Oman is a country that is defined not by periods of upheaval, but by centuries of continuity in trade, seafaring, and a quiet openness to the world. Arabic and Islamic values meet modern ideas and weave a unique web of modernity and tradition, which is also reflected in the self-image of today’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq. He has taken up the historical thread of his great predecessor, Sultan Qaboos ibn Said, and is consistently continuing it by understanding preservation and change as part of the same process.
At 2 a.m., my plane lands in Muscat and, still half asleep, I take a taxi through the empty and quiet city to my hotel. My first impressions are confusing. Organically designed buildings of a modern, oriental metropolis, glowing mosques from a bygone era, drivers wearing flip-flops and traditional dishdashas. And yet everything fits together here. Over the next few days in Muscat, my impressions become more intense, because modernity and history do not compete, but coexist, visible in the architecture, palpable in the rhythm of everyday life, and in a form of hospitality that is not aimed at attention, but at open interest.
After three days, I leave the capital and move inland towards Nizwa. As I travel further away from the city, it becomes clear how closely life here is linked to its surroundings, how limited resources are handled as a matter of course. I quickly get the feeling that people make do with what they have and are content with their world, which from our perspective seems small. This focus on the essentials results in wonderful things, such as the Damask roses on the terraces of Jebel Al Akhdar or the sacred frankincense in the Dhofar Mountains. Much here does not need to be questioned or reinvented, as these are routines that have proven themselves over a long period of time, whether in family structures, the trading rituals of the souks, or the natural dependence on water, which is distributed through the ancient aflaj irrigation systems.
The journey continues through the desert region of Wahiba Sands to Sur, and between the mountains, the desert, and the coast, the landscape changes constantly. The basic impression, however, remains the same, as if everything were following an inner measure that does not need to be accelerated, and this is precisely where my own view shifts. Away from inner dissatisfaction and restlessness, towards quiet and natural awareness.
It has been a long time since I last experienced how emptiness can be felt and how, through quiet observation, this emptiness can be filled with new content. Oman does not provoke or overpower, but opens up space for new perspectives without having to name or evaluate them.
What remains is not a loud memory, but a quiet clarity of a country that presents itself as modern and open to the world, while placing great importance on preserving its Arab and Islamic identity. Perspectives sometimes arise precisely when you stop trying to force them.
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