During my research to write my new novel, I stopped for a long time at a number of characters who inhabited the maritime memory of Bahrain and the Gulf. I found in each one of them features of the ancient Bahraini man, the one who wrestled with the waves in search of pearls, and established a civilization out of salt and patience. Among those biographies that have not left my mind, a unique name emerged in his epic, and that is Al-Sardal Salem bin Juma Al-Shorouki, the man who lost his sight, but… God gave him penetrating insight that sees the sea, deciphers its codes, and understands its language as if it had been spoken from time immemorial.
Salem was born in Al Hamriyah in 1835, in a time when sailboats made fate, and the sea was the first school in which a person learned the meaning of danger, and the meaning of trust as well. He grew up in an environment that did not know comfort, as everything in it was tied to livelihood hanging on the waves, and although losing sight could have been the end of a dream for any man, Salem turned into one of the greatest captains of the Arabian Gulf, commanding ships and supervising diving trips. His name became synonymous with experience and amazement.
Al-Sirdal is an old maritime title given to the commander of the diving fleet or the highest official responsible for organizing pearl extraction trips in the Arabian Gulf. He is like the commander-in-chief of sailors and nawkhadhas. Al-Sirdal is responsible for determining the date of the start of the diving season, and the qaffal, which means the end of the voyage and the return of the ships. He supervises the distribution of dives among the nawkhadhas, and monitors their adherence to maritime laws and prevailing custom.
Al-Serdal Salem knew the sea like he knew the palm of his hands. He owned a number of ships that sailed at his command, driving them himself, setting the timing of the shower and the lock, reading the winds by the smell of salt, and alerting to storms before they blew. The sailors believed that hearing his voice meant survival, and that touching his hand gave them a reassurance that the sea did not give to anyone.
The story of the lost Hare is told about him, which has become part of the legend. On one of his journeys, he came across a small lost ship belonging to sailors from Al-Hawla. He asked them about the star they walked on and the number of days they spent at sea. From their answers, he deduced a new location for Al-Hairat, so he ordered his son Al-Nukhatha Saad to sail at midnight without lights or noise, and at dawn they reached the promised sinkholes, where they found the pearls. Shining at the bottom of the sea as if it was waiting for them alone, and this was not just a coincidence, but rather the result of innate knowledge and divine sense that the sea taught to those who were honest with it.
It is said that he was asleep on one of the trips, and suddenly woke up screaming: “Break the rudder, there is a mountain in front of us!” It was only moments before the ship’s stern collided with the fish, and when the sailors asked him how he realized the danger, he said that he heard the sound of a smooth fish that does not come out of the water except when the ship approaches a shallow place, so he heard what no one else heard, and saved the ship from sinking. That was a moment that proved that losing sight is a passage towards another sense that senses the universe with its clarity and mystery together.
It is said that one day, Al-Sardal Salem bin Juma Al-Shorouki, his sailors wanted to test him, so they brought with them marine clay from the “Ain Raya” area and hid it to convince him that they were in different seas than “Hayr Shtayyeh.” When the Serdal ordered them to stop to collect shellfish, they tried to convince him that the place was not the intended one, so he asked for a rope to measure the depth and then ordered one of them to bring mud from the bottom. They presented him with the clay they had brought, wet to make it appear as if it were from the sea.
The blind Sardal took it and sniffed it for a moment, then said in his loud voice: “The clay is Raya’s clay, and the hair is Hayr Shtayyeh.” The deception was exposed, and his men’s respect for him increased. Since that day, the proverb has been used to indicate insight that cannot be deceived, and knowledge that transcends human senses.
Al-Sardal Salem bin Juma Al-Shorouki passed away in 1930, after a life filled with the sea and adventure. He left behind a biography that illuminates aspects of Bahrain’s history before oil, when ships were schools, captains were teachers, and the sea was an open book for those who knew how to read it. In his biography, the deeper meaning of the phrase that resonates in the minds of the people of the sea is revealed: He who loves the sea learns patience, and he who is patient learns his sight. the truth.
This is how the blind Sardal taught us that insight is wider than the horizon, and that the Bahraini person, no matter how storms buffet him, remains able to sail towards the light, even if the waves in his eyes are always dark.
