63825Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 9 line 2572 ↗
Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac
With fatḥa ـَ
فهي اسم لقدوم أو رحيل.
It is a name for arrival or departure. AI
al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-LamaṭīWith ḍamma ـُ
فهي اسم للساكن في الذات التي تقوم به.
It is a name for that which dwells in the self and by which the self subsists. AI
al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-LamaṭīWith kasra ـِ
فهي اسم لخبث الذات.
It is a name for the foulness of the self. AI
al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-LamaṭīFurther
هذا هو الذي سمعته منه رضي الله عنه، والذي في خطه رضي الله عنه: العين بالفتح إشارة إلى ما هو قابل، وبالضم إشارة إلى الشيء الذي ينفع ويضر على حسب الإرادة، وبالكسر خبث العبودية اهـ. وهو قريب من الأول، لأن الذي هو قابل فيه قدوم، والساكن في الذات التي تقوم به مثل الروح والحفظة ينفع ويضر بإذن الله تعالى، وخبث العبودية هو خبث الذات وظلامها.
This is what I heard from him. What is in his handwriting is: ʿayn with fatḥa indicates what is receptive/forthcoming; with ḍamma, the thing that benefits and harms according to will; with kasra, the foulness of servanthood. [End.] This is close to the first version: what is receptive/forthcoming involves arrival; that which dwells in the self and by which it subsists, such as the spirit and the guardian angels, benefits and harms by God's permission; and the foulness of servanthood is the foulness and darkness of the self. AI
al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-LamaṭīSībawayh (d. c. 180/796), al-Kitāb, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām Hārūn (Cairo: al-Khānjī), vol. 4, pp. 431–436. Digital text: 0180Sibawayhi.KitabSibawayhi.Shamela0023018-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.
Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), Sirr ṣināʿat al-iʿrāb, Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya (as recorded by OpenITI), vol. 1. Digital text: 0392IbnJinniMawsili.SirrSinacatIcrab.Shamela0012017-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.