This is how Arabs think about heroes

Words and their relation to the concept

Caught up, as we are, in the spellbinding effects of language, we often lose sight of the arbitrary nature of words: of the simple fact that words have no essential relation to the concepts they represent. After all, a word — whether it comes as a marking on a page or a vocal utterance — is a material thing with a definite and particular history, and it therefore leaves an irreducible trace on its corresponding concept.

This is most obvious when we reflect on the words used by different languages to convey the same concept, particularly when the etymologies of these words reflect separate meanings. Here, we can see how the word for a concept carries with it a certain signification which is inherent to the word itself, and which often implicitly, but sometimes explicitly, informs our understanding of the concept it points to.

Let’s take a look at three concepts — existence, conscience, and heroism — and see how their distinct expression in the English and Arabic languages influences their meaning.

Existence vs Wujud

We can appreciate what Martin Heidegger said about being: that, by virtue of its sheer everydayness, it becomes obscure to us. That something is, its simple being, is so intuitive, so…