أقارب vs عقارب

One letter, two different reunions.

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First things first.

I’m an Arabic language enthusiast. The kind of person who gets excited about root words, homophones, grammar (maybe), and their nuances. Arabic has been a source of endless fascination to me, even though I broke up with it more than a couple of times, only to be reunited again. Through my self-learning journey, which started years ago, I have come to appreciate its layered and intricate system where every letter, pronunciation, vowel, or missing dot will throw you off the curve. This is me creating a space to share my findings, one word at a time. Welcome aboard!

Currently reading the book القراءة الراشدة by Abul Hassan Nadwi, I can’t help but notice the author’s unique writing style, weaving words beautifully to produce the kind of Arabic that stops you mid-sentence, makes you reread it, and makes you think, "How did he do that?"

Okay, to the main point of this post. While reading chapters 11 & 12 (الساعة & الفطور), I came across the words عقارب and أقارب (notice the difference in the first letter). I was like, wait! This looks identical and sounds almost identical, yet is completely different in meaning. I put on my investigative hat and went for a closer look.

عقارب- hand of a clock/scorpions

أقارب - relatives/family

One different letter and the meaning flips from "relatives" to "a bunch of scorpions or the hand of a clock " depending on the context. Honestly, Arabic keeps you humble.

Okay, any reason why the hand of a clock and a bunch of scorpions are sharing the same word? I found out that it is used as such because “the hand of the clock sweeps around slowly just like the scorpion curls its tail.” Amazing, eh!

Interestingly, their singular form does sound different.

(scorpion)عقارب - عقرب

(someone close to you, nearness/closeness) أقارب - قريب

I can imagine typing in a group chat that “the scorpions are coming for Eid” instead of “my relatives.” I also discovered this Arabic proverb that goes:

الأقارب عقارب

“Relatives are scorpions.”

This proverb plays out well, perhaps during a dramatic situation with relatives. I do appreciate the wordplay, but not quite sure about the meaning. Well, that’s probably a discussion for another day. Now I know to keep the ع for the stingers and the أ family chat

That’s Arabic for you. Poetic, precise, and occasionally terrifying, depending on the letter you use.

Thanks for reading my first post! If you are a fellow Arabic nerd, a learner, or just someone who enjoys a good linguistic coincidence, then you are in the right place.