ad-daanah

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

TIP: hover over the Kuwaiti words to see the translations!

Cleopatra, pharaoh and muse of great artists, once dissolved luuluuah in a glass of wine then drank it, proving to Mark Anthony that she could consume the entire wealth of a nation fii wajbah waaHdah. 

al-luuluuah, once a symbol of power, has today become a common accessory. But occasionally you'll hear a story of someone in the world who has Talab oysters only to spit out a high-grade freshwater jewel.

Oysters are simple enough organisms, but extremely sensitive. A grain of sand is enough to shatter their harmony, and should a mere grain get trapped inside their shell, the oyster goes into defence mode, secreting a crystalline substance - nacre - that coats the irritant and eases its suffering. 

Once bitten, twice shy as the saying goes, but for an oyster that has been invaded, the process of defence never ends. And the longer it defends itself, the more luuluuat-haa becomes akbar, athgal and afkhar.

In Kuwaiti, this type of exceptional luuluuah has been given its very own name, ad-daanah. Mentioned in yesterday's post, the pursuit of ad-daanah in the film The Cruel Sea leads to the death of a young pearl diver but makes his impoverished family rich.

And so the romance of humanity and the pearl lives on.

Verb	طلبت	Talabt	I ordered
	طلبت	Talabt	You ordered (>m)
	طلبتي	Talabtay	You ordered (>f)
	طلبتو	Talabtaw	You ordered (>pl)
	طلبنا	Talabnaa	We ordered
	طلب	Talab	He ordered
	طلبت	Talabat	She ordered
	طلبو	Talabaw	They ordered
	اكبر	akbar	larger
Adjectives	اثقل	athgal	heavier
	افخر	afkhar	finer
	اضعف	aD:af	weaker
	اللؤلؤة	al-luuluuah	The pearl
Nouns	لؤلؤة	luuluuah	A pearl
	لؤلؤتها	luuluuat-haa	Its pearl (the oyster's pearl)
	لؤلؤ	luuluu	Pearls
Phrase	في وجبة واحدة	fii wajbah waaHdah	In a single meal