Peace, Salaam, Shalom

I wish these things for you

Hi all,

Thank you for joining me for this Sunday Special commentary.

(415 words)

Let’s learn a few words in languages other than English!

The song for today is Peace, Salaam, Shalom, written and performed by Emma’s Revolution. Can you guess what the words mean? Peace, of course, is English. A dictionary definition shows:

1. Freedom from disturbance; tranquility (calm)

2. A state or period in which there is no war or a war has ended

The next word is salaam. This is the Arabic word for peace. It is written like this and is read right to left:

سلام

Next, we have shalom, the Hebrew word for peace. It is written like this and  is also read right to left:

שָׁלוֹם

Both Arabic and Hebrew writing systems are beautiful, don’t you think? Both salaam and shalom had their beginnings perhaps 4,000 years ago in a similar Semitic language. (The Semitic language family includes Hebrew, Arabic, and other languages used long ago.) If you look carefully, you can see some similarities in the shapes of the letters.

The song is quite easy because the lyrics peace, salaam, shalom repeat.

Peace, Salaam, Shalom 

We believe in peace 

We will work for peace 

We can live in peace 

The song mentions several place names. Jerusalem is the capital city of Israel. It is an important city to the Jewish people and people of the Muslim faith as well as Christians. Ramallah is a city in the West Bank of Palestine. Tel-Aviv is a highly-populated city on the west coast of Israel. Hebron is a city in Palestine that is also important to these three religions. Kabul is the capital of Afghanistan. 

In Farsi (the language found in many parts of the region of Persia - Iran, Egypt, Turkey, and parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan), peace is solh and is written like this:

صلح

Lebanon is the country directly to the north of Israel. New York City is located in the northeast of the United States.

Jerusalem, Ramallah 

In Tel-Aviv, in Washington 

In Hebron, in Kabul 

In Lebanon, in New York City 

We believe in peace

There is another version that includes phrases in French and Spanish.

Nous poursuivons la paix  — French: We work for peace

Creemos en la paz — Spanish: We believe in peace

…

Our cultural differences are surface issues. I believe that most human beings around the world want the same things: enough food, a safe, warm home, a family or friends to share life with, a decent job, and to live in peace. 

I wish these things for you, too.

All images from Wikimedia Commons