The Arabic language is rich in synonyms. Perhaps that is what prompted the famous Egyptian writer, Abbas Mahmoud Al-Aqqad, to call it the “poetic language.” There are of course other reasons for this name.

There are about 18 synonyms for the word “love.” We have a story in which all of these synonyms have been used by a man expressing his love to his wife after she left, deserted or abandoned him by khula (a form of divorce in Shariah where the woman secures her divorce through financial compensation to the husband). The Kingdom’s newspapers recently reported that the husband agreed to the khula, something that makes us believe that it was the wife who wanted to separate.

The husband, agonized by love, sent his ex-wife 181 text messages requesting her to come back. The woman refused all these messages, which were enough to fill a book on love and which would immediately become a bestseller.

While he was bombarding his ex-wife with love messages, relatives and friends tried to reconcile them but the woman turned a deaf ear. Not only that, she took her ex-husband to court for annoying her with too many love messages.

The judge at the summary court in Buraidah sentenced him to 70 lashes and prevented him from ever approaching her again. The Court of Cassation then approved the verdict making it final.

My dear lady, remember the proverb: “Never lock doors behind you, you may need to enter them again.”