Mohammed bin Rashid Library Celebrates Ahmed Rashid Thani with the Broad Participation from the Intellectual Scene

Dubai, United Arab Emirates – February 17, 2023:  The Mohammed bin Rashid Library (MBRL) organised the “The Days of Ahmed Rashid Thani” event in celebration of the late Emirati poet Ahmed Rashid Thani, with broad participation from the public, intellectuals, writers, and those interested from various segments of society. The initiative aimed to shed light on one of the most prominent Emirati creators and his contributions to local and popular heritage. 
On its first day, the event started with a dialogue session, moderated by Emirati writer Iman Al-Hammadi, to discuss “At the Door is a Wave” book. The guests touched upon the book's literary portraits, aesthetics, and linguistic components, brilliantly crafted to take the reader on a historic voyage across the author’s earliest memories in Khor Fakkan.

The second day saw a panel discussion titled “Ahmed Rashid Thani - A Word Written to Last”, moderated by Waleed Al Marzooqi, and featured poet Khalid Al Budoor and writer Ahmed Al Asam. The session explored key markers in the poet's journey, along with his contributions to the UAE’s literary and cultural revival, including his timeless thought and popular works among readers and admirers of poetry and literature. The evening covered the attributes of Ahmed Rashid Thani's poetry, the cultural activity in the 1980s, the experience of modern poetry, and autobiography writing in the UAE.

“Ahmed Rashid Thani’s vocabulary and linguistic style produced a unique and rich experience in terms of biography writing. This unforgettable creativity plotted his childhood memories in a brilliant linguistic fashion.” said the poet Khalid Al Budoor
On his part, writer and poet Ahmed Al Asam said: “Ahmad Rashid Thani was distinguished by his gentle view towards people and society, which influenced his interpretation of the literary scene and his journaling and searching works alike. Thani believed in the differences in narratives and their variations between regions, while agreeing with the narrators and giving them more freedom to seamlessly engage with the moving elements.” 

Moving away from discussions and debates, MBRL hosted the “Bahr Sidra and Cloud” poetry evening, where poets Sheikha Al-Mutairi and Hassan Al-Najjar read a selection of Thani’s poems.
At the conclusion of the event, the participants praised the organisation and content of such events, and commended MBRL’s role in highlighting Arab literary intellectuals and heritage conservation, as well as its pioneering endeavours in promoting the cultural landscape and the comprehensive development journey in the UAE and across the world.

The event translates MBRL’s vision to preserve cultural and linguistic heritage by celebrating Arab and Emirati creatives, introducing the new generations to their talents and creativity, and encouraging promising writers to boost their original and translated literary production.