Arap alfabesinin tarihi
İslam öncesi Arapça yazıtlar

Arap alfabesiyle kaydedilen ilk metin 512'de yazılmıştır. Suriye'de Zabad'da bulunan Yunanca, Süryanice ve Arapça üç dilli bir ithaftır. Kullanılan Arap alfabesinin versiyonu, 28 ses birimini not etmek için kullanılan, yalnızca 15'i farklı olan yalnızca 21 harf içerir:
Epigrafik Güney Arap alfabelerinden ödünç alınan alfabelerde binlerce Klasik öncesi Arapça yazıt tasdik edilmiştir (ancak, Safaitik ve Hismaik tam olarak Arapça değil, Eski Kuzey Arap lehçeleridir ve yazılı Nabataî bir Aramice lehçesidir):
Safaitik (13.000'den fazla; neredeyse tüm grafitiler)
Orta Arabistan'ın güney kesimlerinde Hismaic
Qaryat Al-Faw'dan MÖ 1. yüzyıla tarihlenen klasik öncesi Arapça yazıtlar
Nebati alfabesiyle yazılmış Aramice Nebati yazıtları
Arap alfabesindeki İslam öncesi Arapça yazıtlar çok azdır ve yalnızca 5 tanesi kesin olarak bilinmektedir. Çoğu harf diğer harflerle aynı şekle sahip olduğundan (yalnızca rasm ile yazılırlar) çoğunlukla nokta kullanmazlar, bu da bazen yorumlanmalarını zorlaştırır.
Aşağıda Arap alfabesinde bulunan yazıtların açıklamaları ve Arap benzeri özelliklerin başlangıcını gösteren Nabatî alfabesinde bulunan yazıtlar bulunmaktadır.
| Name | Whereabouts | Date | Language | Alphabet | Text & notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Al-Hasa | Nejd, Historical Bahrain region | 4th century BC | 3 lines in Hasean | Epigraphic South Arabian alphabets | A large funerary stone is inscribed in the Hasaean dialect using a variety of South Arabian monumental script, with three inscribed lines for the man Matmat, that records both patrilineal and matriarchal descent:  1. "Tombstone and grave of Matmat," 2. "son of Zurubbat, those of 'Ah-" 3. "nas, her of the father of Sa'ad-" 4. "ab.."(Dr. A. Jamme) |
| Qaryat al-Fāw | Wadi ad-Dawasir, Nejd | 1st century BC | 10 lines in Arabic | Epigraphic South Arabian alphabets | A tomb dedicatory and a prayer to Lāh, Kāhil and ʻAṯṯār to protect the tomb: "ʿIgl son of Hafʿam constructed for his brother Rabibil son of Hafʿam the tomb: both for him and for his child and his wife, and his children and their children's children and womenfolk, free members of the folk Ghalwan. And he has placed it under the protection of (the gods) Kahl and Lah and ʿAthtar al-Shariq from anyone strong or weak, and anyone who would attempt to sell or pledge it, for all time without any derogation, so long as the sky produces rain or the earth herbage."(Beeston) |
| Ein Avdat | Negev in Israel | between AD 88 and 150 | 3 lines Aramaic, then 3 lines Arabic | Nabataean with a little letter-joining | A prayer of thanks to the god Obodas for saving someone's life: "For (Obodas -the god-) works without reward or favour, and he, when death tried to claim us, did not let it claim (us), for when a wound (of ours) festered, he did not let us perish." (Bellamy) "فيفعﻞُﻻفِ ًداوﻻاثرافكاﻦ هُنايَبْ ِغنا الموﺖُﻻأبْ ُغاﻪ فكاﻦ هُنا أدادَ ُجرﺢٌﻻيرْ ِد" |
| Umm el-Jimal | northeast of Jordan | roughly end of 3rd century - 5th century | Aramaic-Nabataean, Greek, Latin | Nabataean, much letter-joining | More than 50 fragments discovered: 1. "Zabūd son of Māsik " 2. "[.]aynū daughter of MuΉārib" 3. "Kawza' peace!" (Said and al-Hadad) "([Th]is is the tomb which SHYMW … built … (2) … [for P]N, hisson, through (the help of) the god of their father … (3) … king Rabel, king of the Nabataeans …" (Butts and Hardy) "This is the memorial of Julianos, weighed down by long sleep, for whom his father Agathos built it while shedding a tear beside the boundary of the communal cemetery of the people of Christ, in order that a better people might always sing of him openly, being formerly the beloved faithful [son?] of Agathos the presbyter, aged twelve. In the year 239 [of the era of the Provincia Arabia = 344 AD]." (Trombley) In the 5th century barracks were built. In their southeast tower, which stands to a height of six stories, the names of the archangels—"Michael, Uriel, Gabriel and Raphael"—are inscribed. (Micah Key) |
