Discussing a nation’s literature and art is equivalent to discussing the extent of the intellectual, cultural, and social human presence of these nations. Poetry is considered nothing but finds its most important model in Bedouin souls who live in the Arabian Peninsula. It is their widest and toughest outlet. Abu Firas Al-Hamdani says

Poetry is the record of Arabs ever, and the title of lineage

With it, he belongs, and through it, he is known and revealed. Through the verses, the homes and their neighborhoods are recognized, and between its corridors are stories, feats, and achievements with eras of elevation and pride.

Emirati poetry came from the Arabic atmosphere that is mixed with land, history, and several eras. It connected the land and its history in formal poetry and colloquial poetry (or “folk poetry” as defined by critics), which was common within the Emirati people. This poetry is recognized because of the different aspects of the Emirati person between an eloquent tongue and a common dialect. The poet’s thoughts were unconstrained. It was written with a smooth flow, like a stream in a rill in the middle of deserts and valleys. It expresses the thoughts of a person who lived and integrated with the land and its homes.

Emirates cultural and civilizational development is closely associated with the development in the Gulf and Arabian world because the Arabian Gulf represents a major access for the Arabian region into other cultures both Asian and international. This phenomenon has contributed to literary and poetic growth in the region in general and in the UAE in particular. Educational life has been developed with the increased activity of several educational institutions, along which we observed the progress of the human interest and how they contributed and interacted with their era’s assistance. This influenced the progress in the modern Emirati literature and particularly in poetry.

The beginning of Emirates poetry was around the twenties of the last century. During this time, several pioneer poets shined, including Mubarak Al Aqili (1954), Salem Al Owais (1959), Ahmed Al Mannai (1990), Mubarak Al Nakhi (1982), Muhammad Nour Saif (1982), Ahmed Bin Salem (1986), Khalfan Bin Musbah (1946), and others whose names arrived without their poetry.

After the original poets, another group that came to be known as veterans. They followed these pioneers, met them, and lived their circumstances. Then, their time went beyond their predecessors. They became witnesses of the country’s transition from phase to phase because of the new circumstances. These veterans include Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi (born in 1926), Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais (born in 1936), and Hamad Bu shehab (born in 1936). They paved the way for a classical subordinate traditional phase, with its distinctive artistic features and characteristics. It included the traditional column poetry with its unique artistic features with the mixing of traditional and modern culture in language, taste, and poetic sense, with a base in the values of Arabic poetry in its flourishing stages.

This classical stage was followed by a romantic phase, where the emotional restoration concepts risen from strict barriers. It transferred the soul closer to what it holds as it carried with it its emotional burdens. With that, numerous Emirati poets, as well as other poets in the Gulf and the Arabian world, have turned toward expressing this emotional instinct within. Among the leading romance poets was the Dr. Manei Saeed Al Otaiba, who sat on the throne of conscience, as well as other Emirati poets such as Sultan Al Owais and Hamad Khalifa Bu Shihab.

The period of Realism was associated with the reality of Arab and global society. It kept its pace with what was actually happening in the world and integrated poetry with its concerns and issues. Poets at that stage include Muhammad Sharif Al-Shaibani (1930–1998) and other poets during his time.  

Modernization and experimental innovation came at a later stage. It gave the texts an aura of cohesion with modernist Arabic and the global experience. This was achieved by many Emirati poets, with renewal in the artistic template and suggestive artistic imagery. However, it remains attached to the emotional Romantic stage.

Discussing a nation’s literature and art is equivalent to discussing the extent of the intellectual, cultural, and social human presence of these nations. Poetry is considered nothing but finds its most important model in Bedouin souls who live in the Arabian Peninsula. It is their widest and toughest outlet. Abu Firas Al-Hamdani says

Poetry is the record of Arabs ever, and the title of lineage

With it, he belongs, and through it, he is known and revealed. Through the verses, the homes and their neighborhoods are recognized, and between its corridors are stories, feats, and achievements with eras of elevation and pride.

Emirati poetry came from the Arabic atmosphere that is mixed with land, history, and several eras. It connected the land and its history in formal poetry and colloquial poetry (or “folk poetry” as defined by critics), which was common within the Emirati people. This poetry is recognized because of the different aspects of the Emirati person between an eloquent tongue and a common dialect. The poet’s thoughts were unconstrained. It was written with a smooth flow, like a stream in a rill in the middle of deserts and valleys. It expresses the thoughts of a person who lived and integrated with the land and its homes. 

Emirates cultural and civilizational development is closely associated with the development in the Gulf and Arabian world because the Arabian Gulf represents a major access for the Arabian region into other cultures both Asian and international. This phenomenon has contributed to literary and poetic growth in the region in general and in the UAE in particular. Educational life has been developed with the increased activity of several educational institutions, along which we observed the progress of the human interest and how they contributed and interacted with their era’s assistance. This influenced the progress in the modern Emirati literature and particularly in poetry.

The beginning of Emirates poetry was around the twenties of the last century. During this time, several pioneer poets shined, including Mubarak Al Aqili (1954), Salem Al Owais (1959), Ahmed Al Mannai (1990), Mubarak Al Nakhi (1982), Muhammad Nour Saif (1982), Ahmed Bin Salem (1986), Khalfan Bin Musbah (1946), and others whose names arrived without their poetry.

After the original poets, another group that came to be known as veterans. They followed these pioneers, met them, and lived their circumstances. Then, their time went beyond their predecessors. They became witnesses of the country’s transition from phase to phase because of the new circumstances. These veterans include Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi (born in 1926), Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais (born in 1936), and Hamad Bu shehab (born in 1936). They paved the way for a classical subordinate traditional phase, with its distinctive artistic features and characteristics. It included the traditional column poetry with its unique artistic features with the mixing of traditional and modern culture in language, taste, and poetic sense, with a base in the values of Arabic poetry in its flourishing stages.

This classical stage was followed by a romantic phase, where the emotional restoration concepts risen from strict barriers. It transferred the soul closer to what it holds as it carried with it its emotional burdens. With that, numerous Emirati poets, as well as other poets in the Gulf and the Arabian world, have turned toward expressing this emotional instinct within. Among the leading romance poets was the Dr. Manei Saeed Al Otaiba, who sat on the throne of conscience, as well as other Emirati poets such as Sultan Al Owais and Hamad Khalifa Bu Shihab.

The period of Realism was associated with the reality of Arab and global society. It kept its pace with what was actually happening in the world and integrated poetry with its concerns and issues. Poets at that stage include Muhammad Sharif Al-Shaibani (1930–1998) and other poets during his time. 

Modernization and experimental innovation came at a later stage. It gave the texts an aura of cohesion with modernist Arabic and the global experience. This was achieved by many Emirati poets, with renewal in the artistic template and suggestive artistic imagery. However, it remains attached to the emotional Romantic stage.