In his poem The Pages of Day and Night, renowned Arab poet Ali Ahmad Said Esber – known by his pen name Adonis – refers to a woman as a lighthouse waiting in madness.
“I have dwelt in the face of a woman / that murders me, one that loves to inhere / as an unlit lighthouse in my blood that keeps sailing / to the extremity of madness,” he writes.
Adonis, considered one of the greatest living Arab poets, isn’t the only one to use the lighthouse as a poignant symbol.
In English modernist author Virginia Woolf’s novel To the Lighthouse, the tower comes to represent unattainability and illumination. In the film The Lighthouse, directed by Robert Eggers and starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, the lighthouse symbolises enlightenment, knowledge and truth.
This week’s Arabic word of the week is manaara, which means lighthouse. It has similarly powerful symbolic resonance in Arabic culture and language.
Manaara is a noun that has several meanings. The first is a single lit candle, illuminating a space. It also means a lighthouse, or specifically, a tower of light to show the way for sailors and ships out at sea. Also, perhaps most commonly used colloquially, manaara refers to a mosque’s tower. In fact, the English word for the tower, minaret, originates from the word manaara.
The manaara in this context is a tower used as a means to call Muslims to prayer. There, the muezzin, a designated caller, announces the call to prayer through the practice of the adhan, which he does five times a day. Manaaras have become a prominent symbol of Islam, given their unique architectural design features that have evolved over time, influenced by different styles, periods, cultural contexts and regional preferences.
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Hob is the Arabic word for love, but can be used in many contexts -
The Arabic word helu translates, in English, to sweet -
Nashef is the Arabic word for dry, but has many connotations, depending on the context in which you use it -
The Arabic word hurriyeh translates to freedom in English -
The Arabic word tayeb can mean delicious or good, depending on the context -
The Arabic word mustaqbal is best expressed as future in English -
Waqaa, the Arabic word for fall, can signify a loss of power, stature, health or grace -
Hudood means borders in English -
The Arabic word rooh translates to spirit or soul in English -
The Arabic word ain means eye in English -
Waraq, the Arabic word of the week means paper in English -
Bahr, the Arabic for sea, has a poetic lilt -
Kareem means generous in English -
Bab means door in English -
Eid means holiday or festival -
Najm means star for the night sky and cosmos, but also has plenty of other meanings, including ambition or fame -
Alwan, the Arabic word for colours, has many shades of meaning -
Akel can refer to home-cooked meals, embezzlement, fire and rust -
Jamal is the Arabic word for beauty, be it literal or figurative -
Herfe translates to profession or craft -
Tabiaa translates to nature and can frame landscapes and portraits -
Sehha is the Arabic word for health -
Ijaza is Arabic for holiday and shines in summer but is not stress-free -
Aamal is the Arabic word for work -
Al dahr translates to time -
Qalb is a word for heart, with poetic roots -
Lugha in Arabic translates to language in English -
Insaan means human being -
Na'eeman is an idiomatic expression used when someone has had a shower or bath, a haircut or had their beard trimmed -
The Arabic word for life touches on eternity, death and accomplishment -
Qamar is the Arabic for moon -
The Arabic word for strength or power is quwwa -
Burj is Arabic for tower -
The Arabic word for sun is shams -
Sabr in English can translate to patience -
Hayba is the Arabic word for prestige -
The Arabic term al shay'e translates as 'the thing' in English -
The Arabic word for road is tareeq -
The Arabic word for read has mystical and scholarly connotations -
Istikan is the Arabic word for a type of tea cup -
The Arabic word hanan means affection in English -
The Arabic word atlal means ruins in English -
Kura is the Arabic word for ball, in all its forms -
Janaah in Arabic means wing in English -
The Arabic word sana translates to year in English -
Qasida is the Arabic for poem, not poetry -
Ameer, the Arabic word for prince, which influenced another English title -
Nakhla translates to palm tree in English -
Al samt is the Arabic for silence -
Kalimaat translates to words in English -
Markaz is Arabic for centre -
Beshara is the Arabic word for good news -
Bayt is the Arabic for house or home -
Fann is the Arabic word for art, and can be either a verb or an adjective -
Isim, which means name, is made up of three letters, alif, seen and meem -
Dunya is the Arabic word for world -
Nazaafah translates to cleanliness in English -
Many traditions revolve around drinking coffee, including weddings, funerals and business meetings -
Fajr is the Arabic word for dawn -
Maghrib is the Arabic word for sunset -
The Arabic language is filled with idioms, quotes and colloquial quips involving the mirror -
Raei is the Arabic word for opinion -
Wa'ed is a multifaceted word for 'promise', as well as a female name -
Qussa is the Arabic word for story -
Sadaaka is the Arabic word for friendship -
Akhbaar is the Arabic word for news -
Rasem is made up of the three Arabic letters Rah, Seen and Meem. While it can simply mean a drawing or a sketch it’s also a malleable word whose definition can change depending on context and dialect – particularly between colloquial and classical Arabic. -
As well as finishing a task, khatem denotes a deeper sense of finality -
Commonly translated to blessed, mubarak is used as a popular greeting on auspicious days -
The Arabic word for lighthouse is also a term that has become closely associated with Islam -
Siyaam, the Arabic word for fasting is also connected to silence -
Tawbah, the Arabic word for repentance, is also connected to Ramadan -
Safar, the Arabic Word for travel can also refer to sunny days, a brighter-blazing fire or exile. The National
Manaara can also have other more specific meanings.
Manaara al radaria, refers to the practice and means of sending and receiving radar signals while manaara aa’ama is a ship that is placed in a dangerous area to warn other ships of impending danger.
Across all these various meanings, however, there is a common thread. Manaara is a rooted place, a centre or structure from where a message of hope is sent either through sound or light.
In fact, this thread stretches back to the root of the word.
Manaara comes from the word manar, which means centre, source or place of light. Manar can also refer to the marks that create a border between lands. It can be used to refer to a knowledgeable person such as a professor who educates and bestows knowledge on students.
Manar is considered a word that can reveal and enlighten a concept in various ways given the context it is used in.
From the root word nara – derived from the three Arabic letters noon, alif and rah – the verb refers to the action of light enveloping a space and driving darkness out.
There are other words that are derived from nara and manar, similar to manaara, that convey a similar meaning connected to the idea of a beacon of light or knowledge.
Manawir refers specifically to markers, such as plants or rocks, that reveal the right path in a desert.
Anara is a verb that refers to something maturing or becoming enlightened. For example, a tree when it bears fruit or a flower that blooms, or even a topic or problem that becomes clear in someone’s mind.
