Discover the meaning of the term Al-adb (أدب) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 4 min readIt denotes the knowledge of that by which one guards against all kinds of error.
(Observing the limit of every thing); its plural is adab (adaab). The one who is cultured (mu'addab) is he who combines the prophetic Sharia and good morals. Thus said the gnostic Jalal al-Rumi, may Allah have mercy on him, in the Masnavi.
The verbal noun of addaba with the dal unvowelled and with the dal vowelled u. In language: when one becomes adib (cultured) in character or in knowledge; 'addaba adaban': he trained his soul toward excellent qualities. The original meaning of the word 'adab' in language is 'gathering'; hence adab in the sense of good manners and fine bearing in conduct. It was named adab because it educes people (yuadibu), that is, gathers them upon praiseworthy qualities; its plural is adaab. Whoever is mu'addab (well-bred) is one who combines the prophetic Sharia and good morals. Al-adab is: being formed by beautiful morals and commendable traits in one's dealings with people. The adab of the judge: binding himself to what the Sharia enjoins: spreading justice, lifting oppression, forsaking partiality, preserving the limits of the Sharia, and treading the ways of the Sunna or the commendable traits that are recommended and called to.
'Adaba': he gave a banquet, and he is 'idb' (host). 'Adaba al-qawm': he invited the people to his banquet. 'Adaba fulanan': he trained him in fine morals and customs. 'Adaba', and he is 'adib': when he became cultured in character or knowledge. 'Adaba fulanan': he trained him in the beauties of morals. 'Adaba': he instructed him in the arts of adab. 'Adaba': he punished him for his misdeed. Al-idba: the banquet.
Originally: the invitation. (Plural): adaab. : The training of the soul through teaching and formation in what is fitting. : The employment of what is praised in word and deed. : The taking on of noble morals. : The sum of what practitioners of a craft or art must hold to, such as the adab of the writer. : The beautiful in verse and prose. : Among the Hanafis: the knowledge of that by which one guards against all kinds of error. : Among the Shafi'is: it is what is sought, whether recommended or obligatory. Adab al-bahth (the discipline of investigation): a theoretical craft from which a man learns how to debate and its conditions, preserving him from stumbling in inquiry, and binding the opponent and silencing him.
The holding fast to what must be preserved in a thing, for the purpose of undertaking it and entering upon it.
The training of the soul and beautiful morals; it applies to every praiseworthy discipline by which a man advances in some virtue among the virtues.
Al-Sayyid said: 'Adab denotes the knowledge of that by which one guards against all kinds of error.'