What makes poets different?

There could be many answers to the question, ‘What makes poets different from others?

Is it their love for words or the challenge to make it all sound harmonious or is it their passion to express themselves?

Maybe it is their dedication to reflect on life and write it on paper. Maybe they have more empathy than others. But they could be even introverts yet while writing they become the best in expressing inner most thoughts and at times provoking readers to think deep with them shaking our shallow existence. Some readers are at loss in the pool of words, metaphors and similes. Why would we live in world of symbolism one might wonder, why not say it as it is? Is there so much to sun rises and sunsets or a few lines on a face?

Well, the answer to that is why does Van Gogh’s sunflowers remain in our heads still after so many years?

A work of art whether in strokes or words leave an impression in others, maybe the only difference is that now we do not celebrate them much.

The world today is a place where all artists amateurs and professionals can have their own windows because of the social media. Artists, at the same time, do not have to work as much as they did before or wait for their turn to fame due to social media and its world of filters. Fame, however can be short lived but true talent can last centuries.

The Sultanate of Oman lost a renowned poet in February 2022, Hilal Mohammed al Amri who has had a wonderful career that also included television, higher education and of course heritage and culture.

Some of his works are: ’Winds for the traveller after the poem, The Hodge of Exile, 1983; A Drop in the Time of Thirst, 1985; Writing on the Silence, 1987; A Break in a Time of Anxiety, 1989; Al Alaq al Wafed, 1991. And in 2013, the National Book Support Programme in the Sultanate of Oman collected his works in a book called, ‘The Complete Works of the Poet Hilal al Amiri’ published in 2013.

Gentle in manners and soft spoken, he contributed to the Arabic literature in his own way and was awarded in the year 2006 the Sultan Qaboos Medal for Culture, Science and Arts. Proving his success in his professional career in 2009 he was awarded the Medal of Merit for Good Civil Service. In 2013 he received the Literary and Cultural Participation Medal from the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States.

February 2022 saw him bid goodbye but he has left behind beautiful verses in Arabic. To know a nation, there are many ways and one of them is literature. Would it not be amazing to know the literature of a nation through its writers, which means seeking for translated works of authors from the Sultanate of Oman.

Like any other sector this field too needs supporters when it comes to publishing as well as critiques to safeguard and guide originality and quality. For now there might be many writers who might let their writing remain in their notebooks.

The reasons could be many - it could be they are reserved about their thoughts publicly, it could be the lack of confidence, it could be the cost of publishing or the challenge of finding the publishers.

In the olden days too there were poems but they were not written down but it was an oral tradition and I suppose in the place of prose was the folk tales. The folk songs and stories give us glimpses of life in the past - the hopes, the dreams and at times heart breaks too.

The poet Hilal al Amri, a person who found a perfect balance between literature and professional career in administration, was also an inspiration for me as a child. Some people just leave their impression and inspire. And his was all about humility, knowledge and culture of humanity.