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The question

How are we to understand that the Quran is in a clear Arabic tongue, yet it contains numerous foreign words such as (Illiyyun, Sijjin, Marqoom, Araa’ik, Tasneem) taken from Hebrew and Persian, as mentioned by Al-Suyuti in "Al-Itqan"?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

Scholars unanimously agree that there is no speech composed of foreign words in the Holy Quran, but that there are foreign proper nouns in it. Scholars differed on the existence of single foreign words. The majority of scholars, including Al-Shafi'i and Al-Tabari, maintained that there are none, citing verses from the Quran that describe it as a "clear Arabic tongue." Others, including Ibn Atiyah and Al-Suyuti, held that there are some foreign words. A third group took an intermediate position, stating that these words are common to both Arabs and non-Arabs, or that Arabs used and arabicized them.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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