What does rahadlakum mean?

"Virtue"

Rahat loukoum--turkish for "rest for the throat" is a name for Turkish Delight.

Rahadlakum is a song in the Broadway musical Kismet. Set in a highly romanticized Baghdad (think 1001 Nights), Kismet is about a beggar/poet named Haaj who gets caught up in the machinations of the city's evil Chief of Police (or Wazir). Along the way, he manages to seduce and be seduced by the Wazir's vivacious wife Lalume. Rahadlakum is the song where this happens, when the two match wits by having an "erotic discourse" about "the nature of Virtue."

The initial lines are heavy with insinuation and association like the zinger "Virtue is the foe of depravity/barricade from Hell's dark cavity," but they remain reasonably clear until Lalume throws Haaj for a loop when she declares Virtue to be "Rahadlakum."

Rahadlakum is most likely a bastardization of rahat loukoum. The line in the song, "'tis sweet with the meat of the lechee nut/combined with a kumquat and rind," is a description of Turkish delight, a confectionery sweet that at times include nuts and can be flavored with the zest of lemon rind.


--rahat loukoum information taken from answers.com,
--musical lyrics and background from "Kismet--Original Broadway Cast Recording" CD

--CeWelman

First answer by Cewelman. Last edit by Cewelman. Contributor trust: 16 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 15 [recommend question]