This week’s Arabic word of the week has profound and symbolic resonance that has shaped the identity of the Middle East, while influencing many facets of western culture and art.
Sahraa is a noun, it means desert. The official definition of the word is a spacious, empty and wide piece of land with little or minimal vegetation and with poor or no water resources.
There are a few plurals for the word sahraa which include, saharaaa, sahrin, sahrawat and saharee. The meaning of the words change slightly depending on the context in which they are used in sentence structures and in references to different kinds of deserts.
The origin of the word sahraa is derived from the three Arabic letters, sad, hah and raa.
The word sahraa originates from three Arabic verbs whose meanings intersect and are closely linked to notions of the desert.
The first of these verbs is sahara which has two meanings. The first is when raw food is cooked and the second when someone or something is has suffered excessive exposure to the sun.
The second word is sahiraa which is something that gains a slight red tinge and the third is sahhara, which means when fertile land becomes arid.
It’s clear to see how these three words are all connected to ideas of the desert from its nature and effect on living things. There are many words that are used in classical and colloquial Arabic that are derived from the word sahraa that also have connections to notions of the desert.
For example, as-hara is a verb that usually means people who journey into the desert. But when used to reference a place it means an area or location that has become more spacious. When it is used in the context of a topic or issue, it means that the subject matter discussed, which may have been murky or shrouded in mystery, has become clearer or obvious.
An interesting name for camels, whose natural habitat is the desert, is safeenat al sahraa which literally translates as ship of the desert.
Camels are uniquely adapted to the harsh climate of the desert. They have been an integral means of transport and trade for Bedouin people who live in the dessert and are also a symbol for the culture and way of life of the desert itself.
There are many famous deserts in the Middle East. These include the Sahara desert, the Arabian desert, the Empty Quarter, the Sinai desert and the Libyan desert.
Across the Abrahamic religions, the desert has been a symbol to convey many spiritual meanings and journeys. The desert has been a place of exile where individuals or groups of people are tested, a space where divine encounters have occurred and a symbol of great inner and outer transformation.
The desert has also had significant influence on all forms of literature and art, from poetry and fiction to painting and film. Arabic literature and poetry began as an oral form of storytelling, which originated from the nomadic culture of tribes who for centuries lived in and travelled across the desert.
The Arabian desert, or the idea of the Arabian desert, has inspired many themes and motifs in western literature and storytelling.
The desert’s harsh, endless landscapes, its solitude, stunning scenery and diversity of animals have all helped to push narratives, metaphors and ideas of exoticism, epic romantic love, magic, adventure, exploration and many ideas concerning fate, spirituality, mysticism and self-discovery in the West.
