Nasser bin Ali bin Mubarak Al Bilal Al Mukhaini

Nasser bin Ali bin Mubarak Al Bilal Al Mukhaini: born in the Omani city of Sur in 1953 and died in 2006.    He published a poetry collection entitled "The Mermaid". Besides being a poet of delicate, lucid word, the late Ustadh Nasser Al Bilal was also a historical researcher who published a book about the janba (dagger). Among his poems brimming with richness and feeling is the poem "The Pearl of Sur", in which he says:

She gloried over poetry — both its knights and its arena —

when our lord ascended her throne in good fortune.

She gloried in you, O master of masters, and was revived;

indeed she renewed her renown, root and branches.

She gloried beyond all glory, the lights shining bright,

and the fragrant scent of glory burnishes a glory full and lush.

She is enraptured with poetry, radiant, from "Tiwi"

to "Ras Al Hadd" in the south, towards Jaalan.

Poetry vied throughout her expanse in brilliance,

swaying with it revelers and riders alike.

I never imagined that poetry could dwell in her,

until she sang of you — hills and shores alike.