Cultural and Poetry Forums

          This cultural event was held in the Moroccan city of Laayoune on April 2-3, 1997, to celebrate “Albabtain’s Encyclopedia for Contemporary Arab Poets”, where a group of academics, writers and poets from all Arab countries have participated.

          The forum was organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in Morocco and the province of Laayoune, Boujdour in recognition of the importance of this encyclopedia for poetry as a cultural treasure, and to celebrate its prominent figures from the Arab poets. A literary symposium was held to honor the poet, Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain, it included two sessions of criticism, and two concerts for singing poems and one poetry reading evening.

          The Minister of Cultural Affairs in Morocco, Mr. Abdullah Ozamani delivered a speech at the opening of the forum where he said:

“.. And you, O man, ..excellent human .. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain owner of “Intimations of the Deserts” (Bauh Al-Bawadi), you have lived in the conscience of this nation, and I say it as a matter of integrity, when you have committed yourself to poetry, poets, literati and critics. You have deployed all what you can to disseminate the Arabic and Islamic culture and to open doors to students of Arts and Sciences. You deserve to be thanked for what you have done and God will reward you all what you wish..

A sincere Greetings dedicated to Kuwait, the Amir, the people and the Government. Let’s have beautiful few hours to learn and enjoy intellectually and spiritually, with poetry, criticism and discussions. And with the help of God, success will remain an ally of the Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain’s Prize for Poetic Creativity. God’s peace, mercy and blessings be upon you”.

         From his part, the Chairman of the Municipal Council of the city of Laayoune, Mr. Khalihenna Wald Al Rasheed delivered a speech where he said:

“On this occasion, I am honored to extend a full Arab brotherly welcome, on behalf of the residents of the city of Laayoune, to our guests from all parts of the Arab world and especially to Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain’s guests. I also express our innumerable pleasure to organize, in our city, this seminar of “Albabtain’s Encyclopedia of Contemporary Arab Poets” and the diwan of “Intimations of the Deserts” (Bauh Al-Bawadi) for the poet Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain. It is a source of pride for us at the city of Laayoune to host an event for the Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain’s Prize for Poetic Creativity Foundation, and to receive its founder, after the city of Fes, the scientific capital of the Kingdom of Morocco.”

          The Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain’s Prize for Poetic Creativity organized the «Muhammad Ben La’abun » Forum in Nabati poetry on 27-30 October 1997 in Kuwait.

          The Board of Trustees took a decision to organize this meeting with the aim of shedding light on the unknown epoch of this area’s history in its social, cultural and political aspects since the area was almost isolated from the outer world.

          The activities of this meeting started with a visit financed by the Foundation’s Chairman to His Highness the Amir the late Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah at Bayan Palace on Monday 27/10/1997, accompanied by Their Excellencies the Amirs, Sheikhs, Poets, and honorable guests of the meeting.

          His Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister the late  Sheikh  Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah  warmly welcomed the Arab cultural elites. His Highness extended a cordial invitation to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and a number of the Foundation’s guests to a breakfast party at Al-Shaab Palace on Thursday 30/10/1997. His Highness exchanged amicable and friendly conversations with them, welcoming the Foundation’s guests and praising the efforts of the Foundation’s Chairman.

          The activities of the «Muhammad Ben La’abun » Meeting commenced at 10:30 a.m. on Monday 27/10/1997, at the Special Institute’s Auditorium, under the patronage of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. A number of Ministers, Sheikhs, MPs, dignitary ambassadors to Kuwait, notables and the forum’s guests comprising of poets, intellectuals and writers attended the opening ceremony. Sheikh Sabah opened the ceremony with a speech in which he said: “This meeting reminds us of those poets, who enriched our traditional lives and cultures with their talents and their creative, beautiful, eloquent and popular poetry. Their poems represented an honorable record of glory for this area.”

