The Arab poet Abu At-Tayyib Ahmad ibn Al Husayn Al Mutanabbi, known to the world simply as Al Mutanabbi, has been chosen to represent the intellectual ambition of this year’s Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF). Al Mutanabbi is the fair’s inaugural “literary figure of honour”, a new initiative that aims to highlight and explore the work of an influential personality in the world of Arab culture through daily events and discussions during the fair. A concert entitled Al Mutanabbi – Forever A Traveller, setting his poems to music for the first time, will open ADIBF on Wednesday, at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
“His personality, his life story, his greatest poems, his struggles and experiences, even real fans of this poet will learn something new about Al Mutanabbi at this year’s fair,” says Dr Ali bin Tamim, the executive director of the National Library Division at Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority.
Besides Al Mutanabbi’s importance as a poet and Arab icon who is said to have “revolutionised Arab poetry”, Dr Tamim says that one of the other reasons this 10th-century Arab poet was picked as focus personality for the book fair was because of his special relationship with books.
“He wrote a whole poem dedicated to the importance of a book. He was so poor in his youth, that he couldn’t afford to buy books. So he would write and create his own books, and he would carry his collection of books wherever he travelled,” Dr Tamim explains.
“The sense of nostalgia, the isolation, sense of loss and yearning for a home, wisdom and philosophies on life are what make pieces by Al Mutanabbi relevant to today’s Arabs,” he continues.
A controversial figure in his own lifetime – he was murdered by those he insulted in his poetry – Al Mutanabbi’s work has been described as arrogant.
“I’m known to the horses, the night and the wilderness. I’m known to the sword, the spear, the paper and the pen,” he wrote.
Al Mutanabbi excelled in panegyric odes, such as the one dedicated to the Hamdanid ruler Sayf Al Dawla (reign 945 to 967), the founder of Aleppo and a great patron of the arts and science, and poets such as Al Mutanabbi.
One of the highlights of the book fair is a session dedicated to discussing a house in Aleppo in Syria, where Al Mutanabbi is believed to have lived for more than nine years.
Only a few steps away from Aleppo’s citadel, the house is built of Shahba stone, which gave the city of Aleppo its name, and consists of two storeys with wooden doors, decorated arched windows and a courtyard sheltering a fountain.
“He composed his greatest pieces while in Aleppo,” says Dr Mohammad Qija, the Syrian researcher, historian and writer, who made it his personal mission to find the house after finding a clue in an old book he found in India entitled Boughyat al-Talab in the History of Aleppo.
“It was like detective work, and we had to go through many old books and manuscripts, interviews and documents before we could confirm it is the right house,” he says. After persevering for over a decade, Dr Qija finally got permission to turn the house into a museum, but due to the current conflict in Syria, the project is on hold.
“In the western world, they cherish and turn the homes of their literary figures into museums. We need to do the same in order to continuously inspire a new generation of Arabs and make them proud of their heritage,” he says. “I hope nothing happens to the house.”
• Majlis Al Mutanabbi will host lectures and seminars on the poet, his life and work. On Wednesday at 7.30pm, Dr Mohammad Qija will talk about his dream of turning Al Mutanabbi’s Aleppo residence into a museum in Homage to Mutanabbi: From Aleppo to Kufa
