essay in arabic writing

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Learning Arabic, one page at a time

Four Simple Tips to Improve Your Essay Writing Skills in Arabic

root: ق-و-ل / noun / plural: مَقالات /definition: essay, article

So, you’ve studied Arabic for a while now. Simple sentences are old news (i.e. you’re silently pleading for your teacher not to go over jumlah ismiyyah yet again) and you’ve got a decent collection of relevant words all memorised. So you’re all set when your teacher asks you to write an essay about the topic in Arabic…right?

“Wrong!” says the fear in your eyes when you see the word count, as minuscule as it may be; a few hundred words in your native language definitely doesn’t seem as daunting as this .

It’s almost as if writing an essay in our target language makes us forget everything we’ve ever learnt about essays. And writing, unfortunately.

But there’s no need for stress—here’s four easy tips to simplify the process:

1 Think In Arabic

Often, when we’re writing in our target language, we tend to think of the exact sentence we want to produce in our native language then essentially try to translate it as pen hits paper. That’s where the problem comes in.

Trying to write via the process of translation is much more difficult and will most likely make your writing sound unnatural.

Instead, focus on what idea you want to convey and use the Arabic words and structures that you already know to express it. Much easier.

2 Learn “Copy and Paste” Phrases

One effective way to make your writing sound more sophisticated (and, well, to use up more of the word count) is to learn phrases that you can slot into pretty much any essay.

For example, here’s two simple phrases that I found whilst reading through Arabic articles: مهّد/يُمهِّد الطريق لِـ (“to pave the way for”) and على حافة الاِنهِيار (“on the verge of collapse”).

These phrases really came in handy during my writing tasks and exams at university since I could use them in the context of various topics. (A lot of things are on the verge of collapse, apparently).

3 Punctuate !

Okay, so maybe this was just me, but while my essays in English would be full of a plethora of punctuation, my Arabic essays would be lucky to get a comma thrown in. I think it probably took me three years to even get a bracket down on paper.

So throw those commas in! And the semicolons, colons, dashes, etc…

4 Remember What You Know About Essays

Think structure, connectives, varying sentence lengths, creating interest, clarity of expression.

There may be slight differences in certain aspects of writing style between English and Arabic, but don’t forget what you already know about writing essays in general. And definitely try to use Arabic texts as a source from which you can replicate structures and styles.

And, finally, remember that improvement takes practice —so keep writing .

If you have any other tips for writing Arabic essays, or any phrases that you yourself like to use, please do share them in the comments!

Edit: the book How to Write in Arabic (which I talked in the post Arabic Books on My Bookshelf ) has great guidelines for writing different types of text in Arabic—including a section for those “copy and paste” phrases!

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The Simplest Way To Improve Your Arabic Writing

If you are serious in your Arabic learning, you obviously need to follow a plan focused around your learning goals.

Just like with reading and speaking skills, you will need to follow a structured method to improve your Arabic writing skills.

I tried here to avoid the general writing advice that applies to writing in all foreign languages, focusing on the specifics of Arabic language composition.

I will share with  you the practical tips you can use to practice writing in Modern Standard Arabic. 

Please note that what I am sharing with you here does not apply to the colloquial dialects of Arabic.

I will also show you how to use the Arabic keyboard, develop your writing strategy, request writing assignments from your instructor if you have one, and spell correctly without looking it up online in addition to other tips you can incorporate in your learning.

Table of Contents

1.Read.. a lot!

Reading Arabic content is a prerequisite to good Arabic writing. To be able to generate output (write), you will need to be exposed to a good amount and quality of Arabic reading (input) at a regular frequency . 

Picking up a routine of reading Arabic content that is within your level or slightly above it will enrich your vocabulary. 

A suitable reading material is any content you can read and understand 80% of it. Anything less than that is a little too advanced for you at the current stage. To develop a Arabic reading skills, make sure you read this article .

It is important that you are intentional in your reading. That is to say you have to selectively read material that will help you with your language expression needs. 

For instance, if you are a beginner, try to read content that will help you write about yourself, your family and personal interests to equip yourself with the writing vocabulary and tools to meet your written expression needs as a beginner. 

As you progress, try to vary your reading content to cover different types of themes and styles such as comparative, argumentative, narration, instructions , to name a few, so that you can emulate them when you write.