          The  Chairman of the Board  of  Trustees,  Mr. Abdulaziz Albabtain, then delivered a speech where he welcomed the guests and thanked the meeting’s patron. He noted that Nabati poetry sheds light on the various social, economic and cultural aspects of life.

          The floor was then given to Dr. Abdulaziz bin La’abun  who delivered a speech on behalf of Muhammad bin La’abun’s Family. He expressed his gratitude and appreciation to all those who quoted Ben La’abun’s sayings and poetry and paid special tribute to poet Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain, who embodied his love for poetry and poets through the achievements of his Foundation.

          The speech of the High Organizing Committee was delivered by Mr. Abdulaziz Al-Surayea, the Foundation’s Secretary General.

          The meeting included a literary seminar, four evening poetry recitals, performances by Al-Qalta and Al-Ardha dance groups and two folklore heritage musical performances.

          The Chairman of the Board of Trustees took a decision to form the organizing committee of the meeting comprising members from both Arab and Iranian Parties. The Committee’s Secretariat General persistently followed up preparations for the venue that the meeting is convening in. In this context, the committee sent delegations to Tehran to take the decision to hold the meeting on 3-5/7/2000.

The Opening Ceremony

          His Excellency President Sayyed Muhammad Khatimi; President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, patronized the meeting. He opened the meeting’s activities at the Islamic Summit Conference in Tehran on Monday 3/7/2000. Five hundred Arab and Iranian critics, writers, poets, presidents of cultural institutions as well as a group of audio and visual media personalities were invited to the Opening Ceremony.

          President Khatimi toured the book exhibition organized on the sidelines of the meeting. He then led the guests to the Islamic Summit Conference Hall, where the ceremony was opened by a recitation from the Holy Quran.

          President Khatimi delivered a speech in which he expressed his pleasure over the Foundation of Abdulaziz Albabtain’s Prize for Poetic Creativity initiative to celebrate the poet Saadi Al-Shirazi.

          He noted that this meeting is held to commemorate Al-Shirazi, after seven centuries from his death the sphere of cultural relations was unveiled. He pointed out that this sphere does not only require perusing the material and regional cultural traditions, but also to take into consideration the fact that the full benefit required from the traditions adds to a certain text. The artistic and cultural output, unless correlated through an intelligent skillful construction - with its own environment and cultural traditions, will not be qualified for globalization.

          The Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain, then thanked the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution and Dr. Khatimi for sponsoring the meeting, which “set the example that culture is the only ideal means to conduct a dialogue among the various civilizations and bring about harmony among people. It is the most important means of development.”

          He added “Al-Shirazi was a poet who superbly embodied the two intermixing and interconnecting sisterly cultures because his life was reasonably related to Iran and the Arab world. He wrote verses in Persian and Arabic and as a result he stood as a symbol of harmony and fusion between two nations, which were pillars of the Islamic civilization.”

          Ayatollah Sheikh Muhammad Ali Al-Taskhiri, President of the Islamic Culture and Relations Association in Iran, then delivered a speech and said, “The meeting is another proof evidencing the continuity of relations between the Arab and the Iranian cultures, which flourished during the early Islamic ages.”

          The Iranian Minister of Culture Dr. Atallah Mohajirani stressed, in a speech he delivered during the meeting, the importance of the poet Saadi because he opened a new path for Iranian poetry through his deep study of Arabic literature.

          Saadi was not only a great poet but also a great wise and intellectual man. He evaded radical stands and adopted moderation.

          The Opening Ceremony was then concluded with recitations of selected verses of Saadi Al-Shirazi’s poems in Arabic and Persian. The meeting included a lecture about «The Mutual Influence between Arabic and Persian Poetry». A seminar on «The Cultural Relations between the Iranians and Arabs; Future Horizons» was held as well as two poetic evenings.

