Pinnacle

Details: Written by Marwah Elazhary; Category: PINNACLE; Published: 01 May 2005; Hits: 8364

17 Year old Kholood Habiballa’s poetic skills were discovered early, with teachers and family members encouraging her to develop this talent further. With that, she won a poetry contest in America, gaining recognition and publicity as a young talented poet, setting a bright, promising future for Kholood in both her educational and poetical life.

In this exclusive, extended interview, Marwah El-Azhary aims to reveal how the seeds of Kholood’s success were sown and how others can follow this fine example of a young Muslim girl’s achievements.

The interview is split into two halves; the first half is an interview with Kholood, expressing her articulate thoughts and feelings, while the second half of the interview is with her father, Abdulgader Habiballa, where readers can appreciate an alternative perspective on Kholood's success.

Details: Written by Kholood Habiballa; Category: PINNACLE; Published: 01 May 2005; Hits: 7930

This poem has an Arabian theme, based on true love between a wife and her husband. In the poem, an Arab woman is talking about her husband and how she waits for him to return and how she feels when she is with him. The message that Kholood wanted people to understand is that true love is something that keeps a person content, challenged, inspired, and always growing as an intellectual human being.

Kholood also wanted to show people the beauty of the Arabian culture, which is why she incorporated everything with an Arab twist. Her intent when writing the poem was to share the pride she feels in being Saudi Arabian and the poem is in fact dedicated to her country.

Details: Written by Hayat Alyaqout; Category: PINNACLE; Published: 01 April 2005; Hits: 11093

Amazed by its beauty and simplicity, I spent some time trying to figure out the words of the Arabic calligraphy the invitation card had.

My wearing attempts were only ended by the help of one of the event’s organisers who provided the answer to me; “Yaa Wadood.” What was more amazing is the fact that the Davud Bektaş (pronounced as Daawood Baktaash), the calligrapher who produced this great work, does not speak Arabic; his wife Deniz Oktem was translating his answers to me.

I met them during Bektaş’s exhibition in Kuwait which was organised by the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs in cooperation with the Kuwait Arts Association under the title “Taraaneem Alhuroof” or “The Chants of the Letters.”