Sorry to disagree Mosaic, the ah is not pronounced by native Arabic speakers as akin to och. Instead, for example, the name Ahmed or Ahmad is not pronounced Akhmed (or Amed, as one hears so often in the UK) but Ahmed where the h is a very noticeable ("windy") H. On the other hand, I believe Jewish pronunciation tends to be akin to Akhmed. The greeting "Ahlan, Wasahlan" might be written in roman text as Ahhhhlan, Wasahhhhlan to signify the strength of the H sound.