Visiting Shiraz

          On the morning of the third day, the participants went to Shiraz, where they visited the shrine of Saadi Al-Shirazi and the shrine of Hafez Al-Shirazi. A poetry recitation evening was organized with the participation of Arab and Iranian poets. The evening was concluded with speeches delivered by the Foundation’s Chairman, Dr. Ali Oqla Irsan and Sheikh Muhammad Saed Nomani. The Participants left Shiraz at the end of the meeting.

          Part of the Foundation’s Contributions in Celebrating Kuwait “The Capital of Arab Culture” in 2001

          This celebration comprised of year-round activities. The most important of which were:

1. Issuing the Poetic Diary

          The Foundation issued a «Poetic Diary», the first of its kind. It contained poetic quotations and sayings from various occasions. Such diaries were distributed to the Foundation’s friends and guests at Al-Qurain Seventh Cultural Festival and the guests participating in the 2001 celebrations. The diaries were also sent to the Foundation’s offices and delegates in order to distribute them to poets, critics and culture and media personalities in the Arab countries.

2. Two Evening Poetry Recitations

          The first evening was named after the poet Fahed Al-Askar on 10/02/2001. It included recitals from 15 late Kuwaiti poets.

          The second evening, which carried the name of the poet Mahmoud Shawqi Al-Ayoubi, was held on 07/04/2001.  A number of poets from Kuwait and Arab countries participated in the evening.

3. The Ceremony of Laying the Foundation’s First Stone of the Albabtain Central Library for Arabic Poetry in Kuwait

          This ceremony was held on 06/01/2002 under the auspices of His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs). He delegated the Minister of Information; Chairman of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, His Excellency Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah with a large number of guests, writers and intellectuals from inside and outside Kuwait.

4. The Centennial Death and Birth Ceremony

          At 10:00 AM on Monday morning on 7/1/2002, The Centennial Death and Birth Ceremony was organized under the auspices of His Excellency the Minister of Information, Chairman of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, at the Special Institute’s Auditorium.

5. The Poetry Competition on the Occasion of Organizing the Celebrations of 2001

          The Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain’s Prize for Poetic Creativity considered limiting this competition to one subject of great importance; «Poetry’s Role in the Nation’s Past, Present and Future and the Poet’s Role, Sufferings and Aspirations», for various reasons most important of which was unifying the competition subject, so as to facilitate complete judgment of one subject and to monitor the perspectives of creative writers.

          Surprisingly, a torrent of poems was submitted to this track in comparison to the size and limit of the project. Until 30/06/2001, 487) poems were amassed and referred to a technical committee comprising of researchers at the Foundation. The aim was to check their compatibilities with the contest’s terms and conditions. The committee excluded 201 participations, due to technical and procedural reasons. A remaining 286 poems were presented before an arbitration committee comprising of three specialists, who chose the three winning poems in addition to nominating the best 20 poems as seen by each arbitrator. However, 60 poems were chosen by the arbitrators of which 47 poems remained after the arbitrators removed the repeated and overlapping options. The Foundation chose 22 poems contained in «The Diwan of Poetry and Poets», which consists of 115 pages of heritage documenting this contest and was available to the researchers and recipients.

The Winners

a. The  Jordanian  poetess  Nabila Al-Khateeb  won  the  first award, valued at US$ 10,000 (US Dollars ten thousand) for her Poem «Sahwat Al-Dadd».

b. The Egyptian poet Medhat Allam won the second award, valued at US$ 5,000 (US Dollars five thousand) for his poem «A Paper Searching for its Poem».

c. The Egyptian poet Hassan Shehab Al-Deen won the third award, valued at US$ 3,000 (US Dollars three thousand) for his poem «The Last Knight».

6. An Anthology of Twentieth Century Arabic Poetry

          This Collection was issued in five volumes totaling 3872 pages. It contained poems by poets from Jordan, Palestine, Algeria, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Syria, the Sultanate of Oman, Qatar, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritania, Yemen and overseas emigration countries.

          The number of poets who had composed poetic selections from all the Arab countries totaled 1050 and the number of researchers who selected the poems and wrote the prefaces reached 29.

