Alaya

Meaning of Alaya

Alaya is an indirect Quranic name for boys and girls that means “greatness”, “highness”, “sublimity”, derived from the ʿ-L-W (ع ل و) root which is used very often in the Quran (see the various Quranic examples below), and which connotes the meanings of:

• Elevation, rising, superiority, and transcendence
• Superiority, dominance, and overcoming
• Prominence and notability

Alaya is a modern reformulation of the classical Arabic word ʿalāyah (علاية), with the final short “uh” sound changed to a long “aa” sound (ʿalāyā), which is commonly done by Arabs when they use a word as a name.

According to the 10th century scholar Al-Ṣāḥib bin ʿAbbād, one of the main authorities on the Arabic language,

العَلاَيَةُ: كُلُّ مَوْضِعٍ مُرْتَفِعٍ.

And ʿalāyah (=Alaya) refers to any high location.¹

Arabic linguists had difficulty with the word ʿalāyah (= Alaya) because it is not derived according to the usual rules of Arabic. The 11th century scholar Ibn Sīda al-Mursī says:

Al-ʿAlāyah: [The name of] a place. Abū Dhuʾayb [Abū Dhuʾayb al-Hudhalī, a pre-Islamic Arab poet, his poetry is considered a primary source for classical Arabic language] said [in his poetry]:

“So, what does the mother of a fawn in Al-ʿAlāyah, solitary,
Touch the barīr [a type of tree/fruit] wherever its reach extends?”

Ibn Jinnī [Abū l-Fatḥ ʿUthmān ibn Jinnī (c. 932–1002 CE), a highly influential Arabic linguist, grammarian, and phonologist of Greek descent] said: The yāʾ (ي) in Al-ʿAlāyah is a substitute for a wāw (و). This is because we do not know any word in the language from the rootʿ-l-y (ع ل ي); rather, [all the words we know] are from ʿ-l-w (ع ل و). So, it was originally perhaps ʿalāwah (عَلاوَة), but it was changed to yāʾ because it is a proper noun (a place name). Proper nouns are frequently subject to change and variation, like Mawhab, Ḥaywah, and Muḥabbab. They have also said al-shikāyah (الشّكاية – complaint), which is analogous to Al-ʿAlāyah, except that this is not a proper noun.²

The 18th century Indian scholar Murtaḍa al-Zabīdī says in his Tāj al-ʿArūs:

العَلايَةُ: كلُّ موضِعٍ مُرْتَفِع رُئي فِيهِ مَعْنى الْعُلُوّ

Al-ʿAlāyah (= Alaya): any high place, the meaning of highness/loftiness is seen in it [or “any high place that suggests the meaning of highness/loftiness.”]³

He also says:

والعَلاَيَةُ: بَلَدٌ بالرُّومِ، مِنْهَا الصّلاحُ خليلُ بنُ كيكلدى

And al-ʿAlāyah is [also] a town in Byzantium, al-Ṣalāḥ Khalīl b. al-Kaykaldī comes from there (a renowned Mamluk-era Islamic scholar, hadith scholar (muhaddith), jurist (faqīh), grammarian (nahwī), and historian⁴).

The 19th century Lane’s Lexicon (the most respected English-language dictionary of Arabic) says:

عَلَايَةٌ (ʿAlāyah / Alaya) signifies any high, or lofty, place; and any high thing. [And also] the head of a mountain: or the head of any high, or overtopping, mountain. [for this information he cites the 15th century al-Qāmūs al-Muḥīṭ of Fīrūzābādī and the aforementioned Tāj al-ʿArūs]. ⁵

Quranic Verse Examples for the ʿ-L-W Root:

Ayat al-Kursi:

“اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۗ مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ”

Allah – there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursi (Throne) extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High (Al-ʿAlī), the Most Great (Al-ʿAẓīm). (Quran 2:255)

سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ

Glorified and Exalted is He (taʿālā) above what they associate [with Him]. (Quran 23:92)

أَلَّا تَعْلُوا عَلَيَّ وَأْتُونِي مُسْلِمِينَ

[Prophet Sulaymān speaking:] That you do not exalt yourselves over me (taʿlū ʿalayya) but come to me in submission. (Quran 27:31)

1. Al-Ṣāḥib bin ʿAbbād, Al-Muḥīṭ fī l-Lugha , entry for: علو.
2. Ibn Sīda al-Mursī, Al-Muḥkam wa-l-Muḥīṭ al-Aʿẓam , entry for: علو.
3. Murtaḍa al-Zabīdī, Tāj al-ʿArūs fī Jawāhir al-Qamūs , entry for: علو.
4. He was known for his vast knowledge and sharp intellect. Scholars of his time, like Al-Safadi and Al-Subki, praised him, describing him as a “wonder in his immense sciences” and a “trustworthy حافظ (memorizer of Hadith), knowledgeable of the names of narrators, their defects, and texts.” He died in 1359 CE.
5. Arabic-English Lexicon by Edward William Lane , entry for: علو.