15:07 Sep 28, 2011 

Since both answers confirm that the tear is just a tear like in a teardrop and not any sea creature, the one that came first gets the points. I'd like to thank everybody for the discussion and especially Veronica for the Nura Abdi reference. I think that the meaning of the tear metaphor is similar in any culture, however it's true that some cultures might exploit it more than others. Thanks again.

06:10 Sep 27, 2011 

It may not NECESSARILY lead to the conclusion, but who knows? It is amazing how many cultural references do actually come through the speech of bi-lingual speakers, and as I was correct that this text was written by somebody native in another language, it could be worth looking into it as it could throw up an interesting reference.

06:07 Sep 27, 2011 

Nura Abdi is not a Pakistani writer. The fact that Nura Abdi and Kamila Shamsie have both used "tear" in a metaphorical sense should not lead to the conclusion that this is a peculiarly Pakistani image.
Just because Shamsie grew up in Pakistan does not mean she doesn't write English as a native speaker.
There is no such thing as "Pakistan language."

05:43 Sep 27, 2011 

Sorry if I my comments are not fully understood. I was not disputing the beauty of the text and maybe my use of "badly" was a bit strong. I was just ascertaining whether the text was written by a non-native speaker due to the use of "which" and "on shore" (see my comment), which did not sound to me like they were written by an English native. As it appears I was correct, I think it would be worth looking into word associations with "tear" in Pakistan language, even if this is to be the chosen target word for the translation, as it may throw light on why it required questioning in the first place. (As this metaphor has also been used by another author as commented on by Veronika, there is obviously more meaning to Pakistani speakers than to English speakers with regard to this REFERENCE.) - My point was that the text was not written by an English native and that any metaphors or expressions may have come from Pakistan!

01:33 Sep 27, 2011 

I don't think I agree that it is poorly written; personally, I find her writing quite beautiful. The meaning of the tear metaphor seems unproblematic. As Lindsay has said, the sea creature is like a tear in two ways: it resembles a tear because it is wet and shimmers in the sand, and it is sad because it has been abandoned on the shore.

22:53 Sep 26, 2011 

Then I would check the significance of a "tear" in Pakistan language. It could be a reference to something which was not well translated into English by the Author, seeing as English is the author's second language. It's could be some sort of a metaphor but maybe in Pakistan a tear has some significance which the author was unable to render.

22:16 Sep 26, 2011 

It's from a book by Kamila Shamsie, a Pakistani author writing in English.

22:04 Sep 26, 2011 

Is this definitely written by an English writer? Some of the language sounds badly written. If it is a bad translation or not a native speaker's writing, you need to speak to the client. This is where the grammar looks strange to me:
"I carry it to the water which abandoned it on shore and place it in the waves" ("which" and "on shore" sound odd to me).