Session 9:
Ibn Zaydoun Session, Cordoba, Spain, 4-8- October 2004:

          The Board of Trustees of the Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain’s Award for Poetic Creativity approved naming this meeting after the great Andalusia poet Ahmed Ibn Zaydoun and decided to hold it in Cordoba, Spain between the 4th and 8th of October 2004. This was the first time the Foundation held a meeting outside the Arab world, and it was aimed at clarifying the true civilization, intellectual and cultural Arab and Muslim image after some opposing parties portrayed a distorted image of them in the wake of the September 2001 attacks. Choosing Cordoba as a host stemmed from the long historical relations between the Arabs and Spain and Portugal (the Iberian Peninsula). All the meeting’s activities were carried out under the auspices of his Majesty King Juan Carlos and his eldest daughter Princess Elena, who attended the opening ceremony.

          The Foundation had invited more than four hundred opinionated  leaders,  ministers,  officials,  specialized  professors, critics, poets, intellectuals and media men belonging to different religions from the Arab world, Europe and America.

          On Monday, the 4th of October 2004, the Foundation organized a tour of the city of Cordoba for its guests.

The prizes were awarded during this session as follows:

1.   The Honorary Prize in Poetic Creativity: Sudanese poet Dr. Mohyeddin Fares

2.   The Creativity Prize in Poetry Criticism: Egyptian professor Ahmed Darwish

3.   The Best Diwan Prize: Egyptian Poet Rabeh Lotfi Jumaa

4. The Best Poem Prize: Jointly won by two poets; Dr. Abdulrahman Bu Ali (Morocco) and Mr. Sayed Yousef Ahmed (Egypt)