"When the sun rises, my thoughts rise, too"

14. Februar 2018 | Helene Aecherli | Blog

POETRY FROM OMAN

Poetry has become a rare literary art. But sometimes you discover strings of pearls - words and phrases that touch your heart. Omani writer Lubna Al Balushi is passionate about creating gem after gem. She composes her poems in Arabic, English, Balochi - and in German. That bouquet of languages, her fine sense of rhythm and the fearlessness with which she expresses her emotions make her one of the most exceptional Omani artists of her time.

Yes, this is indeed something special: A young Omani woman writing poetry in German - a language that is difficult to write in even for many German native speakers. But what might seem like a painful task or something you only do when you have lost a bet, is here rather a matter of deep love - or more so: a matter of passion. Lubna Al Balushi, 34, studied German at the Goethe Institut in Muscat and won a scholarship to continue her studies in Freiburg. Back in Oman she worked on her German skills on her own - and fell so deeply in love with the sounds and rhythms of this language that she started to use it to express her feelings.

"Schönheit des Herzens", Beauty of the Heart

First there were just a few shy phrases, strings of deeply filled words. Then there emerged poems that eventually became a book - something Lubna had always dreamt of. In "Schönheit des Herzens", Beauty of the Heart, she presents an exquisite collection of 54 poems, each of them opening up, as she says, a window to her soul.

When I ask her what inspires her poetry, she answers spontaneously: “Emotions! Instant and spontaneous excess of feelings. Moments and memories, be they words, experiences, stories, photos or music.” And when I wonder when she would put all this to paper, she says: “When the sun rises, my thoughts rise, too. If they are those thoughts with strong feelings, then I will not be satisfied until they get converted into words. At that moment, time and place won’t matter.”

Al Mar’a Excellence Award

Her poetic art work gained her the Al Mar’a Excellence Award, an award that is given each year to Omani women who excel in their achievements. Moreover, Lubna cooperated with German photographer Anja Menzel for the exhibition “Faces from the Land of Tolerance”. It showcased portraits of Omani men, women and children, the photos were underlined by Lubna’s poetry. And last but not least: Lubna Al Balushi was discovered by the Swiss music group “Dust of Soul” that integrated her work in their program “Humanity First”, an amalgamation of music and spoken word.

Wunschbrücke

Ich wünsche

Die andere Seite der Welt zu erreichen

Die Brücken der Liebe in die Welt

zu erweitern

Den Frieden der Welt widmen

Und ich wünsche

Mich nicht hinter den Phantasien

zu verbergen

Sondern eine Welt der Phantasie

zu kreieren

Und von einer schönen Welt zu träumen

Mit einer besonderen Berührung von mir

Und anderen Träumern

Und weil ich sehr gut weiß,

dass Wünsche und Träume mit uns wachsen;

Werde ich nicht nach einem Wunsch und

einem Traum aufhören!

"Wunschbrücke" in Arabic

جسرُ الأمَاني

أتمنى

أن أصلَ إلى الطَّرف الآخر منَ العالم

أنْ أمد جُسورَ المحبة للعالم

أنْ أهدي السَّلامَ إلى العالم

ولا أتمنى

أنْ أختبىء وراءَ الخيالات

بلْ أصنع الخيالَ وأحلمَ بعالمٍ جميل

ذات لمسَةٍ خاصة منّي ومن الحالمين الآخرين

ولأنني أعرفُ جيداً أن الأماني والأحلامَ تكبرُ معنا؛

فأنا لنْ أتوقف عندَ أُمنيةٍ واحدةٍ وحُلمٍ واحد!

Lubna Al Balushi at one of the breathtaking beaches in Muscat.
Photo: Helene Aecherli

But although Lubna enjoys peaks of success poetry is a rocky field. A tough choice of passion. All over the world, also in a country like Oman - and even more so for a young woman who with her public dedication to her art challenges traditions and social conventions. Sometimes she wishes for more support, for more appreciation, also for her daily work as a project manager in an international company. But then again, “lack of support”, she states, “has always been an extra motive for me to achieve more. I simply set my mind towards my goals, my dreams, my career development, my higher education and social life - and then the achievements will come eventually.”

"Lack of support has always been an extra motive for me to achieve more"
In other words: To get ahead, you need to be stubborn and to stay focused. And you will have to shun hypocrites and people who get on your nerves. Lubna has set out to do exactly that: She got an MBA of the University of Bradford, decided to concentrate on her new poetry path and on the new opportunities that might arise with that. She has started to extend her poetry not only to English, to gain a broader audience, but also to Arabic and Balochi, the language of the Baloch people, a Northwestern Iranian language, her second mother tongue.

She focuses on being a passionate aunt to her four young nieces, who to her are a constant source of happiness. And she works on launching the photo exhibition “Faces from the Land of Tolerance” also at the Omani Embassy in Berlin.

And much more is yet to come. For sure.