7. The Foundation issued the complete collections of the poets Amin Nakhla and Abdullah Al-Farej with new additions of Nabatean and Classical poetry, in addition to other books referred to in the booklet; «The Publications of the Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain’s Prize for Poetic Creativity.»

          Under the patronage of His Highness the Kuwaiti Prime Minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (now the Amir of Kuwait), the Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain’s Prize for Poetic Creativity organized «Kuwait’s First Meeting of Arabic Poetry in Iraq» from 07-09 May 2005.

          The meeting came in the context of communications with the Iraqi poets, writers and cultural media personalities in the wake of lengthy obligatory absence which had been forcefully imposed by the former Iraqi regime on the country’s poets and writers.

          A large number of Iraqi poets, writers, poetry critics and media personalities working in the cultural journalism sector, as well as selected educated personalities, writers and poets from different Arab countries were invited to the meeting.

          The meeting included a literary seminar on Arabic poetry in Iraq and comprised of three research which were:

1. Pioneers of Revival in Modern Arabic Poetry in Iraq: By Dr. Waleed Khales. Dr. Abdullah Al-Mohanna presided over the discussion session of this research on 07/05/2005.

2. Pioneers of Innovation in Arabic Poetry in Iraq; Al-Sayyab and his Colleagues: By Dr. Abdulwahed Lulua. Mrs. Laila Al-Othman presided over the discussion session of this research on 08/05/2005.

3. Iraqi Poetess Nazek Al-Malaekah and her Contemporaries: By Professor Salma Al-Khadra Al-Jayyousi. The research was not discussed due to the absence of the researcher, but it was included in the research book issued for the meeting.

 The Foundation issued the following books on the occasions of the meeting:

- Anthologies of Arabic Poetry in Iraq: In Arabic and English, comprised of poems by thirty Iraqi contemporary poets selected and translated into English by Dr. Abdulwahed Lulua. (277 pages)

- Poems from Arabic Poetry in Iraq: Compiled by Mr. Majed Al-Hakawati and includes poems by twenty-five Iraqi contemporary poets, pro-rata three poems for each poet. (399 pages)

- The Music of Poetry: Comprised of lectures delivered by the prominent poetess Nazek Al-Malaekah at Kuwait University during the academic year 1976/1977. (150 pages)

- The Book of Research: Comprised of the research presented at the meeting. (111) pages

          All the editions (five hundred copies of each book) published by the Foundation during its meetings were printed. These are dedicated to all the Iraqi readers, universities and libraries. Moreover, such issues were distributed among the guests who participated in the meeting.

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain’s Prize for Poetic Creativity from 1989 - 2009, Cairo, 1 - 2 November 2009

First Day: 1st November 2009

          The Opening Ceremony started at 18:00 at the Ayda Hall in the Marriott Hotel. The Ceremony was introduced by the announcer Ms. Amal Abdullah, who also introduced the Foundation’s first ceremony on 17/05/1990. The Ceremony started with a recitation from the Holy Quran by Sheikh Ahmad Abdulbaqi, followed by the following addresses:

- Dr. Jaber Asfour, Chairman of the National Translation Center in the Ministry of Education delivered a speech on behalf of H.E. Mr. Farouq Hosni, Egyptian Minister of Education and the patron of the ceremony

- Speech by Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain, Chairman of the Foundation

- Speech by the family of the late Dr. Mohammad Abdulmunem Khafaji

- Speech by the family of the late Mr. Adnan Al-Shayji

- The Guest’s speech was delivered by H.E. President Haris Silajdžić, President of Bosnia and Herzegovina

- Speech of Mr. Mohammad bin Essa, Secretary General of Asaila Cultural Forum.

          Then, Ms. Amal Abdullah introduced Mr. Abdulaziz Al-Surayea, who in turn introduced the following honorable dignitaries:

- Mr. Farouq Hosni, Egyptian Minister of Education

- The late Dr. Mohammad Abdulmunem Khafaji

- The late Mr. Adnan Al-Shayji.

