Arabic word of the week: How 'waha' became a symbol of hope and refuge

In the vast desert landscapes of the Arabian Peninsula, the sight of greenery has long brought a sense of relief. For centuries, these fertile places have provided travellers with shelter, communities with sustenance and settlements with the means to survive.

Our Arabic word of the week, waha, meaning oasis, describes an area in a desert where water allows vegetation to flourish. Its plural is wahat.

Oases have played an essential role in the region's history, supporting agriculture and particularly the cultivation of date palms, which provide food, shade and materials for construction.

In the UAE, Al Ain, whose name means “the spring”, is home to several ancient oases that helped to sustain communities for thousands of years.

Six of these form part of a Unesco World Heritage Site, recognised in 2011. Their traditional aflaj irrigation systems demonstrate the ingenuity required to cultivate land in an arid environment.

Show caption: Al Ain Oasis is an Unesco World Heritage Site. Pawan Singh /…

Today, Al Ain Oasis is a popular tourist attraction, with shaded pathways winding through approximately 147,000 date palms.

Its cultural significance attracted international attention in August when Disney showcased footage of its Imagineers visiting the site. The creative and technical designers were researching Emirati heritage for the company's planned Abu Dhabi theme park.

Further west, Liwa Oasis serves as the gateway to the Empty Quarter. Known for its date farms, historic forts and towering dunes, the area is becoming increasingly accessible to tourists, with an Etihad Rail station scheduled to open on November 30.

Saudi Arabia's Al Ahsa holds the Guinness World Record for the largest self-contained oasis, with more than 2.5 million date palms.

The desert oasis has also been immortalised in cinema, most famously in David Lean's 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia. Following a gruelling journey across the desert, Lawrence and his companions reach a palm-fringed oasis, where the sight of water offers a moment of relief from the unforgiving landscape. The scene captures the oasis as a place of refuge and survival.

Beyond its geographical meaning, waha has acquired a rich figurative significance in Arabic. Expressions such as wahat al-hudoo, meaning oasis of tranquillity, and wahat al-amal, or oasis of hope, use the word to suggest emotional refuge and reassurance.

This symbolism extends into Arabic poetry. In Elixir of Life, Emirati poet Hamad Abu Shehab compares a beloved person to an oasis surrounded by flourishing gardens and flowing water, transforming the landscape into a symbol of love and comfort.

The word also appears in music. Lebanese singer Majida Al Roumi describes Kuwait as wahat al-khaleej, or an oasis of the Gulf, in Kuwait Ya Balad Al Salam, celebrating the country as a place of peace and prosperity.

Its association with refreshment has also made waha appealing commercially. The Oasis by Adnoc convenience stores, found at service stations across the UAE, borrow the name's suggestion of respite during a journey. The brand was refreshed in 2025, introducing an expanded selection of food and drinks.

From the ancient settlements sustained by precious water sources to modern expressions of peace and comfort, waha has evolved beyond its geographical origins. What once represented the promise of physical survival now also evokes the emotional reassurance of finding refuge in an otherwise demanding world.