Moving on to our tenth letter of the Arabic alphabet (ر), we will look at various words and phrases beginning with (ر) along with more culture/language related facts.

Let’s begin with looking at your basic forms of the letter ر.

Initial ر‎, as in the word “رائِع” meaning “excellent”.

Medial ـر‎ ‍, as in the word “أُرْز” meaning “rice”.

Final ـر‎, as in the word “حار” meaning “hot”.

Before looking at the following words and phrases, can you think of words beginning with ر?

Since spring is here, let’s begin with الرَّبيع! 🌷

.كُل شيء يَنبُض بالحياة في الرَّبيع   Everything comes alive in the spring.

رَجُل: man

.إنه رَجُل كَريم    He is a generous man.

Hence, رجولي means manly or masculine.

Note the difference between رَجُل “man” and رِجْل “leg” is two diacritics.

رَئيسي: prime/main/major

.السَّبَب الرَّئيسي لِحضور هذا الفَصْل هو أن أتَعَلَم التَّاريخ

The main reason I attend this class is so I can learn history.

Hence, رَئيس means president/leader/chairman/head

رَأس: head

.ضَربتُ رأسي على الطاوِلة   I hit my head on the table.

Hence, رأس السَّنة is New Year meaning the beginning or head of the year.

روح: soul/spirit

أينَ تَذهَب روحك بَعِد أن تَموت؟   Where does your soul go after you die?

Hence, روحية meaning spirituality.

رِياضة:  sports/exercise, it can also mean mathematics

هل تَلعَب اي رِياضة؟     Do you play any sports?

Hence, رياضي is a sportsman or mathematician.

رائِحة:  smell, scent, odor

.أنا أحبُ رائِحة زُهور الرَّبيع    I love the smell of spring flowers.

رَقَصَ:  to dance

.لا أحبُ الرَّقص في حَفلات الزَّفاف   I don’t like dancing at weddings.

بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

رَمَضان: Ramadan

.رَمَضان سَيَكون في شَهر أبريل مِن هذا العام   Ramadan will be in April this year.

رِواية:  novel

.أنا أقرأ رِواية عَن الحَرب العالمية الثانية   I’m reading a novel about world war two.

رَأَى see

ريحان:   basil

.رأيتُ بَعض الريحان ينمو في الحَديقة   I saw some basil growing in the garden.

رُمان: pomegranate

.تُذَكِرُني بُذور الرمان بالجَواهِر    Pomegranate seeds remind me of jewels.

رِحْلة: trip

.أريدُ أن أذهب في رِحلة بَعد امتحاناتي    I want to go on a trip after my exams.

الرِّيف: countryside

.يَعيش النَّاس في الرِّيف حياة أبسَط    People in the countryside lead a simpler life.

الرَّب: The Lord

.يا رَّبي   Oh, my Lord.

رِسالة: letter, message

Hence, رَسول meaning messenger or prophet.

You may be familiar with a classic, yet controversial مُثير لِلجَدل film called The Message الرِّسالة directed by a Syrian-born Hollywood filmmaker named Moustapha Akkad. It caused quite a storm in both the East and the West. Released in 1976 in both separately-filmed Arabic and English-language versions نسخ, The Message serves as an introduction مُقَدِّمة to early Islamic history. It’s one film I recommend Arabic learners to look into it if they are interested in history and want to listen to beautiful classical Arabic being spoken by some of the biggest stars of Arabic cinema of the time. 🙂

Akkad’s purpose هَدَف in directing this film was to tell the truth الحَقيقة about Islam and try and build a bridge of understanding between the East and the West. Despite the fact that the film did not show any impersonation انتِحال شَخصِيّة of the prophet رَسول Mohammed, where the film even opens with the disclaimer: “The makers of this film honor the Islamic tradition which holds that the impersonation of the Prophet offends against the spirituality of his message. Therefore, the person of Mohammed will not be shown (or heard).”, the film was still deemed sacrilegious مدنس and was banned يَحْظُر in some territories in the Middle East and worse, it was even linked to a violent عَنيف event in Washington, D.C. in 1977. Yet, about four decades later, The Message is still treasured by many in the Arab world, where it has circulated widely in pirated editions and re-released in high-definition.

Until next week, happy Arabic learning! 😊