This week’s Arabic word is a diamond in the hand, reacting to light in all sorts of wonderful ways.
Alwan is Arabic for colours and, like the spectrum wheel beyond it, the word takes on various tints as it moves across what we see and perceive. It also gives us the opportunity to explore the Arabic words for individual colours as well as some of the things they describe.
The singular form of alwan is lown. Lawniyat is the scientific study of colours. Eima lowni is colour blindness.
A primary colour is lown al asassi, such as ahmar (red), akhdar (green) and azraq (blue).
Lown also resonates in the auditory realm. Al lown al ghinaei is a musical lyrical colour or style, such as tarab or bolero. In literature, al lown al adabi refers to types of texts such as a novel (riwaya), short story (qissah qasirah) or poem (shaer).
In the kitchen, lown al taam is food colouring. In the sky, alwan qows quzah are the colours of a rainbow.
It’s not all vibrant with alwan, though. When speaking of the relentless suffering someone’s endured, you could say: qas alwanan min alaazab.
Of a person’s malicious disposition, you could say that they have a black heart, or qalbuho/qalbuha aswad.
Inversely, qalbuho/qalbuha abyad can be said of someone with a white heart.
A person with a green (akhdar) heart, meanwhile, can denote someone with youthful ambition and a sense of adventure.
Among akhdar items are ushb (grass) and tuffah (apple). Ahmar objects include wared (rose) and damm (blood). For azraq, there is samaa (the sky) and al bahr (the sea). Asfar (yellow) includes moz (banana). As with other languages, the colour can also describe a sickly face: wajhuhu/wajhuha asfar.
For abyad, thalej (snow). For aswad, there is the night (al layl).
Al ouyoun el sood (black or dark eyes) are widely perceived as a sign of beauty in the Arab world. Algerian-Lebanese singer Warda Al Jazairia has a popular song by that name.
Also in music, Haza al lown aleiki yijannen is a folk song famously sung by Iraqi crooner Kadhim Al Saher, and which translates to: this colour is divine on you.
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Aaron Finch, Matt Renshaw, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (captain), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
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The fake news generation
288,000 – the number of posts reported as hate speech that were deleted by Facebook globally each month in May and June this year
11% – the number of Americans who said they trusted the news they read on Snapchat as of June 2017, according to Statista. Over a quarter stated that they ‘rarely trusted’ the news they read on social media in general
31% - the number of young people in the US aged between 10 and 18 who said they had shared a news story online in the last six months that they later found out was wrong or inaccurate
63% - percentage of Arab nationals who said they get their news from social media every single day.
The biog
Favourite books: 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life' by Jane D. Mathews and ‘The Moment of Lift’ by Melinda Gates
Favourite travel destination: Greece, a blend of ancient history and captivating nature. It always has given me a sense of joy, endless possibilities, positive energy and wonderful people that make you feel at home.
Favourite pastime: travelling and experiencing different cultures across the globe.
Favourite quote: “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders” - Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.
Favourite Movie: Mona Lisa Smile
Favourite Author: Kahlil Gibran
Favourite Artist: Meryl Streep
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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