A symposium entitled (Qatar’s Poets in the Past), as part of the cultural activities of Doha International Book Fair in its thirty-second session, which is currently being held at Doha Exhibition and Conference Center under the slogan (By reading, we rise).
The symposium was attended by His Excellency Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Hamad Al Thani, the Minister of Culture, and a gathering of intellectuals, writers and the audience of the exhibition.
The two researchers in heritage, Ali Abdullah Al-Fayyad and Ali Shabib Al-Mannai, participated in the symposium, and it was moderated by the journalist Atta Mohammad.
The researcher, Ali Al-Fayyad, presented a historical overview of poetry in Qatar, whose precursors began since the pre-Islamic era, pointing out that Qatar was known within the Arabian Gulf region and was mentioned by some poets in the pre-Islamic era, then the Umayyad era, and after it the Abbasid era.
He pointed out that one of the oldest poets who mentioned it was the veteran poet Abdeh bin Al-Tabib, Al-Tamimi, who is one of the glorious poets, as he said: Our masters remembered their families and feared Oman and feared Qatar.
It was also mentioned by the poet Abu Al-Najm Al-Fadl bin Qudama bin Ubaid Al-Ajli Al-Bakri from the Umayyad era, as well as the well-known poet Jarir whose name is Abu Hazra Jarir bin Attia Al-Kalbi Al-Yarbu’i Al-Tamimi Al-Basri, and the poet Ali bin Al-Muqarab Al-Ayuni, a poet from the people of Al-Ahsa, who died in 630 AH, pointing out that the first A poet who appeared in ancient times and bears the name of Qatar, he is the poet and knight who is called Qatari bin Al-Fuja’a.
Al-Fayyad elaborated on the authority of Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani, the founder of the modern state of Qatar, “May God have mercy on him”, who was a brave knight and seasoned politician as well as a judge and jurist, in addition to being one of the stallions of poets, he has a collection of Nabati poetry printed in India in 1325 AH, as the first printed collection of Nabati poetry in the Arabian Gulf region.
The researcher, Ali Al-Fayyad, also dealt with the poets of the eighteenth century AD, as Qatari city of Al-Zubarah was an oasis of culture after which many poets and scholars inhabited it, including the poet Abdul-Jalil Al-Tabtabaei, who came from Iraq and lived in Al-Zubarah, married there, and died in Kuwait in 1853.
Furthermore, he talked about the most prominent poets who were contemporary with the founding Sheikh, may God have mercy on him, including Sheikh Mohammad Hassan Al Marzouqi, as he was one of the great poets. He was born in Al-Wakra in 1889, and died in 1935 AD. He grew up in a house of faith and knowledge. The Sheikh was one of the people of religion, piety, and piety, and he was enthusiastic in seeking knowledge and acquiring it, and he learned from many sheikhs, and traveled to Mecca and sought knowledge of it, then to Najd and Al-Ahsa, and he had literary skirmishes, shouting the truth, and wrote poetry and composed several poems.
Among the most prominent poets at this stage is Qatari poet (Majid bin Saleh Al-Khulaifi), who was distinguished by the magnificence of his poetic images. He was born in the city of Doha in 1873 and died there in 1907, along with great poets such as Ahmed Youssef Al-Jaber, Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Al-Dirham, and Youssef bin Abdul Rahman Al-Khulaifi, Abdul Rahman bin Jassim Al-Maawda and others.
He dealt with Nabati poetry in Qatar, stressing that it is the legitimate son of eloquent poetry and bears the same characteristics. It was found in Qatar from ancient times, but not much of it reached us until the past two centuries, due to the lack of writing and reliance on memory and narration, which are extinct with time, and many poets have become famous in Qatar. This type of poetry until our present time, pointing out that the most prominent Nabati poets, Ali bin Jaber Al-Sulaiti, Saad bin Ali Al-Misnad Al-Muhannadi, Mohammad Abdul-Wahhab Al-Faihani, Saleh Al-Khulaifi, Abdul Rahman bin Mubarak Al-Kuwari and Lahdan bin Sabah Al-Kubaisi, all the way to contemporary poets.
For his part, the researcher Ali Shabib Al-Mannai presented a collection of poems by a number of prominent poets, the most important of which was the founding Sheikh, May God have mercy on him.
It is worth mentioning that Doha International Book Fair will be held during the period from 12 to 21 June at Doha Exhibition and Conference Center.