When White Meant Black
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Was this the beginning of White propaganda? White as good, pure and black the opposite? Taken from savethetruearabs.com...the meaning of White.
http://www.savethetruearabs.com/gpage2.html
There are many terms that describe complexions in the Arabic language that have different meanings from the same term today or that are no longer used. This is why many people who read descriptions using these terms don't understand the true meaning of the descriptions.
White أبيض
One of these misunderstood terms is the term "white" ابيض . Most people think that when the Arabs of the past described a person's complexion as "white", they meant the same light complexion that is meant today. This isn't true at all. When the Arabs described a person as "white", they actually meant a dark complexion. Ibn Mandour, the well-known Arab linguist who was born in the 13th century AD and the author of the famous book on the Arabic language Lisan Al Arab, quotes from another famous book on the Arabic language called Al Tahdheeb the following:
"When the Arabs say that a person is white, they mean that he has a pure, clean, faultless integrity...They don't mean that he has white skin, but they mean to speak well of his honor and the purity of his integrity. When they say that a person has a white face, they mean that his complexion is free from blotches and a blackness that is unattractive".
The author of Al Tahdheeb is Mas'ud ibn Umar Sa'ad Al Deen Al Taftaazaani, the well-known Arab linguist who lived during the same time as Ibn Mandour.
http://www.savethetruearabs.com/gpage2.html
There are many terms that describe complexions in the Arabic language that have different meanings from the same term today or that are no longer used. This is why many people who read descriptions using these terms don't understand the true meaning of the descriptions.
White أبيض
One of these misunderstood terms is the term "white" ابيض . Most people think that when the Arabs of the past described a person's complexion as "white", they meant the same light complexion that is meant today. This isn't true at all. When the Arabs described a person as "white", they actually meant a dark complexion. Ibn Mandour, the well-known Arab linguist who was born in the 13th century AD and the author of the famous book on the Arabic language Lisan Al Arab, quotes from another famous book on the Arabic language called Al Tahdheeb the following:
"When the Arabs say that a person is white, they mean that he has a pure, clean, faultless integrity...They don't mean that he has white skin, but they mean to speak well of his honor and the purity of his integrity. When they say that a person has a white face, they mean that his complexion is free from blotches and a blackness that is unattractive".
The author of Al Tahdheeb is Mas'ud ibn Umar Sa'ad Al Deen Al Taftaazaani, the well-known Arab linguist who lived during the same time as Ibn Mandour.