author - oman observer

12) Stories of Mohammed ibn Abi Al-Mu’mal:Was a miser who had interesting theories regarding food and water. He said that the worst enemies of bread were condiments as it made people eat more. He...

8) A miser shared a story with his other miser friends: “I suffered from a bad cough for days. People I know recommended eating Persian sweets called Faneeth and Khazeera (made from starch, sugar,...

Stories from Al-Jahiz’s Book of Misers, from the chapter covering the people of Khorasan (Iran):1) “If a guest arrives to a person from the city of Marv and stays for too long, the host would ask...

One of the most important classical writers in the Arab world comes from the Abbasid Caliphate. Born in Basra in 776 A.D, Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr will become known by his nickname: Al-Jahiz (the bug...

Like many Omanis, I felt anxious when reading the news about the search for the cousin fishermen Ali and Salim Al-Jafari who disappeared while fishing in Al-Ashkharah in Sharqiya region on June the...

Just when the bird rescues were over, a new influx of kittens flooded Kitzania. By the end of Ramadhan, I received a call from my friend Joseph, who’d found a litter of five kittens at his workplace...

Last Ramadhan, we had an unusual type of rescues in Kitzania: birds.The first rescue happened on the third day of Ramadhan. It was 2.30 am and I was up having my early breakfast when I heard a squawk...

Years after watching the first part of the Mexican mini-series Crime Diaries: The Night out, I decided to watch the third part that’s called The Search (2020). The series discusses the real case of...

Due to the pandemic, my old friend Josip has been locked up in his apartment in Hamburg for almost two years. Having no connection to the outside world but through his landline, I’d call him from...

35) Between Hana and Mana Our Beard was Lost: there was a man who had to two wives: Hana and Mana. Hana was young and whenever she saw greys in her husband’s beard, she plucked them out claiming...

And we continue our journey through meaningful ancient Arabic proverbs:29) War is a Draw: this proverb is used to indicate that life is everchanging and nothing stays the same. It was famously used by...

23) Of a Blamed without Guilt: this was said by Al Ahnaf ibn Qais (619-691 A.D) the leader of Tameem tribe and a man known for his patience that it was said: “More Patient than Al Ahnaf ibn...

We continue this week with ancient Arabic proverbs and the story behind them:16) I Have No Camel in It: Remember Al-Basous war between the tribes of Bakr and Taghlub that lasted 40 years over a camel?...

This week we continue with ancient proverbs from Arabia:5) The Camel Leaders and The Archers Blended: in ancient wars, soldiers either led horses and camels on ground or were archers. In the heat of...

One of the beauties of our language — that is sadly missed by the newer generation who are becoming non-native speakers of it — is the abundance usage of proverbs that you could borrow from your...

In 1969, Abimael Guzmán (also known as Chairman Gonzalo) founded The Communist Party of Peru —Shining Path that was based on Marxism-Leninism- Maoism and his own thoughts. It started its war...

To mark the 11th anniversary of Arab Spring this year, I decided to watch a movie that talks about it from a different perspective; that of a poor woman called Nawara. Nawara (played by Menna Shalabi)...

Whenever I hear the book title: The Catcher in the Rye, the first image that came to mind was a story set in the 1800’s US — in a cornfield specifically — with a Bogeyman hiding amidst it...

The mini-series series Troy: Fall of a City (2018) is much different from the movie Troy that came out in 2004. The movie was loaded with beautiful stars yet never did justice to the original myth....

When my friend Peter came back after vacation, he gave the best gift ever: another book by his compatriot writer and Noble Prize winner Ivo Andrić. Peter had decided to gift me his personal favorite:...