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Elsa Exarhu
While Ernest Hemingway believed that 'there is no friend as loyal as a book', I also believe one cannot know one country's soul without exploring its poetry.
My thirst for discovering Qatar led me to Qatari literature, and especially to its poems. The first poetry book I had the chance to pick was one by Mubarak bin Saif al Thani. Holding it in my hands, I feel as if I possess one immense treasure. It is the expression of a society with old poetic traditions, considering that even in pre-Islamic times, every tribe held its poets as precious and useful as warriors.
Through the book, I was able to fathom the subtle Arab way of perceiving life and values. The beauty and elegance remind me of the supreme human values of goodness, love and innocence; may be a love for the homeland and the Bedouin life, especially for the nature and sea, like in this verse:
"The magic of the Bedouin life is raising the level of demands"...
His poems are divided into three parts: The Night and the Rivers, Hymn to the Gulf and Summer Nights.
The approach of the sun, the beaches, pearl-diving, childhood friendships, the spring, the separations and destiny, the flowers and palm trees, the dreams and the thoughts, contemplations in the night and promises all are beautifully described.
It is not surprising that one of the poems of Mubarak bin Saif al Thani became the national anthem of Qatar:
"Swearing by God who upraised the sky,
Swearing by God who spread the light,
Qatar will always be free,
Elevated by the spirits of the loyal,
Follow the path of the ancestors,
And the prophets guidance.
In my heart, Qatar is an epic of dignity and glory,
Qatar is the land of the early men,
Who protect us at time of distress,
Doves they can be at times of peace,
Warriors they are at times of sacrifice."
The author, a Doha resident, is an avid reader of Qatar Tribune & can be contacted at [email protected]