| Raqush (this is not a place-name) | Mada'in Saleh in Saudi Arabia | 267 | Mixture of Arabic and Aramaic, 1 vertical line in Thamudic | Nabataean, some letter-joining. Has a few diacritic dots. | Last inscription in Nabataean language. Epitaph to one Raqush, including curse against grave-violaters: "This is a grave K b. H has taken care of for his mother, Raqush bint ʿA. She died in al-Hijr in the year 162 in the month of Tammuz. May the Lord of the world curse anyone who desecrates this grave and opens it up, except his offspring! May he [also] curse anyone who buries [someone in the grave] and [then] removes [him] from it! May who buries.... be cursed!"(Healey and Smith) |
| an-Namāra | 100 km SE of Damascus | 328–329 | Arabic | Nabataean, more letter-joining than previous | A long epitaph for the famous Arab poet and war-leader Imru'ul-Qays, describing his war deeds: "This is the funerary monument of Imru' al-Qays, son of 'Amr, king of the Arabs, and (?) his title of honour was Master of Asad and Madhhij. And he subdued the Asadis and they were overwhelmed together with their kings, and he put to flight Madhhij thereafter, and came driving them to the gates of Najran, the city of Shammar, and he subdued Ma'add, and he dealt gently with the nobles of the tribes, and appointed them viceroys, and they became phylarchs for the Romans. And no king has equalled his achievements. Thereafter he died in the year 223 on the 7th day of Kaslul. Oh the good fortune of those who were his friends!" (Bellamy) |
| Jabal Ramm | 50 km east of Aqaba, Jordan | 3rd or likelier late 4th century | 3 lines in Arabic, 1 bent line in Thamudic | Arabic. Has some diacritic dots. | In a temple of Allat. Boast or thanks of an energetic man who made his fortune: "I rose and made all sorts of money, which no world-weary man has [ever] collected. I have collected gold and silver; I announce it to those who are fed up and unwilling." (Bellamy) |
| Sakakah | in Saudi Arabia | undated | Arabic | Arabic, some Nabataean features, & dots | Includes diacritical points associated with Arabic letters ب, ت, and ن [T, B and N]. (Winnett and Reed) |
| Sakakah | in Saudi Arabia | 3rd or 4th century | Arabic | Arabic | "Hama son of Garm" |
| Sakakah | in Saudi Arabia | 4th century | Arabic | Arabic | "B-`-s-w son of `Abd-Imru'-al-Qais son of Mal(i)k" |
| Umm al-Jimāl | northeast of Jordan | 4th or 5th century | Arabic | similar to Arabic | "This [inscription] was set up by colleagues of ʿUlayh son of ʿUbaydah, secretary of the cohort Augusta Secunda Philadelphiana; may he go mad who effaces it." (Bellamy) |
| Zabad | in Syria, south of Aleppo | 512 | Arabic, Greek and Syriac | Arabic | Christian dedicatory. The Arabic says "God's help" & 6 names. "God" is written as  Arapça: الاله, see Allah#Typography: "With the help of God! Sergius, son of Amat Manaf, and Tobi, son of Imru'l-qais and Sergius, son of Sa‘d, and Sitr, and Shouraih." (C. Rabin) |
| Jabal Usays | in Syria | 528 | Arabic | Arabic | Record of a military expedition by Ibrahim ibn Mughirah on behalf of the king al-Harith, presumably Al-Harith ibn Jabalah (Arethas in Greek), king of the Ghassanid vassals of the Byzantines: "This is Ruqaym, son of Mughayr the Awsite. Al-Ḥārith the king, sent me to 'Usays, upon his military posts in the year 423 [528 CE]" |
| Harrān | in Leija district, south of Damascus | 568 | Arabic, Greek | Arabic | Christian dedicatory, in a martyrium. It records Sharahil ibn Zalim building the martyrium a year after the destruction of Khaybar: "[I] Sharaḥīl, son of Talimu built this martyrium in the year 463 after the destruction of Khaybar by a year." |
Nebati yazısı, büyük olasılıkla an-Namāra ve Jabal Ramm yazıtının tarihleri arasında Arapça yazıya dönüştü. Yazıların çoğu, papirüs gibi çabuk bozulan malzemeler üzerine yazılmıştı. El yazısı olduğu için değişme olasılığı vardı. Epigrafik kayıt son derece seyrek, hayatta kalan sadece beş kesinlikle İslam öncesi Arapça yazıt var, ancak bazıları İslam öncesi olabilir.