The swimmer should not rise above the water

Author's name: Ahmed Al-Ali Publisher: Majmouat Kalimat for Translation Year of publication: 2025 Literary classification: Poetry Book overview: This book is issued on the occasion of including Jebel Al-Faya in the Mleiha area of Sharjah on the UNESCO list of World Heritage, to present an introspective poetic work that explores the eternal relationship between man and land, between memory and existence. It is written so that the swimmer cannot rise above the water in the shadows of Jebel Al-Faya, through nights spent by the writer in those sands that witnessed human life since the Stone Age. Therefore, the writing came with a different voice, in broken sentences separated by lines, leaning towards symbolism, metaphor, and wisdom in a carefully constructed literary style that expresses the silence of the early ages. Ahmed Al-Ali imagines the language of humans in those early times, when words were only spoken out of necessity, to serve survival and understand the mystery of life. In such a harsh environment, there was no place for embellishment or decoration; priority was given to water, hunting, and life. Conversing with the stars, talking to the mountain, and questioning the ancestors were not madness, but a form of knowledge, a way for humans to understand themselves and their land, because the land, too, speaks. The poem in the form of a book, that the swimmer cannot rise above the water, is an reflection on the origin of the word, the meaning of permanence, and the voice of nature that still whispers deep within silence.