2.Add the Arabic keyboard on your devices

In addition to practicing writing on a notepad the traditional way, it is equally important to add an Arabic keyboard on your phone and electronic devices. 

If you have not done it yet, use this detailed tutorial to add the Arabic keyboard to your iphone and other devices.

While handwriting will give you a kinetic experience in learning how to connect the letters together, the Arabic keyboard will provide you with a convenient way to practice Arabic composition.

You can use your phone Arabic keyboard to type a casual short text message or a newly encountered term or type up a small paragraph during your daily commute or lunch break. 

By incorporating this small adjustment in your daily routine, you are turning the new skill of Arabic typing into a second nature, further enhancing your Arabic writing ability.

3. Mimic writings you like.

There is a huge lack of  tested strategies in teaching Arabic writing. In the Arab world, dictation or orthography was almost the only writing exercise taught in grade schools in the Arab world. 

Composition was never drilled as methodologically as it is in French or English, except for the traditional breakdown of the introduction , body and conclusion . 

This means  you will have to be proactive in learning how to write in Arabic. You will need to select your favorite writing style or author(s) and try to emulate it and hone that skillset as you go. 

Certain Arabic news sites, like Doha-based Aljazeera TV and London-based Saudi daily As-Sharq al-Awsat , adopt modern writing styles. You can visit one or both websites for your daily dose of Arabic news and observe their writing style and word choice. 

Unlike traditional Arab writers, the two above-mentioned sites use a linear informative style with a minimal editorial touch due to their worldwide audiences. 

As you progress and build up your proficiency, you can move up to reading literature if you desire.

4. Adopt the multiple drafts approach.

If you are learning Arabic in a classroom setting and you are not being challenged to write in Arabic, you should raise the issue with your instructor and politely ask for the opportunity to produce writing essays.

Ideally the teacher will adopt the multiple drafts method . You submit your first draft, and the instructor would return it to you with comments on points that need improvement or more elaboration until you submit your third and final draft. 

This method prevents you from procrastinating and allows you to display your  early thinking and analysis, which could disappear if you wait until the last minute to submit a rushed write-up.

Early thinking allows the instructor to guide your writing attempts early on in the process before the pressure of deadlines starts piling up.

Also, by starting early, you focus on delivering good content, which makes for a more enjoyable experience in writing what you have to write. It also provides you with opportunities to  self-critique , improve your paper and re-submit. 

This process will consequently help you hone your Arabic writing skills because it forces you to apply your analytical thinking on your own writing.  

5. Incorporate the terminology and rules you learned.

Take everything you learn about Arabic as parts of a whole, and always think of the larger picture which eventually revolves around communicating effectively in Arabic. 

As you learn new grammar rules and memorize new vocabulary from reading and listening to Arabic content, make a deliberate effort to put everything you learn into practice. 

Incorporate in your writing a nice phrase or idiom you picked up recently and recall the grammatical and spelling rules you have been learning. 

In the Arabic language, there is a rule for everything. If you can’t recall the rule, look it up. For instance,  if you have to use a word that contains the hamza  (ء), see the rule that determines its placement such as its vowel ( harakat ) and that of the letter that precedes it instead of just looking up online how it is spelled. 

As a general rule, if you try to memorize word spellings, you will keep looking them up online; if you grasp the rule that governs the spelling, you will rarely have to look up a word. All you have to do is recall the spelling rule. 

For instance, if you have to write the hamza (ء) with a sukun vowel ْ  , the rule says that if it’s preceded by a kassra vowel it should be spelled as ئ as in بِئْر ( a well).

By grasping this rule, you will never have to look up how to write hamza with a sukun vowel when preceded by a kassra vowel. 

6. Consider your audience.

One thing about the Arab culture is that formalities and hierarchy are important, and the use of Arabic language in communication mirrors that. Therefore, it is very important to consider your audience as you attempt to write a letter, an email or even a text message. 

If you are writing a formal letter or communique, you want to make sure you refer to the person you are addressing in the second person plural. Not only it shows that you respect the other party, but also demonstrates that you know enough about the culture to use the proper form.

You also want to use a bit of flowery and deferential style as you address government employees and highly placed people. 

For example, use  صاحب السعادة or جنابكم الموقر — which roughly translates to “Your respected excellency”  — in official communication with Arab recipients.

