Sunday, March 05, 2006 E-Mail this article to a friend Printer Friendly Version

WORD FOR WORD: Behind me, my enemy! — Khaled Ahmed

Another word we use in Urdu for enemy is ‘raqeeb’. It has a very interesting etymology. The root ‘rqb’ means neck. Anyone who is guarding a flock of cattle is constantly turning his head around on his neck to see if the animals are being attacked

The idea of enemy is derived from a negative feeling depending on what kind of a person you are. If you are a good man, the man who stalks you is the enemy. If you are a marauder, the man who guards himself against you is the enemy.

The word we use in Urdu is mukhalif meaning someone who follows behind. The root is khlf which is also at work in khalifa, the word we use for heir. Because rulers were supposed to be heirs of earlier rulers, khalifa came to mean ruler.

Man is the heir (khalifa) of God on earth. If your son is an unworthy heir and is disobedient you call him nakhalaf in Urdu. We have the word ikhtilaf, which we use for the opposition in parliament. It also denotes lack of agreement.

The man who comes after you can be your guard or your stalker. It is in the sense of stalking that the root conveys the meaning of enemy.

The Quran uses ikhtilaf for those who opposed the prophets of God and received divine punishment. The word mukhalif has a negative meaning. Ikhtilaf is the opposite of ittifaq (consensus).

Another word we use in Urdu for enemy is raqeeb. It has a very interesting etymology. The root rqb means neck. Anyone who is guarding a flock of cattle is constantly turning his head around on his neck to see if the animals are being attacked.

First of all, raqeeb has the meaning of guardian. Many people name their children Raqeeb because of this positive sense. Yet there is another meaning, which is enemy.

In Urdu poetry raqeeb is the ultimate opponent. Raqabat in Urdu means enmity. Quite obviously the derived meaning comes from a society of marauders who don’t like people guarding their flocks.

When you guard something you make a circle around it or you separate it from the rest of the landscape. So we have raqba (territory) as a ground that has been measured and separated.

Urdu uses the Persian word dushman too. This word for enemy went to Romania through Turkish and today the Romanian language has the word in its dictionary meaning enemy. The first syllable dush is from Sanskrit dusht (bad).

It is possible that dushman means someone with a bad name. Bad name in Persian is dushnaam (curse) and this word has become elided with usage to become dushman. The final sense is quite clear; enemy is someone you curse.

Foe in English is related to feud and gives us the sense of swearing (to revenge). Russian vrag (enemy) could possibly also be a battlefield word taken from the act of wounding. Hindi shatru and ripu also convey the same sense of a pain-giver.

Hindi virodhi (opponent) comes from a root meaning to stop. Hence anyone who is an obstruction is enemy. A shortening of the word gives us ver (enmity) and veri (enemy) in Punjabi and the Hindi-Urdu version ber and beri.

There is a bit of a hint of the Indo-European in adversary and Punjabi veri, someone who turns (menacingly) towards you. Opponent is someone who stands in front much like our muqabil. And he who moves against us: antagonist.

Agon was the arena where Greek elders sat to watch the wrestlers. In that contest, the great physical strain on the part of the wrestlers was called agony, which stands for the suffering that comes from endurance. *

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...5-3-2006_pg3_4
For those who don't know Urdu or only a smattering, this aritcle is worth a "dekko".