The Abjad value of Lam (ل) is 30, the twelfth letter of the Abjad. Lam is the letter of the definite article al- and appears twice in the name Allah (الله). It opens words such as Layl (night) and Lisan (tongue).
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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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Lam is the twelfth letter of the Abjad, worth 30. It is the letter of the little word al-, “the”, and it stands twice in the very name of God, Allah.
What Is the Arabic Letter Lam (ل)?
Lam is the twelfth letter in the Abjad order and a sun letter. It is a tall upright stroke that curves into a hook at the base, and it connects on both sides.
Lam joins with a following Alif into the special ligature لا (lam-alif), one of the first shapes learners are taught. It stands for the sound “l”.
- Abjad Position: 12th, value 30
- Modern Alphabet Position: 23rd
- Type: a sun letter (huruf shamsiyya)
- Origin: the Phoenician Lamed, meaning “goad”, ancestor of Hebrew Lamed and Greek Lambda
- Dots: none
- Joining: connects on both sides, with four forms
- Appears in: the article al-, the name Allah (twice), Layl (night), Lisan (tongue)
What Is the Abjad Value of Lam?
In the Abjad system the value of Lam is 30. It follows Kaf (20) and keeps its value in any position.
Lam is 30 in both the Mashriqi and Maghribi systems. See the Abjad Calculation Rules, or total any word in the Abjad Calculator.
| System | Lam value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Mashriqi (Eastern / Standard) | 30 | Used across the Arab world and South Asia |
| Maghribi (Western) | 30 | Used in North Africa; unchanged for Lam |
Lam: The Article and the Name of God
Lam is the second letter of the definite article ال (al-, “the”), which attaches to almost every noun. It also appears twice in the name الله (Allah, value 66), giving that word much of its weight. These are facts of spelling, not of the number 30.
As an ordinary letter it opens ليل (layl, night), لسان (lisan, tongue), and لطف (lutf, kindness).
Words That Feature Lam
| Word | Meaning | Abjad value |
|---|---|---|
| ليل | Layl, night | 70 |
| لسان | Lisan, tongue | 141 |
| لطف | Lutf, gentleness / kindness | 119 |
Names That Contain Lam
Lam sits inside a great many names. The totals below are plain letter sums, shown for study only.
Well-Known Names
| Name | Meaning | Abjad value |
|---|---|---|
| لقمان | Luqman, the wise man of the Quran | 221 |
| ليلى | Layla, “night” | 80 |
| لؤي | Luayy, an ancestor of the Prophet | 46 |
Everyday Words That Contain Lam
Lam is one of the most common letters in Arabic, above all in the article al-. Here are a few examples.
| Word | Meaning | Abjad value |
|---|---|---|
| قلب | Heart (qalb) | 132 |
| علم | Knowledge (ilm) | 140 |
| ملك | King (malik) | 90 |
How to Write Lam (ل)
Lam connects on both sides and has four shapes. It is a tall stroke like Alif, but unlike Alif it joins to the letter after it, and it curves into a hook along the line in its isolated and final forms.
| Position | Form | Example | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isolated | ل | عقل | Aql (mind) |
| Initial | لـ | لسان | Lisan (tongue) |
| Medial | ـلـ | علم | Ilm (knowledge) |
| Final | ـل | قبل | Qabl (before) |
The Lam-Alif Ligature
When Lam is followed by Alif the two are written as a single joined shape, لا (lam-alif). It is counted as its two letters, Lam 30 plus Alif 1, and appears in the word لا (la, “no”).
اردو میں حرف ل (ل)
حرف ل ابجد کا بارہواں حرف ہے اور اس کا عدد (adad) 30 ہے۔ یہ ایک شمسی حرف ہے۔
یہ حرفِ تعریف ال (al-, “the”) کا حصہ ہے اور لفظِ الله میں دو بار آتا ہے۔ یہ لیل (رات) اور لسان (زبان) جیسے الفاظ کی بنیاد بھی ہے۔
یہ عدد صرف حساب اور مطالعے کے لیے ہے۔ کسی مذہبی فیصلے کے لیے مستند عالم سے رجوع کریں۔
Lam Across Ancient Alphabets
Lam carries the value of the twelfth letter in the older alphabets. It descends from the Phoenician Lamed, meaning “goad,” which gave 30 to Hebrew Lamed and Greek Lambda.
| Tradition | Letter | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic Abjad | ل | 30 | Lam, the twelfth letter |
| Hebrew Gematria | ל | 30 | Lamed, also the twelfth and also 30 |
| Phoenician | 𐤋 | n/a | Lamed, the original “goad” symbol |
| Greek | Λ (Lambda) | 30 | Greek Lambda is also 30 |
Frequently Asked Questions
The letter Lam (ل) has an Abjad value of 30 in both the Mashriqi and Maghribi systems. It is the twelfth letter in the Abjad order.
The name Allah (الله) is spelled Alif, Lam, Lam, Ha, so two lams stand at its heart. Together with the other letters they give the word its Abjad value of 66.
When Lam is followed by Alif the pair is written as one joined shape, لا. It is still counted as Lam 30 plus Alif 1, and it forms the word la, “no”.
Lam is a sun letter, so when it carries the article, as in al-layl, the lam of al- assimilates into the following sun letter in pronunciation.
Both are tall upright strokes, but Alif does not join to the letter after it, while Lam connects on both sides and curves into a hook at its base.
The word Layl (ليل), meaning night, has an Abjad value of 70: Lam 30, Ya 10, Lam 30.
Luqman, Layla, and Luayy all contain Lam, and it also runs through countless names carrying the article al-. You can total each in the calculator on this page.
No. It is a fixed number used to add letters and makes no claim about the future.
✓ Key Takeaways
- Lam (ل) has an Abjad value of 30, the twelfth value in the table
- It is a sun letter with no dots and four forms
- Lam is the letter of the article al- and appears twice in Allah (الله)
- With a following Alif it forms the lam-alif ligature (لا, “no”)
- It opens words such as Layl, Lisan, Lutf
- Lam, Hebrew Lamed, and Greek Lambda all descend from “goad” and all equal 30
- The value is plain arithmetic, for study and reference only
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+0644).
- Eastern vs. Maghribi Abjad for how the Mashriqi and Maghribi systems compare.