This may sound unreasonable, or even laughable, in your native language, but this is the right register to use in formal communication and official letters. 

The Arab culture ranks high in the Power Distance Index (PDI) , a measure used by some sociologists. This means that Arabs respect and accept the hierarchical order that is set in their societies. As a learner of Arabic, you may want to show that you understand that.

Similarly, if you are writing to someone with a PhD, you should address the person as Doctor So & So   (الدكتور); if you are writing to an engineer, you address him as Engineer So & So (المهندس). 

7. Write regularly and solicit feedback.

Long-term consistency beats short-term intensity. Bruce Lee

The ideal frequency of writing practice is to do a little bit everyday over a long period of time instead of intense irregular sessions. 

Three or four short writing sessions a week are more effective than a three-hour  session once a week.

Make sure you ask for feedback on your Arabic speaking proficiency from qualified individuals, such as your instructor, educated native speakers, and even supportive peers who are familiar with your learning track.

Asking for feedback also means that you should take it as an opportunity to develop and improve without dwelling on your shortcomings.

Proceed with caution though. What you need is constructive criticism that can help you improve your speaking. Avoid asking negative or unqualified individuals who may demotivate you.

8. Build a repertoire of useful verbs, descriptions, and conjunctions

You may find that you have a tendency to selectively pick your vocabulary based on what you find easy, difficult or cool or even fun to the ear.  

Although this is not a very bad habit, you want to make sure you are intentional in collecting  the vocabulary that will help with your conversational needs. 

Make an effort to be deliberate in picking up functional verbs, phrases, adjectives and linking words that will help you with telling a story, describing a person, comparing ideas or making a conclusion.

If you are lucky and have a good instructor,  you may participate in guided conversational sessions built around specific themes and situations in accordance with your speaking abilities and objectives. 

A good use of vocabulary will not only leave a positive impression on your interlocutors but will also show what kind of an Arabic learner you are.

9. Plan ahead and use and outline

For writing structure and planning, you can use the traditional writing methods. Start with general ideas and work your way into the small details. 

Jot down your main ideas and start with your subheadings first. This will help you remain organized and focused on your topic. 

Remember that language is just a tool to convey meanings and ideas. Once you establish an outline to organize your main points and subheadings, you start using your vocabulary and own style to translate the ideas into words. 

Since your purpose is to improve your written expression, don’t give too much attention to the ideas at the expense of form.

The whole point is to practice the grammar and spelling rules you have been learning to come up with a coherent and easy to follow essay.

10. Don’t be afraid of writing

Finally, enjoy your status as a foreign language student and write without fear or anxiety of being judged. Expectations from you as a language student are not as high as what’s expected of you in your native language. 

Be bold and borrow a thick skin if you don’t have one. Try to write using your own style while you maintain good grammar, spelling and proper form. 

You will of course make mistakes, but what’s the big deal? Mistakes create the best learning opportunities in learning Arabic or any foreign language. 

Just like in other languages, your writing will only become better with regular practice over time.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Happy writing!

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The Arabic GCSE: A Guide to the Writing Component

May 6, 2024

By Fauzia Saeed

Discover tips and tactics for students preparing for the writing section of the Arabic GCSE exam

Preparing for your Arabic GCSE exams and feeling overwhelmed by the writing component? You're not alone. Arabic writing may appear daunting initially, but with adequate preparation and practice, you can confidently excel. This post will provide some useful tips to help students thrive in the Arabic writing GCSE.

Preparing Before the Exam

• Understand the exam format: Get acquainted with the different types of writing tasks like short, long, article, letter writing, and emails, and the differences between formal and informal writing. Analyse past exam papers to grasp the structure and requirements of the writing section.
• Build vocabulary and master the 5 themes and topics : Practise common Arabic words, phrases, and expressions related to all your topics, based on the vocabulary you have developed in class.
• Understand the QACNOTT criteria : I use this acronym as a mnemonic aid. So, what exactly is QACNOTT? QACNOTTs represent Qualifiers (intensifiers), Adjectives, Connectives, Negatives, Opinions and Justifications, Time phrases and Tenses. These elements work together to elevate the standard of your writing. Incorporate them into your spoken and written language practice, and consistently evaluate your work using the QACNOTT criteria.

