When British writer Jonathan Raban visited the Gulf in the 1970s, the oil boom was upturning the old order of the Middle East. Paths once trodden by camels had been replaced with roads and barasti tents swapped for gleaming high-rises.
Raban, who died last week aged 80, was known for his lively and sincere travel writing in books such as Passage to Juneau and Coasting.
But one of his earlier works, Arabia through the Looking Glass, is a candid account of his travels through Bahrain, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Yemen, Egypt and Jordan at a time of fierce and unrelenting change.
Published in 1979, the book introduces a series of intriguing people, including Bedouin families in Al Ain easing into the modern world, glum British residents in Bahrain yearning for an idealised vision of “youkay” and expat agricultural enthusiasts in Yemen.
Dubai was different. The crowd absorbed strangers easily: Indians, Iranians, Pakistanis, Arabs congealed into the careless cosmopolitanism of an old port
Jonathan Raban in Arabia through the Looking Glass
In the UAE, where the past disappears at an ever-dizzying rate, his descriptions of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain are a personal snapshot of a vanished era.
Raban visits hotels, ministries, offices and walked the streets and souqs trying to make sense of a region transformed.
He was dazzled by the accelerated development in Abu Dhabi that turned the city into a “mini Manhattan”; he gazed at the new banks that lined Dubai Creek and visited Jumeirah — “Dubai’s Los Angelean suburbs”.
Raban was particularly enamoured with the Creek and its vibrant dhow trade, which had a “beauty of a kind European cities have lost”.
As he explored the Creek and the new buildings that lined the water, he was also drawn to the faded grandeur of the old merchant houses and their wind towers.
“They had belonged to rich merchants, and 50 years ago or less they must have looked like fine palazzi, lining the waterside in a concerted display of wealth and power,” he wrote.
“The merchants had gone — their heirs now lived in California, plush in seaside suburbs like Jumeirah; and the houses had a sunken-jawed look, now just a storm or two from collapsing into total ruin.
“Longshoremen, jobbing carpenters and small stallholders from the nearby souq had moved in where — until just lately — the great gold and spice merchants had lorded it over the rest of the city.”
In Jumeirah, he wrote, “huge houses lie stranded in the desert … Shampooed dogs came to bark at armoured fences and Pakistani gardeners toiled away over lawns of imported turf.”
But he felt at ease in Dubai, walking the streets there as a European.
“Anywhere else on the Gulf, I would have been clearly marked as an outsider; but Dubai was different. The crowd absorbed strangers easily: Indians, Iranians, Pakistanis, Arabs congealed into the careless cosmopolitanism of an old port.”
In Al Ain, he met a Bedouin family who had moved into a new house.
“Six years away from being desert nomads, they were talking confidently about careers in engineering and medicine; one member of the family had already worked in Europe and Lebanon; they gave every sign of having adapted gracefully to a life in which … the Range Rover, the combination washer-dryer, two television sets, floral thermos flasks, air travel and the local Hilton were taken perfectly for granted.”
A Bedu town
Raban’s book is a personal travelogue and perspective that largely belongs in its time.
Edward Said's Orientalism had also just been published and it sharply critiques cliched western perspectives of the Middle East, but Raban makes an attempt to understand the region better and admits to the shortcomings of travel writing.
Down the road in Abu Dhabi, he stayed at the now demolished Khalidiya Palace hotel and was impressed at the audacity of building a city that just years before had been sand, barasti huts and a stone fort.
He gazed out at the gleaming towers with a ministry official in a building in the city and was taken on a trip around the city by Zaki Nusseibeh, the current Cultural Adviser to the President.
Raban wrote: “It was West Side Manhattan, but with more innocence and sparkle than one ever finds in modern New York.”
Raban also said that Mr Nusseibeh advised him to not get carried away by the vertical architecture as the “real city is lateral. It is the hardest thing for a visitor, to see that Abu Dhabi is a really a Bedu town.”
The chapter on Abu Dhabi is called Temporary People and Raban explored some of the transience that can be part of life here.
Such transience would be disputed by many who call the Gulf home, but it is part of Raban’s outlook.
“Temporary People. Migrants. Passengers. I was myself beginning to get used to that hotel life of casual acquaintanceships and few responsibilities to the people whom one brushes past in one’s journey. It is a life in which one learns to become socially weightless, drifting among strangers like a spaceman in a bubble.”
But some of the observations that spring forth wouldn’t sound too out of place in a conversation between people who moved to the Gulf today in search of a better life.
“People here aren’t disillusioned like they are in England,” says one British expat, Roland Moon.
“You respect what they want to do; they respect what you can offer.”
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
The%20specs
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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NEW ARRIVALS
Benjamin Mendy (Monaco) - £51.75m (Dh247.94m)
Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur) - £45.9m
Bernardo Silva (Monaco) - £45m
Ederson Moraes (Benfica) - £36m
Danilo (Real Madrid) - £27m
Douglas Luiz (Vasco de Gama) - £10.8m
Wonka
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ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand
UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
RESULT
Arsenal 0 Chelsea 3
Chelsea: Willian (40'), Batshuayi (42', 49')
Getting%20there%20and%20where%20to%20stay
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Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
More from Aya Iskandarani
General%20Classification
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if you go
Plan to boost public schools
A major shake-up of government-run schools was rolled out across the country in 2017. Known as the Emirati School Model, it placed more emphasis on maths and science while also adding practical skills to the curriculum.
It was accompanied by the promise of a Dh5 billion investment, over six years, to pay for state-of-the-art infrastructure improvements.
Aspects of the school model will be extended to international private schools, the education minister has previously suggested.
Recent developments have also included the introduction of moral education - which public and private schools both must teach - along with reform of the exams system and tougher teacher licensing requirements.
MATCH INFO
Inter Milan v Juventus
Saturday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Watch the match on BeIN Sports
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
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