Abjad

Abjad (أبجد) is the traditional ordering of Arabic alphabet letters, formed from the mnemonic of the first four letters of the Semitic alphabet: Alif, Ba, Jim, Dal. The principle is analogous to 'alphabet' (Alpha-Beta) or Russian 'azbuka' (Az-Buki). In the Hisab al-Jummal system (حساب الجُمَّل, 'counting the sum'), the abjad letter ordering serves as the basis for assigning numerical values: each of the 28 letters corresponds to a number from 1 to 1000.

Two main regional schools exist, differing in the order of numerical correspondences: Mashriqiyya (Eastern, Near Eastern) and Maghribiyya (Western, North African). In the Eastern version, numbers are distributed in the classical Semitic order (alif=1, ba=2, jim=3...), while in the Western version used in Morocco, Algeria, and other Maghreb countries, some letters have different values. This means the same word or name receives different numerical sums depending on the school, and both results are considered legitimate within their traditions.

The practice of Hisab al-Jummal ('counting the sum') is used to calculate the numerical 'weight' of names, words, dates, and prayer formulas. Sufi poets embedded chronograms in their verses — lines whose numerical sum coincided with the date of the described event. In numerological practice, the numerical sum of a name is analyzed for correspondence to the numbers of angels, planets, or Quranic verses. In talismanic art (hijab), numerical squares are constructed based on abjad calculations.

Abjad is comparable to Gematria in the Jewish tradition — both systems assign numerical values to letters of a Semitic alphabet, both were used to search for hidden connections between words with identical numerical sums. Greek Isopsephy solves an analogous task for the Greek alphabet. The common principle: the numerical value of a word or name carries ontological information inaccessible at the level of plain meaning.