Examples for QACNOTTs are:

• المدرسة بعيدة للغاية
• الحديقة جميلة جدا
• البيت البعيد /المدرسة البعيدة
• كتابان مفيدان - حصان سريع
• و، ثم، كما، بالإضافة الى
• علاوة على ذلك، لذلك، بالرغم من
• لا، لم، لن، ليس، ما
• for example:
• بالرغم من سفرياتي العديدة لكني لا أحب السفر لمسافات طويلة
• أحب، اظن، أكره، أفضل، أقدر، أعتقد/ بسبب، لان
• يوميا، أحيانا، في عطلة نهاية الأسبوع، مرتين في الشهر، يوم السبت، نادرا، الشهر الماضي، السنة القادمة
• الأزمنة الثلاث (ماضي، مضارع، مستقبل)
• Regular practice and revision: Ensure you set aside specific time for practicing Arabic writing regularly, utilizing resources like textbook exercises or previous exam papers. Consistently review and revise your writing to track your development and pinpoint areas needing improvement. Seek feedback from reliable sources like your teachers to enhance your skills. Use timers when tackling past exam papers to simulate real exam conditions effectively.

On Exam Day

• Careful reading to understanding the question: Before commencing your writing tasks, thoroughly read and make sure you understand the question. Identify crucial instructions, prompts, and requirements to ensure your response fully addresses the task.
• Effective time management: Allocate time judiciously to each writing task based on available marks and question complexity. Remember you must answer all the sub questions in your writing task, as marks are divided equally to all the questions. Maintain a steady pace to ensure completion within the allotted time without rushing.
• Strategically plan your responses by taking a moment to outline the key points and structure of your essay or letter before you begin writing. This ensures coherence and organisation in your writing. Remember to meet the designated word count for each task, as writing less than the word count can impact your marks. However, it's equally important not to spend more time and words than required. Avoid repeating information and using the same words excessively; I suggest using different synonyms. For example, instead of كبير جدا use ضخم او هائل
• Thorough proofreading: After completing each writing task, allocate time for proofreading. Identify spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and areas needing clarity or coherence improvement. Make necessary corrections and revisions to refine your writing and ensure its polished and error-free. Make good use of punctuation marks to break up your sentences. This will help to guide the reader (the examiner) through the ideas expressed in your sentences.
• Maintain calm and focus: Maintain a positive mindset and stay composed under pressure. Focus solely on the task at hand and avoid distractions from other candidates or external factors.

The AI Arabic Writing Assistant

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Any time, any place, Qalam works for you!

Don’t worry anymore about grammatical and spelling correction or auto-tashkeel!

Wherever you are, Qalam writes with you; whether you're writing on desktop apps, websites, social media, or even while texting.

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Beside spell checking and grammar checking features, you can configure your unique style and Qalam will help your team to follow it. Qalam spots spelling and grammar errors, corrects them, and suggests more accurate linguistic alternatives and forms to make your teams’ writing perfect.

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Mourad Diouri | مراد الديوري

7 Phrases to use when … Writing a Conclusion in Arabic

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Part of “ The Arabic Learner’s Writing Toolkit ” series. To find out more about this series, go to → 7 Things to learn

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Arabic Writing Guide - LanguageBard

Learn Arabic writing with LanguageBard! This comprehensive guide unveils the magical world of Arabic script, calligraphy, and more. Join us as we explore the rich mechanics of writing in Arabic, and start your journey to master this beautiful language.

What is the Arabic Script?

The Arabic script is a writing system used by millions of people around the world. Its roots extend back centuries, making it one of the oldest forms of written communication. Unlike other scripts like the Latin-based one used in English, the Arabic script is written from right to left.

How is Arabic Script Structured?

In Arabic, words consist of one or more root letters which hold the basic meaning of the word. Variations in meaning and form are created by adding vowels, prefixes, and suffixes. Arabic script is cursive, meaning letters within a word connect to each other.

The script includes 28 letters, most of which have 4 different forms - independent, initial, medial, and final - based on their position in the word.

How to Write in Arabic?

Writing in Arabic can appear daunting at first due to its unique structure and form. But with practice and the right approach, one can quickly master it. Here's a step by step guide:

Learn the Arabic Alphabet : Start by familiarizing yourself with the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet. Practice pronunciation and writing.

Understand Letter Forms : Learn the different forms of each letter based on their position - independent, initial, medial, or final.

