阿拉伯字母，就我们今天所知的形式，由线条和点组成。这些点被称为"i'jam"（附点）。古代的阿拉伯文字没有这些点，只由笔画构成。

The Arabic letters, as we know them today, are made up of lines and points. The latter are called i'jam. The ancient Arabic script did not have them, but consisted of strokes only.

在无点的字母笔画上加上附点，有助于区分那些容易混淆的各个字母。

The addition of diacritical points to the plain writing of strokes helped to distinguish the various letters which could be easily mixed up.

Example: XXX XXX 没有点，这个词就难以辨认。加上i'jam（点标）后，这个词的字母就能轻易区分。

Example: XXX XXX Without dots this word cannot be easily recognized. With i'jam, the letters of this word can easily be distinguished.

虽然附点（i'jam）在伊斯兰教之前的时代就已为人所知，但很少使用。《古兰经》最早期的抄本（以及一般的阿拉伯文书写）都没有这些符号。据说它们是在第五任倭马亚哈里发阿卜杜勒·马立克·本·麦尔旺（公元685–705年，即伊历66–86年）在位期间，以及哈贾吉在伊拉克任总督时，才被加入《古兰经》的书写中的。当时越来越多的穆斯林开始诵读和研习《古兰经》，其中有些人对《古兰经》了解不多，另一些人则并非阿拉伯裔。据说著名的再传弟子阿布·al-杜艾利是第一个把这些附点引入《古兰经》经文的人。

Although the i'jam (diacritical points) were already known in pre-Islamic times, they were rarely used. The very early copies of the Qur'anic manuscripts (and Arabic writing in general) did not have these signs. They were apparently introduced into the Qur'anic script during the time of the fifth Umayyad Caliph, 'Abd al-Malik bin Marwan (66-86H/685- 705) and the governorship of Al-Hajjaj in Iraq, when more and more Muslims began to read and study the Qur'an, some of whom did not know much of the Qur'an, and others were of non-Arab origin. It is said of the well-known tabi'l Al-Du'all that he was the first to introduce these points into the Qur'anic text.