Dr Khalid Mohammed al Balushi

Games Played on Moonlit Nights

The following is my English translation of excerpts from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid Al KalbaniSeedaf Insect Satisfies our HungerI remember...

Material Known as Americani

The following is my English translation of excerpts from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid Al KalbaniThe Eid NightAfter seeing the Eid moon,...

The Incident That Became Something of a Legend

The following is my English translation of an excerpt from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid al KalbaniSoldiers in a CaravanA road cutting across...

From Our Folk Arts

The following is my English translation of excerpts from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid Al KalbaniOur Folk ArtsAt that time the widely-spread...

Our Sandals in the sixties

The following is my English translation of excerpts from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid al KalbaniOur Sandals, between Al Qashra and Al...

Iron Talks!

The following is my English translation of excerpts from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid al KalbaniAl HadhraOne of the noteworthy customs of...

Dog’s Ears Barbecued in the 60s

The following is my English translation of an excerpt from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid al Kalbani Dog’s Ears Barbecued, Seasoned with...

Tracking Honey in the 60s

The following is my English translation of an excerpt from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid al KalbaniHoney was then a common commodity and a...

Snake Poison Kills Us Not

The following is my English translation of an excerpt from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid al Kalbani Snake Poison Kills Us NotLeading a life...

Roof Like a Sieve in the 1960s

The following is my English translation of an excerpt from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid al KalbaniWhen It Rained in MiskinIt used to rain...

It Either Carries the Camel, or Else it Doesn’t Wet the Load the Camel Carries”

The following is my English translation of an excerpt from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid Al KalbaniAlmadiyyina CountingAlmadiyyina is village...

Serving our Local Community in the 1950s: The Road Project

The following is an English translation of an excerpt from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid Al KalbaniThe Road Project and the Six PiastersUpon...

Sabla, the Local Council in Oman

The following is an English translation of an excerpt from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid al Kalbani Under the Sabla’s Shadows Akin to a...

A Car Being Both a Bounty and a Cause of Pity

A Car in Miskin I remember the first car that arrived in Miskin and stopped motionless in the aabiya, the open square. It was driven by Sayyed bin Hamoud bin Nasr al Busaidy, who served in the Oman...

Honey flowing from Ibri

The Barghash TreeAn important feature of Miskan is the Barghis Tree. “Barghis”, as an epithet, has persisted through generations, albeit with no clear understanding as to how the tree was selected...

There’s a Silver Pen in our Hands

The following is an English translation of an excerpt from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid al KalbaniOur excitement with WademaIn our school...

“God bless you, Grand Teacher”

Conscientious and somewhat rigid in his approach, the teacher treated all his students as if they were his children. As for my father, he was educated enough to review my lessons. Like the rest of his...

In the Lap of Nature, between Mountains and Plains

The following is an English translation of an excerpt from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid al Kalbani:I simply don’t know when I was born, as...

Memory of a Generation

The following is a translation of an excerpt from “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” by (ret.) Inspector-General Said bin Rashid Al Kalbani Retrieving the TaleMany of us see nothing in our...

A Word on the Importance and Translation of “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar”

In this and the following columns, I will present my English translations of some parts of “A Soldier from Oman: Memory’s Nectar” (2016). Written originally in Arabic, this book gives a detailed...

author - oman observer