Practice Words : Begin writing simple words, learning how letters connect and change forms.

Work on Sentence Structure : As you gain confidence, start to write sentences. Arabic typically follows a Verb-Subject-Object sequence.

Learn Arabic Calligraphy : Calligraphy adds artistic value to the simple form of writing. There are several styles, like Naskh or Thuluth, that display the beauty and versatility of the Arabic script.

How hard is it to learn Arabic writing?

Arabic writing is complex due to its various forms and the fact it is written from right to left - a structure unfamiliar to many. However, do not let this deter you. Once you get over the initial learning curve, you'll find that Arabic writing is logical and richly expressive.

FAQs on Arabic Writing

Why are there different forms of arabic letters.

The various forms of Arabic letters depending on their position within a word are due to the cursive nature of the script. Unlike English where letters are separate, in Arabic, letters within a word connect, and this connection alters the shape of the letters.

Is Arabic calligraphy hard to learn?

Arabic calligraphy may seem challenging due to its intricate and elegant design. However, like any art form, the key lies in practice and patience. It’s not much the perfection of the lines that matters in the beginning; more so, it's about enjoying the learning process and the beauty of the script.

How can I improve my Arabic handwriting?

Improving Arabic handwriting comes down to consistent practice. Begin with basic strokes, gradually forming letters, then evolving to words and sentences. Emphasizing the right hand movements helps achieve smooth and consistent letters. Also, understanding the mechanics of individual letters and their contextualized forms is vital.

Is Arabic written from right to left?

Yes, unlike English and many other languages, Arabic is written from right to left. This applies to both reading and writing. This may feel strange initially but becomes second nature with time.

Arabic Writing Resources

To guide your Arabic learning journey, here are some useful resources:

• Websites : Sites like Omniglot , Arabic-keyboard.org , and BBC Languages provide useful guides, keyboards, and alphabetic tables.
• Books : Books like ‘Mastering Arabic Script’ by Jane Wightwick and Mahmoud Gaafar and ‘Easy Arabic Calligraphy for Beginners’ by Omar Nizam Uddin provide in-depth insights into Arabic writing.
• Applications : Apps like Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, and TenguGo provide interactive learning platforms.
• Online Lessons : Websites like Coursera, Udemy, and LanguageBard offer comprehensive Arabic-language courses.

Mastery of the Arabic script provides a gateway to a rich and diverse culture. The journey might seem daunting initially, but once the basics are in place, progression becomes much smoother. Whether your motivation is to read ancient texts, pen a poem, or simply impress a friend, knowing how to write Arabic is an impressive skill that opens a portal to the Arab world. Cave into the linguistic wonders of the Arabic script with LanguageBard and unfurl a new dimension to your language prowess!

Arabic Language: Research & Writing

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• Web Resources
• Research & Writing
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General Writing Resources

The Writing Process These resources will help you with the writing process: pre-writing (invention), developing research questions and outlines, composing thesis statements, and proofreading. While the writing process may be different for each person and for each particular assignment, the resources contained in this section follow the general work flow of pre-writing, organizing, and revising. For resources and examples on specific types of writing assignments, please go to our Common Writing Assignments area.

Academic Writing These resources will help you with the types of writing you may encounter while in college. The resources range from rhetorical approaches for writing, to document organization, to sentence level work, such as clarity. For specific examples of writing assignments, please see our Common Writing Assignments area.

Common Writing Assignments These resources will help you understand and complete specific types of writing assignments, such as annotated bibliographies, book reports, and research papers. This section also includes resources on writing academic proposals for conference presentations, journal articles, and books.

Mechanics These resources will help you with sentence level organization and style. This area includes resources on writing issues, such as active and passive voice, parallel sentence structure, parts of speech, and transitions.

Grammar These resources will help you use correct grammar in your writing. This area includes resources on grammar topics, such as count and non-count nouns, articles (a versus an), subject-verb agreement, and prepositions.

Punctuation These resources will help you with punctuation, such as using commas, quotation marks, apostrophes, and hyphens.

Visual Rhetoric These resources will help you understand and work with rhetorical theories regarding visual and graphical displays of information. This area includes resources on analyzing and producing visual rhetoric, working with colors, and designing effective slide presentations.

