‘Hanan’: Arabic word for affection or compassion can also be a name

Many Arabic words can have several meanings or, depending on the context and changes to pronunciation, variations derived from the root of the word.

Such is the case for this week’s Arabic word, hanan. While it can simply mean affection or compassion, hanan also denotes a deeper idea of sympathy, or a feeling of concern or pity for the misfortunes of others. It also encompasses empathy, meaning not only feeling what another person is feeling but the type of compassion that propels one to relieve the suffering of another person.

It can also mean kindness, to be warm hearted, and is a derivative of love. In its adjective form, hanoon for males and hanoona for females, it can also mean someone who is loving, warm and kind.

Hanan is also used as a name, more commonly for girls. Another version of the name is Haneen, whose meaning leans more towards a warm and gentle nature.

One of the verb variations of hanan is yahinn, which means to long or yearn for someone or something.

Celebrated and award-winning Palestinian author and poet Mahmoud Darwish uses this variation of hanan in one of his most famous poems, My Mother, from 1965. Known as the national poet of Palestine, Darwish’s subject matter in his literature and poetry always centred around themes of Palestinian identity.

In his poem My Mother, Darwish uses ahinn, the idea of compassionately longing, to express feelings towards his mother, who acts as a metaphor for his homeland. The poem begins with Darwish’s declaration that he longs for his mother’s bread, her coffee and her touch.

Celebrated Palestinian-Lebanese musical composer, singer and oud player Marcel Khalife turned Darwish’s poem into a song as part of his Arab-Andalusian influenced album, Promises of a Storm, in 1976.

Scroll through the gallery below to see The National's pick of Arabic words of the week

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Director: James Cameron

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Trump v Khan

2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US

2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks

2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit

2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”

2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency

July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”

Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.

Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”