Accurate translations of her authentic and intimate voice

Most lives on earth have been changed by war. I have no statistics, but even your own life probably bears the marks of warfare. Looking back at your family history, you may well find a time when your ancestors had to absorb the impact of war – land left behind, assets disappeared, or family lost – with consequences that have a long tail. Even now, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, rising gas prices and other impacts are causing adjustments all over this interconne

Salma, Salama, Salamah, Salima, Salimah, plus other variations, [1] and Salme . Lest there be any doubt: Only the last one is the correct name of the Omani princess that was born on the island of Zanzibar in 1844. No birth record would have told us the Latin spelling, but we do have countless other indications that this is how she spelled her own name for Western usage. That starts with her Memoirs , which Sayyida Salme wrote in German. [2] How can there be so many misspell

What happens when we make choices beyond what is allowed or accepted? Last month I wrote a blog post about endless choice, and how we tend to think that more choice means more freedom and more freedom, more choice. [1] Today I am writing about bounded choice, where freedom stops. At some level, we transgress frequently. With so many rules and norms, it does not take much. Every time I walk across an intersection at a red light (especially in Germany, heaven forbid!), I choos

We, as custodians of the past, turn history into legacy. Sayyida Salme / Emily Ruete left us her writings, but what do we make of them?...

A month ago, I was nearing publication of The Centennial Collection , the third in my series on Sayyida Salme’s life and writings. I had...

Death comes to all of us until our own death arrives. Death is a fact of life, as we live a lifetime of family and friends that we lose....

March is Women’s History month in the United States, coinciding with International Women’s Day on March 8. As a time to highlight women’s...

Today, February 29, 2024, marks 100 years since Sayyida Salme’s passing. Since 100 is divisible by 4, that works out. Leap day only comes...