Central to mediating divisive and emotional dialogues is calling on people to consider various perspectives, for nothing truly felt is fake. There are many historical and cultural perspectives that deserve consideration when it comes to Palestine, in order to challenge over-simplistic political and religious binaries that dismissively disregard the nuances and difficulties of a situation as egregious and violent as this one. An important consideration is that of language.
The predominant language of the Palestinian people is Arabic. It’s a beautiful and unique language, one that translations into English and other European languages that use the Latin alphabet, do not do justice. In a world divided by conceptualised “civilizations” based on ethnic identities and geopolitics, canons of literature and religious language are critical in explaining cultural differences. Our language and the limitations of translation restrict and curate the access and perspectives we have to the lived experience of Palestinian people. Something will always be lost in translation, and it is beneficial to keep this in mind.
The centrality of the Arabic language to the cultures of the Islamicate cannot be underestimated. The miracle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad was the Qur’an. The word for the holy book of Islam comes from the Arabic root قرأ’ qara’ which means to read and recite. The Qur’an must be read and recited, and it must be done in Arabic. A translation of the Qur’an into a language other than Arabic, is not the Qur’an. Translations have scholastic and spiritual purposes, but cannot be used directly in religious practice. Reading the Qur’an aloud in Arabic is a central practice of Islam, even for the majority of practitioners around the world who do not speak or understand Arabic otherwise.
Arabic language was the crucial form through which the Qur’an and Muhammad were legitimised as the miracle and the prophet of Islam. There is an inherent poetic sense to the Qur’an. Its revolutionary sound was what initially legitimised Muhammad as a prophet to Arab people, whose society and language was grounded in poetic metre. The miracle of the Qur’an which made its reception exceptional, was its inimitability. The revolutionary and beautiful use of the Arabic language in verse astounded people, and continues to make Arabic language central to Muslim populations around the world.
When I first started studying Arabic, I was in awe of its beauty and the poetic symbolism that was found in the construction of its vocabulary. One of my favourite words was تقبرني / يقبرني ‘ta’aburnee’/’ya’aburnee’. It has become an Arabic phrase with recognition in Western popular culture for the beautiful and unique sentiment it expresses in a single word. It translates to “you bury me,” but is an adjective to describe someone you truly love. It expresses the feeling of hoping and wishing to die before another, so as to never have to live your life without them in it.
In Arabic, expressing possession does not require an additional word, instead this is dealt with by adding an additional letter to the word to indicate who possesses the thing. For example, القمر’ Al-qamar’ means “the moon,” but قمري’ qamari’ means “my moon.” ‘Qamari’,
or ‘Ya’amar’ can be used in Arabic to refer to your partner as your moon, quite literally your light in the darkness. It’s a beautiful way to express your longing and reliance on someone you love. Another way to do this is to call someone روحي’ rouhi’ which translates to “my soul.” This is reserved to those most precious to you, such as your children or your soul-mate (if you’re sure you’ve found them…) because calling someone “your soul” implies that you will love them far longer than your lived life, your spirit will love theirs for eternity.
Why, when there are political protests to attend, and culture wars to navigate, do I think we should all take a few minutes to learn some Arabic words for love? Well, I think love is exactly what the world needs right now.
WORDS: Clare Tobin
