Letters are one of the oldest forms of communication, full of romantic notions and often a crucial detail in the plot of a novel or film.
This week’s Arabic Word of the Week, risaala, means a written letter. It is a word that is understood in the region, across dialects.
Risaala is a noun derived from the verb rasila, which means the act of sending a written or oral message to someone. The root of the word is the three Arabic letters, rah, seen and lam.
From rasila, we have risaala, which colloquially in Arabic refers to a letter, but the word has many more levels of meaning.
Officially, risaala refers to any piece of information that is sent and delivered from one source to another. This can be in the form of a personal or official governmental letter, it can also be a report or document, a thesis or a book whose content covers one particular topic in depth.
Over time, the meaning of risaala has become more commonly used in two instances. First to refer to any kind of letter, official or personal, or a message being sent or delivered to someone, orally or symbolically.
And while writing and sending letters by post is almost completely redundant in today’s world, thanks to email and SMS messages, the word risaala has been adapted to the modern age. Today, a text message is also referred to as a risaala.
There are several categories of risaala, if we look at the word in the context of its original meaning, as a written letter sent from one party to another.
There is risaala ikhbariyya, which translates to letter of news, and refers to an officially written or printed document that communicates information and knowledge about a certain group of people.
Risaala mahaliyya, which translates to local letters, refers to a letter of a personal nature.
Risaala musalsala, which translates to chain letter, is a letter sent to a group of people, who then write the same letter, relaying the same message to another group of people and so on.
Risaala ekhwaniyya, which translates to brotherly letters, refers to the letters exchanged between writers and poets who express the motions of their mind and feelings to each other.
Risaala, in the Islamic context, is a good example of the second more commonly understood meaning of the word. In Islam, risaala refers to the messages that the Prophet Mohammed received from God through the Angel Gabriel.
There are other words derived from the same root of risaala that, while they mean different things, are connected in their ethos to the idea of letters or messages in some form.
In Arabic, a prophet is called rasoul, meaning he who carries messages from God to be delivered to the people.
Arsala is a verb meaning to send something to someone or to send something away from you. This does not only refer to written documents but, depending on the context used, can refer to a multitude of things. For example, wiping a tear away from one's cheek, brushing hair away from your face or letting go of someone in the emotional sense.
Rasala is a verb that refers to someone who reads or recites text, calmly, quietly in a pleasant manner to himself or others while resil refers to performing tasks carefully and without rushing.
One of the most famous songs of the legendary Egyptian singer and actor, Abdel Halim Hafez, is titled Risaala Min Tahit Al Maa, (A Letter from Underwater). The song was written by the renowned Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani, who used a free-flowing, modern Arabic style in his poetry.
The poem and songs tells the story of a lover who sends a message to his beloved from underwater. The song begins with the words, "A message from underwater, I send to you, my love, a message from my heart, that I have kept hidden for so long."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
The biog
Favourite Emirati dish: Fish machboos
Favourite spice: Cumin
Family: mother, three sisters, three brothers and a two-year-old daughter
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Company%20Profile
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