Writing and Research Assistance

• Writing in Specific Subjects
• GCC English Department - provides links to WWW Resources for Writers
• Dartmouth Writing Program
• University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center
• Resources for Writers - George Mason University
• Researchpaper.com "The Web's largest collection of topics, ideas, and assistance."
• A+Research and Writing Guide . Provides a step-by-step guide to writing a research paper, research methodology and resources, and links to  OWLS (Online Writing Labs) that provide guides to specific types of papers and essays (e.g., argumentative, narrative, comparative).
• The Nuts and Bolts Guide to College Writing - a very good source for all aspects of writing, including the mechanics of grammar, types of papers, and citation formats (APA, MLA, and Chicago).
• Annotated Bibliographies (Overview & Examples)
• Annotated Bibliography Sample from APA
• Sample Annotated Bibliography Entries in MLA, APA, Chicago (U of Oklahoma CLS)
• English as a Second Language
• Citation Builder

Technical Writing in Science and Engineering

•   Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students from Penn State
• Help with Technical Writing from the UBC Statistics Department
• Advice on Research and Writing from Carnegie Mellon University

Writing an Abstract

Abstracts briefly summarize the main findings of a paper or book. By reading an abstract, the reader can tell whether or not a paper or book will cover the material in which they are interested.

These sites have good information on writing an abstract:

• Abstracts (good information on types of abstracts)
• Abstracts (good step-by-step instructions)
• How to Write an Abstract (includes good examples)

Evaluating Resources

Not all information published in books or on the internet is credible or appropriate for your needs. It is important to make sure the sources you use are credible and at the right level for what you are doing.

These pages are useful guides to evaluate your sources:

• Evaluating Print Resources
• Evaluating Internet Resources
• Evaluating Print Sources from Bowling Green State University Library
• Evaluating Print Resources from the University of Alabama Libraries
• Evaluating Resources from Duke Libraries
• Evaluating Web Content from the University at Albany Libraries
• Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply and Questions to Ask from the Berkeley Libraries
• Critical Evaluation of Resources on the Internet from the University of Alberta Libraries
• Checklist for Evaluating Web Resources from the University of Southern Maine

Citing Sources & Plagiarism

By listing the sources from which you got your information, you give credit to the people who did the original research. Not giving credit is plagiarism.

Citing your sources also gives your readers the ability to look at that information and read more about the topic.

Citation Style Guides from the UBC Chapman Learning Commons, with instructions and examples for citing sources in APA, MLA, and Chicago/Turabian Styles.

Here is some useful information from the UBC Plagiarism Resource Centre to help you cite your sources:

How do I know if I'm plagiarizing or not? (how to know whether information should be cited or not)

How do I cite my sources? (help with formatting your references to the sources you used)

The University makes Turnitin software available to assist writers in making proper attributions and avoid plagiarism. Training guides and videos are available at Turnitin.com. For information on using Turnitin Click here go to video tutorials, training guides, and manuals @ http://www.turnitin.com/ . Click here to go to www.Turnitin.com home page.

Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism: WPA You Quote It, You Note It (tutorial) How Not to Plagiarize Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It

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Arabic Essay Language

An Arabic language blog featuring useful phrases for writing essays in the target language. The blog includes Arabic idioms, proverbs, and academic phrases to assist the language learner in writing more complex essays.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

• e-Arabic Learners Portal | بوابة التعليم الإلكتروني لطلاب اللغة العربية

USEFUL PHRASES for Writing in Arabic

• Skill Level:  Beginners, Intermediate & Advanced
• Resources : Written by Mourad Diouri, U. of Edinburgh
• Useful Writing Techniques for Summarising Arabic Texts  
• Talking about my Family in Arabic [Useful Expressions]
• Talking about my Experience w/ Crime and the Law [Useful Arabic Expressions]
• Talking about Places: Common Conversation Questions [Beg.]
•   Talking about the Future [Useful Arabic Expressions]
•   Talking about Time [Useful Arabic Expressions]
• Talking About Tourism & Travelling [Useful Arabic Expressions]
• Arabic Letter Writing [Useful Expressions]

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Beyond Representation: Life Writing by Women in Arabic

Arabic literary traditions are rich with women telling their own stories, from Andalusian Wallada bint al-Mustakfi’s fakhr poetry—allegedly embroidered on her clothes—through the epistolary practice of Nahda writers like Mayy Ziyadeh to the autobiographies of feminist pioneers Huda al-Shaarawi and Nawal al-Saadawi, as well as the memoirs of established literary authors such as Radwa Ashour and Samar Yazbek. In this feature, we bring you a small selection of contemporary voices that expand and challenge these diverse traditions of nonfictional life writing.

