Nabeel is the kind of <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2023/07/07/bashar-the-arabic-word-that-explores-what-it-means-to-be-human/" target="_blank">word </a>that makes you want to sit up straight and act your best. No wonder then that it’s a popular Arabic name bestowed upon baby boys. Nabeel, which when translated means noble, is also used to describe various virtues in a person of gravitas. As well as meaning generous, it also describes behaviour or acts that are chivalrous and gallant. A person of lofty stature is described as nabeel, while the same term applies to the magnanimous. Women are also described in similar terms under the term nabeela, with Nabeela another favoured name across the region. Intriguingly, due to the expansive and subtle meanings behind nabeel, famous <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/2022/10/19/palestinian-singer-noel-kharman-is-putting-personality-back-into-arabic-popular-music/" target="_blank">Arabic singers</a> and songwriters have historically stayed away from the word in their explorations of love and heartbreak. The word has found slightly more traction on the small screen, however. Those of a certain age will remember after-school screenings of the 1989 animated series <i>Al Fata Al Nabeela</i> (The Noble Girl), while in 2009 there was the premier of the hit Ramadan drama <i>Ahlam Nabila </i>(Noble Dreams). Hefty in meaning yet elusive in everyday use, nabeel is a word encouraging us to be the best versions of ourselves.
