There is a legend in the land where I was born, the Sultanate of Oman, that says that on the eve of creation, God divided the earth into four quarters; the first quarter being the sea, two quarters were then set aside for lands to be inhabited with life and the fourth was to be forever barren: the uninhabited area called the Empty Quarter. The legend does not elaborate on why one quarter was left empty, but if we look at all creation, whether it be the earth, a plant or a human being, there appears to be empty space between the atoms and molecules, where energy flows and the spirit of life and all creation exists.

​Desert tales go on to say that located in the Empty Quarter lies the City of a thousand pillars. This city was thought to have been built as an imitation of paradise. There are accounts of how the Bedouin caravans of the ancient world would cross the Empty Quarter to trade frankincense, and the center of this trade was the fabled City. 

The city was decorated with beautiful gardens and towering palaces covered in gold, silver, and pearls, but the beauty of the city ceased to be reflected by the people for as a result of their prosperity they lost the essence of who they were, resulting in a terrible cloud of darkness and a great wind that swallowed the city into the sand, just as their souls had been covered with layers of distorted beliefs and thoughts, burying their inner magnificence.

​Today, the Empty Quarter is a vast and harsh desert that straddles the border between Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Yemen. It is a severe expanse, with towering sand dunes and intense summer temperatures. Numerous explorers have attempted to search the Empty Quarter in the hope of finding the lost city which is thought to have been founded 5,000 years ago and had been built around a natural reservoir of water which provided a unique oasis in the desert. Recent expeditions have recovered some remains and evidence of the lost city in Oman, but what is even more interesting are the mystical tales and philosophies that remain with the Bedouin.
 
Some Arab mystics believe that The Empty Quarter should be viewed in an alternate dimension and not just on a physical plane. It is a symbol of the spiritual void when the soul is hidden by layers of all your distorting thoughts, emotions, and limiting beliefs. But lying within this empty quarter is the sanctuary of the soul that can only be entered into with the release of these layers of mirage and a heightened state of awareness. It is a metaphor representing the possibility of inhabiting the uninhabited, a place that you reach once you have found the secret path to experience paradise on Earth. It is that space within us where we go to experience the Divine, where nothing exists but a pure feeling of peace, knowing, and inspiration.
 
I have personally always thought of the Empty Quarter as that little corner of our heart that continuously feels like it needs to somehow be filled, and as humans, it is in our nature to spend our lives searching for something that can fill it like money, or a job, or a relationship. However, so many of these solutions are just a temporary fix, a caravan passing through. This is a journey about unveiling the unique oasis of peace, inside our own empty quarters.

Lubna Kharusi
​Founder of Dira