Translations of women authors from the Arab world are often read in reductive ways. All it takes is a look at the rolling landscape of women in veils adorning book covers to realize that there’s a voyeuristic impulse that—at least until very recently—has governed many of the publishing trends around Arab women’s literature. And that, when it comes to writing by women from Arab countries, the assumption that women’s life writing would tend toward the domestic and private spheres still prevails. These considerations make it difficult to gather pieces under a header that contains both “women” and “Arabic” without running the risk of essentializing.

Much has been written since the early 2000s about the packaging and reception of Arab women’s writing, specifically in English translation. For instance, Margot Badran’s translation of Huda al-Shaarawi’s memoirs, titled Harem Years: The Memoirs of an Egyptian Feminist (1987) , gives more weight in the preface and other paratextual material to the subject of the veil than Shaarawi’s own narrative does. Life in the “harem” is also foregrounded in ways that it is not in the Arabic. Shaarawi, who redefined women’s public engagement through the Egyptian Feminist Union, affords a lot more space in her text to her public action and nationalist politics. The Arabic does not even have “harem” in the title.

Nawal al-Saadawi, one of the most translated authors from Arabic into English, has been read and discussed in ways that exaggerate her subversiveness. Saadawi occupies a space in the multifarious feminist and leftist movements of her country, but editors and critics in English have repeatedly—often against her own best efforts—foregrounded sensationalist topics in her writing, portraying her as a lone fighter and the majority of Arab women as hapless victims.

The term “Arab women” itself comes with its own set of problems. It imposes a fictive homogeneity on diverse life experiences and varied contexts that have as much to set them apart as to unite them. Then there is the question of language. Not all writers identifying as Arab write in Arabic, and not everyone who writes in Arabic lives in the Arab world. But even if we take Arabic language as a defining criterion—which we do for this selection—we have to be careful not to erase literary expressions in any of the many tongues that are not the predominant modern standard Arabic, including local colloquial variations.

What is to be done, then, to give Anglophone readers a better chance to appreciate women writers from the Arab world, beyond the politics of representation and away from the public/private dichotomy? Perhaps the answer is to let as many texts as possible speak for themselves: texts that are personal and specific enough to inevitably question easy assumptions and restore the plurality missing from the representation narrative, but also topical and daring enough to show that there are countless links between the personal and the public, and many routes from the particular to the universal. We hope that the selection of texts in this feature goes some way in the direction of doing just that.

“ Razor Blade Rattle and the Beginnings of Being Tamed ,” translated by Sawad Hussain, is an excerpt from the autobiography Woman of the Rivers (2015) by Ishraga Mustafa, a Sudanese-Austrian writer, poet, and translator. An intimate and visceral piece that describes childhood trauma with a chilling lyricism, it deals with the physical loss of genital cutting and the emotional loss of trust in older women in the family. But this is far from a story of female victimhood: Mustafa’s voice here is strong and poetic, connected to nature and to her own body, sharp in its resistance to the controls exerted over it. It recaptures the spirit of the defiant child owning her losses and growing “the fruit of that pain [. . .] into palm trees.” Just as she grows herself into the author who inhabits a place from which she can speak about “the hundred lanterns in her mind.”

If autobiography is defined by the concurrence of the author with the “I” that speaks, Nadia Kamel’s Born: The Story of Naela Kamel, née Marie Rosenthal challenges that supposition. This oral-history-cum-autobiography is based on Kamel’s recordings of her mother and written entirely in ammeya (spoken Egyptian Arabic). In a feat of literary ventriloquism, Kamel channels her mother’s voice to tell the story in the first person: mother and daughter crossing together—as Kamel puts it in the introduction—“the threshold of telling, an act of stepping out.”

Mary’s/Naela’s voice is wise and inquisitive, embracing the multiculturalism of the generations of migrants she hails from while constantly interrogating her place in the world. In “ Communism in Style ,” translated for this feature by Brady Ryan and Essayed Taha, Naela/Mary shares anecdotes from her covert work for the printing press of a 1940s Egyptian Communist cell. This is a sardonic account of the cell’s work that gently mocks her own youthful naivete as well as the amateurish operations of the group. She is subtly aware of questions of privilege and class prejudice and, without taking herself too seriously, insists on going against the grain of the expectations of her milieu.

