on display in the
Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani Museum Origins According to oral tradition, the story originated from the
Al Muhannadi tribe of Qatar's north-east coast who engaged in both maritime and pastoral livelihoods. It combines two principal themes: the competition between a man and a woman, and the invention of the boat
sail.
Narrative Set in the port of Khor Al Mahandah (present-day
Al Khor), the story recounts that Ghilân, a wealthy and influential owner of
pearling vessels, once dominated the local fleet. His supremacy was challenged when May, a woman with stronger and more experienced crews, began to rival him in reaching the pearl beds. On several occasions, her
oar-powered boats outpaced his, prompting him to call out, "Tow us, O May!", to which she replied mockingly, "The towing is in the head of the oar". Determined to regain his advantage, Ghilân is said to have drawn inspiration from the wings of a
grasshopper, devising the idea of mounting sails on his boats. With the wind harnessed, his vessels soon outstripped May's. When she called out, "Tow us, O Ghilân!", he answered, "The towing is in the head of the
mast". In the logic of the tale, this innovation both secured Ghilân's victory and reaffirmed a male predominance in an occupation historically closed off to women. The narrative structure consists of five short episodes, punctuated by the repeated phrases about the oar and the mast. While the invention of the sail is the central motif, later retellings often remembered May and Ghilân simply as the initiators of pearl fishing itself. The story's circulation appears to have been largely confined to Al Khor, and by the late twentieth century it was already little known outside the town. Its decline has been attributed to the death of the older generation of pearl fishers and the absence of efforts to revive the tradition. ==Preservation==