"Al Dhafra Book Festival" Hosts a cultural evening as part of a programme "Poetry nights"

ABU DHABI, 24 JANUARY / WAM / Al Dhafra Book Festival, organized by the Abu Dhabi Center for the Arabic Language, hosted a specialized cultural evening within the program “Nights of Poetry: Voices That People Loved,” commemorating the poet Ali Musabah Al Kindi Al Murar, during which it reviewed stages of his poetic career, his contributions to the Emirati literary scene, and celebrated his creative legacy and his human imprint that left a deep impact on the memory of popular poetry.

The session – which was held yesterday on the main stage in Madinat Zayed Public Park – was presented by journalist Hamid bin Mohammedi, and the poet and heritage researcher Ali Al Kindi Al Marar, the artist Mohammed Al Hameli, and the percussion artist Abdullah Abdul Karim participated in it. Its segments varied between personal testimonies, poetry readings, and a singing performance that recalled some of the late poet’s most famous poems.

Poet and researcher Ali Al-Kindi Al-Marar spoke about the biography of the poet Ali Musabih in the session titled “The Voice of Memory,” pointing out that he was influenced by his desert environment and his family’s poetic heritage, so he began composing poetry at an early age, memorizing the poem and delving deeper into its meanings, which later qualified him to be a member of the committees that supervised the production of a number of collections by Al Dhafra poets.

He explained that the poet’s grandfathers were poets, including the famous poet Ali bin Salem Bu Malha, whose poems spread among the people and had a prominent presence in the local poetic memory.

The session reviewed the features of the life that the poet lived in his early days, moving with his family between water resources in the desert, especially during periods of heat. Liwa was a seasonal destination, which was clearly embodied in his poems that documented the details of the daily life of the Bedouins, including one of his early poems that depicted man’s relationship with place and water.

The session touched on the features of his abundant poetic experience, as he left more than 500 poems, dealing with various topics, including poetry, homeland, and hunting, in addition to the poetic arguments and debates that brought him together with a number of poets of his time, such as the poet Bin Harif, and included poetry readings and a singing performance presented by the artist Muhammad Al-Hamili, who composed and sang a number of the poet’s poems, including “O Eye, Your Tears Have Fallen on My Cheeks.” And “Oh my country, my homeland is the most precious homeland,” amid remarkable interaction from the audience and fans of Emirati folk poetry.

The Al Dhafra Book Festival annually celebrates the symbols of popular poetry in the Al Dhafra region, through its program “Nights of Poetry: Voices That People Loved,” and recalls their lives as part of its keenness to connect new generations with the authentic Emirati heritage.

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