In 1935, Lebanese poet Bechara El Khoury wrote the poem Youth and Beauty in homage to Jamila Al Khalil, the first Lebanese beauty queen crowned.
“Envious of you, the flower killed itself, spraying its blood across your cheeks,” one of the lines of the poem says, connecting the beauty of nature to Al Khalil.
The poem was then turned into a song by the renowned Egyptian composer, singer, and actor Mohamed Abdel Wahab, in 1939. It was featured in his film Youm Saeed (Happy Day) in 1940.
Beneath the shock of its imagery, the line in particular is powerful because of the concept of the flower, renowned for its beauty, being envious of a human being.
This week’s word of the week, warda, which colloquially means a single flower, is the subject of many works of art or is used as a motif in literature.
Whether it’s their variety in colour and shape, their healing properties, their intoxicating scents or the fact that they bloom for only a short while, flowers have become a symbol of love and appreciation.
The word warda is a noun made up of the four Arabic letters, waw, rah, dal and tah.
It’s derived from the word warouda, a verb which signifies when something turns red. While usually referring to flowers turning red, it can also be used in other contexts in classical Arabic, as when someone blushes.
While warda means a single flower, it can also refer to a rose specifically and sometimes a design resembling roses. There is another word that also means flower in Arabic, zahra.
While zahra is considered a more botanical word, referring to the species of plant known as flowers, warda and zahra are used interchangeably to mean flowers or roses in most colloquial dialects.
Warda can also mean when something or someone arrives or is mentioned in a conversation or record. While there is no official confirmation as to how warda can mean both those things, one can make an assumption based on another Arabic word derived from the same origin.
Warrada refers to something that blooms – a plant, tree or flower. With that in mind, warda can refer to a flower or someone arriving or appearing, since flowers “arrive” when they bloom.
Wourood or ward is the plural of warda. Interestingly, warda is also the feminine version of the word flower and ward, which also acts as the plural of the word, is the masculine version.
Ward has other meanings associated with flowers.
It describes a specific colour, red with a hint of yellow, seen in the spice saffron or in the sheen on a dark chestnut horse. Used as a verb, it describes the process of the reddening horizon during a sunset.
Warda is also a term of endearment used in some Arabic dialects, in both a romantic and platonic context on both men and women despite the word being feminine. Used in this context, it means someone who is either beautiful physically or in their nature. Warda also has associations to someone being at the hight of their youth and beauty.
Warda is also a name used for women. The most famous Warda was the Algerian singer renowned for her Arabic and Egyptian songs. While known simply as Warda she was also known as Warda Al-Jazairia, which translates to the Rose of Algeria.
Reputation
Taylor Swift
(Big Machine Records)
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
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What is Reform?
Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.
Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.
After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
CONCRETE COWBOY
Directed by: Ricky Staub
Starring: Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, Jharrel Jerome
3.5/5 stars
EA Sports FC 24
Moonfall
Director: Rolan Emmerich
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry
Rating: 3/5
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