- The well-known media personality Mr. Wajdi Al-Hakeim.

- Mr. Mustafa Abdullah

- Dr. Ali Al-Baz

- Mr. Adnan Al-Jaber

- The Modern Literature Society (Egypt)

          They were honored by the President of the Foundation, the patronage’s representative Dr. Jaber Asfour and H.E. Bosnian President Haris Silajdžić. Hundreds of intellectuals, politicians, media men and men of religion from all over the world attended and participated.

          The first musical show by the Lebanese singer Ghada Shubair kicked off at 19:30, where she sang for Al-Akhtal Al-Saghir, Ahmad Rami, Ahmad Shawqi and Jubran Khalil Jubran.

Second Day: 2nd November 2009

          The first open discussion began at 10:30 and was moderated by Mr. Abdulaziz Juma. Dr. Khaled Al-Shayji delivered a speech about the late Adnan Al-Shayji and then Mr. Rasheed Al-Zawadi, the Tunisian researcher, talked about the late Dr. Abdulmunem Khafaji. Many testimonials were delivered beginning with Dr. Mohammad Abdulraheem Kafdo, who represented the Gulf region, Arabian Peninsula and Yemen. Then Dr. Mahmoud Al-Robai, representing Egypt and the surrounding region, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Sayed representing Iraq and the Levant (Belad Al-Sham) and finally Dr. Mohyeddin Amimour, representing the Arab Maghreb also delivered testimonials. All these testimonials shed light on the efforts of the Foundation in the fields of poetry, criticism and literature.

          An evening of poetry was held at 19:30 at Al-Saghir Theater, moderated by Mr. Abdulaziz Juma and with the contribution of:

- Haroun Hashim Rasheed

- Dr. Reda Rajab

- Jameil Abdulrahman

- Mohammad Mohammad Al-Shahawi

- Nabeela Al-Khateib

          After the evening poetry recital, the musical show was performed by the conductor Salim Sahab. The poems were performed by actors Sarah and Amjad Al-Atafi, who sang some Arabic poems for Ibrahim Naji, George Jerdaq, Aziz Abaza, Mahmoud Sami Al-Baroudi, Mahmoud Esmail, Fouad Abdulmajeed, Nizar Qabbani, Ahmad Mishari Al-Adwani and Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain.

          This was the Foundation’s last ceremony and it had distinguished media coverage, like Cultural Nile TV, Egyptian Channel (Egypt), Al-Watan TV (Kuwait), Al-Kuwait TV, Future TV (Lebanon) and many Others. Three issues of Al-Jaeza Magazine have been published for the sake of documentation the ceremony. Furthermore, the Foundation issued many books special for this occasion: Winners of the Foundation’s awards (best Diwan) 1990-2006, Winners of the Foundation’s awards in criticism 1990-2006, Book of Years of Cultural Outputs, The speeches of The Foundation’s President since First session until the eleventh one, “Adnan Alshaegi Texts and studies”, and book of Biographies of the Members of the board of trustees since the first until the Fifth.

          After  extensive  preparations  that  lasted  a  whole  year, events were held in Dubai from 16-18 of October 2011 dedicated towards peaceful coexistence. The opening ceremony was held at 12 pm on Sunday 16th of October 2011 at the Intercontinental Festival City Hotel under the patronage, and with the attendance, of His Highness Sheikh Muhammad bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, with the attendance of a host of ministers from the UAE and neighboring Arab countries. The ceremony was also attended by an elite of, politicians, poets, intellectuals, and cultural figures from both the Arab world and abroad. The speeches that were given were given in this order:

1- A word from the President of the Foundation Abdul Aziz Saud Albabtain.

