![]() ![]() In this phrase, the verb ‘مات’ (‘ maat’ i.e. all directly or indirectly through the Arabic phrase ‘ ash-shah maat’. In Spanish, it’s ‘ el mate’ (from ‘ jaque mate’) originally also from the Arabic, just like German ‘ schachmatt’, Italian ‘ scacco matto’, Portuguese ‘ xeque-mate’, Dutch ‘ schaakmat’, Russian ‘ шах и мат’, Polish ‘ szach-mat’, Ukrainian ‘ мат’, Hungarian ‘ sakk-matt’, Greek ‘ ματ’, Norwegian ‘ sjakkmatt’, Swedish ‘ schackmatt’, Czech ‘ šachmat’, Finnish ‘ shakkimatti’, Danish ‘ skakmat’, Croatian ‘ šah-mat’, Serbian ‘ шах мат’, Icelandic ‘ mát’, Basque ‘ xake matea’, Catalan ‘ escac i mat’, Welsh ‘ siachmat’, Latvian ‘ šahs un mats’, Belarussian ‘ мат’, Lithuanian ‘ šachmatas’, Bosnian ‘ šah mat’, Macedonian ‘ шах-мат’, Luxembourgish ‘ schachmatt’, etc. Old French ‘ eschec mat’ became modern French ‘ échec et mat’ (literally ‘check and mate’ which is how it is sometimes also said in English). Regional variations of the Arabic phrase ‘ ash-shah maat’ can be found in pretty much all of Europe’s languages. Literally, it means ‘your checkmate will come’ (i.e. It’s still commonly used in the Urdu phrase ‘تیری شامت آئے گی’ (‘ teri shaamat ayegi’) which basically means something like ‘your time will come’ or ‘you will be destroyed’. Urdu speakers might also be familiar with the word ‘شامت’ (‘ shaamat’) which originally meant ‘checkmate’. And ‘ eschec mat’ came from the Arabic ‘الشاه مات’ (‘ ash-shah maat’ i.e. ‘Checkmate’ came into English from the Old French ‘ eschec mat’ at some point in the middle of the 14th century. This cry of victory announces the death of the defeated enemy king and marks the end of the game.Ĭall it a cruel irony of time then, or (more generously) history’s unique sense of humour, that various Western nations were taught this phrase by those against whom they would someday come to deploy it in the most tragically apt way possible: through colonialism and abject cultural subjugation. And our contribution to its development can be found in any dictionary.Įver beaten someone at chess? Ever been beaten by someone at chess? Either way, you’ll know that sharp resounding phrase, triumphantly targeting each of the ears of the vanquished in two stabbing syllables: ‘ Checkmate!’ ![]() In doing so, we hope to show that Muslims have never been strangers to the West we are as inseparable from its culture, history & heritage as our words are from its languages. Each article in this series will trace the history of one of these words and show how ‘Muslims Said It First’. These words range across diverse fields: from science and literature to food and furniture. There are dozens of ordinary ‘English’ words that originally came from languages historically associated with Islam, such as Arabic, Persian and Urdu. ![]()
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