Abjad Calculator
The abjad numerals give each Arabic letter a value from 1 to 1000. Type or paste Arabic, Persian or Urdu text; short vowels and other marks are ignored.
- ب2
- س60
- م40
- ا1
- ل30
- ل30
- ه5
- ا1
- ل30
- ر200
- ح8
- م40
- ن50
- ا1
- ل30
- ر200
- ح8
- ي10
- م40
The abjad order
The values follow the old Semitic letter order, not the modern Arabic dictionary order. The order is remembered through nonsense words: abjad, hawwaz, ḥuṭṭī, kalaman, saʿf aṣ, qarashat, thakhadh, ḍaẓagh. The first 22 letters match the Hebrew and Aramaic order and values. The six letters that Arabic added come last, with values from 500 to 1000.
| Letter | Name | Mashriqi | Maghribi |
|---|---|---|---|
| ا | alif | 1 | 1 |
| ب | bā | 2 | 2 |
| ج | jīm | 3 | 3 |
| د | dāl | 4 | 4 |
| ه | hā | 5 | 5 |
| و | wāw | 6 | 6 |
| ز | zāy | 7 | 7 |
| ح | ḥā | 8 | 8 |
| ط | ṭā | 9 | 9 |
| ي | yā | 10 | 10 |
| ك | kāf | 20 | 20 |
| ل | lām | 30 | 30 |
| م | mīm | 40 | 40 |
| ن | nūn | 50 | 50 |
| س | sīn | 60 | 300 |
| ع | ʿayn | 70 | 70 |
| ف | fā | 80 | 80 |
| ص | ṣād | 90 | 60 |
| ق | qāf | 100 | 100 |
| ر | rā | 200 | 200 |
| ش | shīn | 300 | 1000 |
| ت | tā | 400 | 400 |
| ث | thā | 500 | 500 |
| خ | khā | 600 | 600 |
| ذ | dhāl | 700 | 700 |
| ض | ḍād | 800 | 90 |
| ظ | ẓā | 900 | 800 |
| غ | ghayn | 1000 | 900 |
The highlighted rows are the six letters (ص ض س ظ غ ش) whose values differ in the western (Maghribi) tradition of North Africa and al-Andalus. Choose the system under Abjad options.
How the calculator counts
- Harakat (short vowels), shadda, sukun, tanwin, the dagger alif and Qur’anic marks are ignored.
- Alif with hamza (أ إ آ) and alif wasla (ٱ) count as alif, 1. A standalone hamza (ء) counts 1.
- Tāʾ marbūṭa (ة) counts as hāʾ (5) by default. Some count it as tāʾ (400); you can switch.
- Alif maqsūra (ى) counts as yāʾ, 10.
- Persian and Urdu letters count as the letter they are built on: پ as ب, چ as ج, ژ as ز, گ and ک as ك, ی and ے as ي, ہ and ھ as ه.
Worked example
The opening phrase of the Qur’an, بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم, totals 786: بسم 102 + الله 66 + الرحمن 329 + الرحيم 289. In South Asia the number 786 is widely written as a stand-in for the phrase.
Chronograms
Persian, Ottoman and Urdu poets often composed a line whose abjad total gives the year of an event, such as a building’s completion or a death. This practice is called tarīkh. To check one, paste the line and read the total as a year of the Hijri calendar.