2- A word from the Vice President of the European Parliament Giovanni Pittella

3- A speech by Ammar Al-Hakim, Leader of the Higher Islamic Council in Iraq

4- A word from Field Marshal AbdulRahman Swar Al Dahab, who was being honored at the Ceremony

          The President of the Foundation honored Field Marshal Swar Al-Dahab with the Foundation’s commemorative gold medal for his efforts in promoting the dialogue of civilizations, cultures, and religions and peaceful coexistence of peoples.

          After the patron’s exit, the attendees were captivated by a show that joined the Sudanese Poet Rawda Al-Haaj with Danish poet Niels Hav, as they were backed by traditional Oud and piano music. At 4:30 pm of the same day, the first session titled ‘The Image of the Other in Ancient Arabic Poetry,’ kicked off, followed by a show by the singer Ghada Chbeir and her ensemble.

          Over the next two days, the session titled ‘The Image of the East in World Poetry,’ and ‘Image of the Other in Contemporary Poetry,’ and ‘Horizons of Communication,’ each followed by a complementary poetry session comprising poets from across the world.

          The Forum was concluded by the honoring of Mr. Albabtain by the Republic of the Comoros Islands represented by Prime Minister Burhan Hamed, and Colonel Hassani Said Haroona. Mr Albabtain was awarded the crest of the green Comoros Crescent (Commando), and the honoring was concluded with the announcement that Mr. Albabtain’s name was now on an important thoroughfare in the Comoros Republic.

          With the grace of God, the responses to the forum were extremely positive, from both the attendees and the audience. The same was heard from the foreign poets, who thanked the Foundation for their hospitality. The forum was covered by media outlets from both inside and outside the Arab world, all which pointed towards the striking success of the forum.

          The foundation had also produced a number of accompanying publications, which were present at the book fair, and were handed out gratis to the attendees of the forum.

The  ‘Poetry Towards  Peaceful  Coexistence’  Forum  was organized by the Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain’s Prize for Poetic Creativity with the attendance of an elite group of poets, writers, and intellectuals from five continents. They presented extremely deep research papers regarding poetry and the coexistence of the human race, and affirmed after their assessment of world affairs that we are in a pivotal and hard-changing moment, which is evident by the Arab uprisings and national crises in the political, social, and economic sphere. These crises could lead us down a dangerous path towards violent outcomes and clashes between people.

          The participants affirmed that humanity cannot move forward except through a peace built on justice and love and understanding between cultures and people. This is a specific message of Arabic poetry, similar to the poetry of the rest of the world. The dialogue of civilizations and cultures and the understanding of the other, and equitable distribution of economic and political power among people, are the tools that will allow us to transcend the troubles we are facing in the political and economic sphere.

          With this in mind, the participants of the Forum have come to the conclusion that the importance of peace, justice, cooperation, as well as the importance of constructive dialogue are the keys to solving the structural crises facing the human race in the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century. It is a cooperation that takes into account the interests and hopes of nations, and also takes into account the human dimension, without insult or spite, which all the religions of the world are calling for, as does the pure Islamic faith. The participants asked the political and economic leaders, heads of civil cooperatives, and the youth, who are ever the architects of the future, to make peace, cooperation, and understanding in the framework of society in order for humanity to avoid the evils that surround us, which are manifested in resorting to violence in order to solve the problems we are facing on the national, regional, and global level.

          The participants see that human freedom is a vital part of national freedom, for the two complement and complete each other. For freedom cannot thrive without an understanding of the other’s thoughts and concerns. This allows for the realm of freedom to widen and deepen, and allows for an inclusion of all who strive for justice and peace, so humanity can be elevated.

          The economic, political, and social dangers facing the world are real problems that have emerged since the beginning of the 21st century all over the world, and specifically in the Arab Orient. The time has come for all who have consciences to raise their voices loudly and affirm that the path to tomorrow be one paved with the flowers of understanding and not the barrels of guns. The respect to the dignity of humanity that God has emphasized is the way to achieve a state of safety, justice, and acceptance for all.