CATALOGUE

Poetry has been a lifelong passion for Sheikh Mohammed and for the first time readers can enjoy reading his poetry in English as this unique volume provides a wonderful anthology of selected verse. This beautiful book is a moving testament to the artistic achievements of the emirate’s visionary leader.

Poetry is at the heart of Arabic literary traditions, and it is no surprise that Al Mutanabi, Al Buhtori and Abu Tammam are His Highness’s favourite classical poets – voices that have enriched Arabic poetry. These influences, combined with the Gulf tradition of Nabati poetry, a form dear to him, due to its social and literary significance and with its roots based in this region, have given a particular quality to the poems published on these pages. Sheikh Mohammed has been able to express a mature sensitivity through this medium and his poems demonstrate his affinity with the natural environment and his love of language.

As Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist, notes in the foreword of this collection, “Sheikh Mohammed reveals his passions but tempers them with justice and tolerance.” He goes on to say, “Writing is an act of courage. But it’s worth taking the risk and His Highness’s poems help us to understand better the soul of a man and the heritage of a nation.”