Palestinian writer and activist Sahar Khalifeh is also known for her refusal to conform. In “ University Student ,” excerpted from her autobiography A Novel for My Story (2018) and translated by Sawad Hussain, she recounts her reaction to receiving an offer of place at Birzeit University as a mature student in 1973, a pioneering move at the time and especially daring under Israeli occupation. It is a bittersweet recollection of that era in Khalifeh’s life, told in a tone that is steady and determined but never overconfident. Her stated ambitions are to become a writer and to be financially independent, but the obstacles are many: societal expectations, lack of funds, and the logistics of movement under occupation, to name a few. Khalifeh’s account moves beyond the initial reactions from those around her—“What was that? One of whimsical Sahar’s latest pipe dreams?”—to offer a vivid snapshot of female solidarity and mutual empowerment.

The final piece in this selection is Rasha Abbas’s “ Six Proposals for Participation in a Conversation about Bread .” Included here in Alice Guthrie’s translation, it first appeared in al-Jumhuriya alongside a number of essays that interrogate the relationship of food to power and political turmoil. Poetically, it strips down the struggles of war and military coups, and questions of exile and belonging, to a focal point that is as basic as it is universal: bread in its many forms, traversing eras and geographies, from the 1940s through the 2010s in cities like Damascus, Moscow, Latakia, and Berlin. The first person is mostly implicit in Rasha Abbas’s personal essay, somewhat secondary, hiding behind the wider political upheavals, witnessing without seeming to directly engage.

In Greek tragedy, female choruses were introduced to serve the dramatic purpose of passive witnesses and commentators. A chorus of men, you see, would have been expected to intervene in the events unfolding onstage. Women, on the other hand, were not expected to act. In other, more recent European traditions, autobiography used to be considered an androcentric genre. In its most basic format, it depicted an individual hero’s journey from childhood to public accomplishments, focusing on external trials and triumphs and the role played in public life. It was assumed that to play a role in public life, you would have to be a man. Again, we see the division of what is ultimately expected of public- vs. private-sphere denizens.

But one cannot write about real-life experiences from the place of the “I” without laying claim to a place in the world. The pieces included here—like most genuine, impactful life writing by good writers of all genders or none—cut across the private and public spheres to give us stories that can be surprising, shocking, or eerily familiar and relatable. This feature is meant to broach rather than summarize a rich and diverse area of reading possibilities. We invite you to cross the threshold of telling and enjoy a discordant cacophony of voices—certainly not a passive chorus—each weaving the narrative of a life that is simultaneously individual and connected with the world around it, so that the Arabness of the writer’s identity or location becomes secondary to the vital human stories she shares.

© 2020 by Sawad Hussain and Nariman Youssef. All rights reserved.

Sawad Hussain

Sawad Hussain is a translator from Arabic who has run multiple translation workshops.

Nariman Youssef

Nariman Youssef is a Cairo-born, London-based translator…

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Shakharbanu’s curse, the arab spring, part i.

Arabic Texts for Beginners

Arabic texts for beginners to practice reading and comprehension in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Mastering written MSA is both challenging and essential. Here's a simple and enjoyable method to test your progress.

Experienced Arabic teachers have crafted easy articles and straightforward conversations in MSA for beginners (levels A1 and A2) and intermediates (levels B1 and B2) to assess your understanding and ensure you are both challenged and gratified. Just click, read, and then respond to the multiple-choice questions of the associated test. Your answers are evaluated immediately, allowing you to progress to the next exercise seamlessly.

For additional convenience, you can download and print a PDF version of all texts and exercises.

Automated A rabic Essay Evaluation

Abeer Alqahtani , Amal Alsaif

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[Automated Arabic Essay Evaluation](https://aclanthology.org/2020.icon-main.24) (Alqahtani & Alsaif, ICON 2020)

• Automated Arabic Essay Evaluation (Alqahtani & Alsaif, ICON 2020)
• Abeer Alqahtani and Amal Alsaif. 2020. Automated Arabic Essay Evaluation . In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Natural Language Processing (ICON) , pages 181–190, Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Patna, India. NLP Association of India (NLPAI).