Al Qaffir: A Ramadhan Journey Beneath the Surface of Water and Memory

As the holy month of Ramadhan unfolds, each artistic field finds its way to celebrate and welcome this holy month. Television and drama always have their own fair share in this artistic celebration. Oman TV offers its audience a drama that goes beyond nightly entertainment. “Al Qaffir”, a drama adapted from the award-winning novel Taghribat Al Qaffir by Omani author Zahran al Qasmi, was produced with professionalism, which has made it one of the most talked-about titles of the season.

The original novel, which won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, also known as the “Arabic Booker”, in 2023, explores and reflects life in an Omani village through the search for water, symbolically and literally. The narrative theme resonates deeply in both Omani history and the spiritual atmosphere of Ramadhan. The series honours the novel’s rich blend of myth and reality, giving cinematic life to a cultural fabric woven from the memory of aflaj, the oral traditions surrounding survival in harsh environments and the social customs of rural life.

The narrative, spun from its author's imagination, is set long before modern technology and television. The plot tracks the life of Salim, known as the qaffir, a traditional water diviner whose gift is to sense the hidden pathways of water beneath the earth. Salim is born from a tragic narrative; his mother drowns in the village well while she is pregnant with him and he is born after her death. Later on, his father dies under the collapsed roof of a falaj, one of Oman’s ancient irrigation channels. These tragedies surrounding his parents draw Salim’s destiny towards water itself.

As the series unfolds, the blend of myth and reality is enriched, honouring the cultural memory through cinematic expression, highlighting the social customs of rural life and the harsh realities of surviving in difficult circumstances.
The timing of Al Qaffir, broadcast during Ramadhan, adds to it a spiritual symbolic message, as fasting gives people a sense of thirst that heightens water’s life-giving value, turning each moment without drink into an exercise in patience and inner focus. In Al Qaffir, water goes beyond being an essential element for life to hold a deep metaphorical symbol of hope, sustenance and the fragile balance between survival and loss.

As the series unfolds, audiences begin to share their reviews and readings of the television adaptation of Al Qaffir. It has been praised for reflecting the richness of the literary and symbolic language in the novel while at the same time expanding its narrative into a 30-episode Ramadhan series.
With its timing during Ramadhan, when people gather, this work has brought together an ensemble cast of both seasoned performers and fresh faces, including performers who have been away from the Omani screen for a while; it is directed by Tamer Marwan Ishaq. In addition, the series brings the village’s people and landscapes vividly to life.

Finally, Al Qaffir represents a broader cultural moment. Through Al Qaffir, Omani media affirms the importance of heritage, collective memory and literature in shaping contemporary identity. In an age when media content often races towards spectacle, Al Qaffir stands out for its cultural depth and its resonance with the spirit of Ramadhan, as both invite people to take time to seek deeper understanding.