The Abjad value of Ayn (ع) is 70, the sixteenth letter of the Abjad. Its name means the eye (and a spring of water), and it opens words of knowledge and worship such as Ilm (knowledge) and Ibada (worship), plus divine names like Al-Alim (the All-Knowing).
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Diacritics | اعراب
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Values are arithmetic only, for study and reference. For full name analysis, open the full Abjad Calculator.
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Ayn is the sixteenth letter of the Abjad, worth 70. Its name means the eye, and also a spring of water, and it opens the great words of seeing and knowing, from Ilm (knowledge) to Ibada (worship).
What Is the Arabic Letter Ayn (ع)?
Ayn is the sixteenth letter in the Abjad order and a moon letter. It is a deep, voiced sound made in the throat that has no close equal in English, and it connects on both sides.
Ayn forms a pair with غ (Ghayn): the two share the same shape, and a single dot above turns Ayn (70) into Ghayn (1000). Ayn itself carries no dot.
- Abjad Position: 16th, value 70
- Modern Alphabet Position: 18th
- Type: a moon letter (huruf qamariyya)
- Origin: the Phoenician Ayin, meaning “eye”, ancestor of Hebrew Ayin and Greek Omicron
- Dots: none
- Joining: connects on both sides, with four forms
- Opens: Ilm (knowledge), Ibada (worship), Abd (servant), Adl (justice)
What Is the Abjad Value of Ayn?
In the Abjad system the value of Ayn is 70. It follows Seen (60) and keeps its value in any position.
Ayn is 70 in both the Mashriqi and Maghribi systems. See the Abjad Calculation Rules, or total any name in the Abjad Calculator.
| System | Ayn value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Mashriqi (Eastern / Standard) | 70 | Used across the Arab world and South Asia |
| Maghribi (Western) | 70 | Used in North Africa; unchanged for Ayn |
Ayn: The Eye and Knowledge
The name Ayn means the eye, and by extension a spring of water and the very source of a thing. The letter opens علم (ilm, knowledge), عبادة (ibada, worship), عبد (abd, servant), and عدل (adl, justice). These are matters of vocabulary, not of the number 70.
It also begins the divine names of knowing and might, such as العليم (Al-Alim) and العزيز (Al-Aziz).
Names of Allah That Begin With Ayn
| Name | Meaning | Abjad value |
|---|---|---|
| العليم | Al-Alim, the All-Knowing | 181 |
| العزيز | Al-Aziz, the Almighty | 125 |
| العلي | Al-Ali, the Most High | 141 |
For the complete list, see the 99 Names of Allah.
Words of Seeing and Knowing
| Word | Meaning | Abjad value |
|---|---|---|
| علم | Ilm, knowledge | 140 |
| عبادة | Ibada, worship | 82 |
| عبد | Abd, servant | 76 |
| عدل | Adl, justice | 104 |
Names That Contain Ayn
Ayn stands at the head of many of the most famous names in Islam. The totals below are plain letter sums, shown for study only.
Prophets and Companions
| Name | Who they were | Abjad value |
|---|---|---|
| عيسى | Isa (Jesus), a prophet | 150 |
| عمر | Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph | 310 |
| علي | Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph | 110 |
| عثمان | Uthman ibn Affan, the third caliph | 661 |
Other Names
| Name | Meaning | Abjad value |
|---|---|---|
| عائشة | Aisha, a wife of the Prophet | 386 |
| عزيز | Aziz, “dear, mighty” | 94 |
Everyday Words That Contain Ayn
Ayn appears throughout everyday Arabic. Here are a few familiar words.
| Word | Meaning | Abjad value |
|---|---|---|
| عين | Eye, spring (ayn) | 130 |
| علم | Knowledge (ilm) | 140 |
| سعد | Good fortune (saad) | 134 |
How to Write Ayn (ع)
Ayn connects on both sides and has four shapes that look quite different from one another. It opens with a small hook at the start, closes into a loop in the middle, and drops into a deep bowl when isolated or final.
| Position | Form | Example | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isolated | ع | ربع | Rub (quarter) |
| Initial | عـ | علم | Ilm (knowledge) |
| Medial | ـعـ | سعد | Saad |
| Final | ـع | طلع | Tala (rose) |
Ayn and Ghayn
Ayn and غ (Ghayn) are a matched pair. A single dot above turns Ayn (70) into Ghayn (1000), one of the largest value changes a single dot makes in the whole Abjad.
اردو میں حرف ع (ع)
حرف ع ابجد کا سولہواں حرف ہے اور اس کا عدد (adad) 70 ہے۔ یہ ایک قمری حرف ہے اور اس کے نام کا مطلب “آنکھ” اور “چشمہ” ہے۔
یہ حرف علم (knowledge)، عبادت اور عدل جیسے الفاظ کی بنیاد ہے، اور اسمِ العليم اور العزيز بھی اسی سے شروع ہوتے ہیں۔
یہ عدد صرف حساب اور مطالعے کے لیے ہے۔ کسی مذہبی فیصلے کے لیے مستند عالم سے رجوع کریں۔
Ayn Across Ancient Alphabets
Ayn carries the value of the seventeenth position in the older counting alphabets. It descends from the Phoenician Ayin, meaning “eye,” which gave 70 to Hebrew Ayin and Greek Omicron.
| Tradition | Letter | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic Abjad | ع | 70 | Ayn, the sixteenth letter |
| Hebrew Gematria | ע | 70 | Ayin, also “eye” and also 70 |
| Phoenician | 𐤏 | n/a | Ayin, the original “eye” symbol |
| Greek | Ο (Omicron) | 70 | Greek Omicron is also 70 |
Frequently Asked Questions
The letter Ayn (ع) has an Abjad value of 70 in both the Mashriqi and Maghribi systems. It is the sixteenth letter in the Abjad order.
The name Ayn means the eye, and also a spring of water and the source of a thing, which is why it is linked to seeing and to origins.
Ayn (ع) has no dot and is worth 70. Adding one dot above makes Ghayn (غ), worth 1000. The shape is shared; only the dot and value differ.
Ayn is a moon letter, so the lam of the article al- is pronounced clearly before it, as in al-ilm.
The word Ilm (علم), meaning knowledge, has an Abjad value of 140: Ayn 70, Lam 30, Meem 40.
Al-Alim (the All-Knowing), Al-Aziz (the Almighty), and Al-Ali (the Most High) all begin with Ayn.
Isa, Umar, Ali, and Uthman all begin with Ayn. You can total each in the calculator on this page.
No. It is a fixed number used to add letters, with no predictive or hidden meaning.
✓ Key Takeaways
- Ayn (ع) has an Abjad value of 70, the sixteenth value in the table
- It is a moon letter with no dots and four forms
- Its name means the eye and a spring of water
- Ayn pairs with Ghayn (غ); one dot changes 70 into 1000
- It opens words of knowledge and worship: Ilm, Ibada, Abd, Adl
- It begins the divine names Al-Alim, Al-Aziz, Al-Ali
- Ayn, Hebrew Ayin, and Greek Omicron all descend from “eye” and all equal 70
Sources & Further Reading
- Encyclopaedia Iranica: Abjad for the letter order and traditional values.
- Unicode Arabic Block (U+0600) for the letter and its code point (U+0639).
- Eastern vs. Maghribi Abjad for how the Mashriqi and Maghribi systems compare.