‘Amal’: Arabic word for hope is a significant and universal concept

The 13th-century Islamic scholar and poet Rumi once wrote: "Where there is ruin, there is hope for treasure.”

In his play, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, written some time between 1589 and 1593, William Shakespeare wrote, “Hope is a lover's staff; walk hence with that and manage it against despairing thoughts.”

Emily Dickinson, the reclusive American poet, penned these famous words in 1861: “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul – and sings the tunes without the words – and never stops at all.”

This week’s Arabic Word of the Week is amal, which means hope. Throughout time, amal has been a significant concept across cultures, and despite intersecting many facets of life – particularly the emotional and spiritual – the meaning of amal is rather straightforward.

Derived from the three Arabic letters – alif, meem and lam – amal is a verb that means hope in at least three ways. The first is to be hopeful for something, the second is to desire or wish for something and the third is to expect or manifest for something to happen.

In Arabic the meaning of amal can change depending on the word used after it and the context of the subject. For example, amal khayraho means to hope for good, while moukhayyib al amal, which literally translates to the disappointment of hope, means a letdown.

There are other words derived from amal that further embellish its meaning.

Ammala means to inspire someone to be hopeful about a dire situation. The verb amla in the broad sense means the act of passing information. But it can also mean the act of giving instructions to someone or to dictate what is being told to them.

Ta'ammala is a verb referring to someone who thinks and analyses an issue or topic in extreme depth. Mouamal means something that is expected to come. Mouta'ammil refers to someone who is hopeful while ta'ammoul is the verb of being hopeful.

Amal is also a feminine Arabic name. It also means hope, but a pleading type of hope. While pleading in English has negative connotations associated with desperation, this is not the case in Arabic. Amal as a name refers to a greater, more intense sense of hope.

Thanks to Amal Clooney, the Lebanese-British barrister who in 2014 married actor George Clooney, the name Amal became much more recognisable and commonplace in the West.

Within a religious context the concept of amal is strongly linked to hope, expectation, and having faith and trust in God. In Islam it is also closely linked to the concept of tawakkul, which refers to absolute and utter reliance on God and his plan.

Legendary Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum’s song Amal Hayaty (Hope of my Life), which was first released in the late 1960s, is considered one of her most famous and powerful songs.

Written by the Egyptian poet Ahmad Shafiq Kamel and composed by Mohamed Abdel Wahab, the lyrics of the song narrate a deep love and devotion to a lover who is the source of all hope and happiness in the singer’s life.

While you're here

Tom Fletcher: How statecraft and summitry will have to adapt

Taylor Luck: Jordanians pin hopes on rebuilding chances in Syria

Gillian Duncan: Progress is slow for women in field of diplomacy

RESULT

Bayern Munich 5 Eintrracht Frankfurt 2
Bayern: Goretzka (17'), Müller (41'), Lewandowski (46'), Davies (61'), Hinteregger (74' og)
Frankfurt: Hinteregger (52', 55')

SQUAD

Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Adel Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Mohammed Barghash, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Hassan Al Mahrami, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Yousef Jaber, Saeed Ahmed, Majed Sorour, Majed Hassan, Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Khalil Al Hammadi, Fabio De Lima, Khalfan Mubarak, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Ali Saleh, Caio Canedo, Muhammed Jumah, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri

City's slump

L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1

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.”

Europe’s rearming plan

Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital

Key findings of Jenkins report

Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."