ABU DHABI - The first stage of the Prince of Poets contest closed Thursday its curtains after an exhilarating poetry night which witnessed a fierce competition between candidates to clinch the last three tickets to the next stage.
Prince of Poets' fifth episode, broadcast live from the Shatea' Al Rahaa Auditorium on Abu Dhabi and the Million's Poet satellite channels and Emirates FM, witnessed the participation of the following poets: Hikmate Hassan Jumaa (Syria), Najat bint Obaid Faraj Al-Hajiri (Oman), Safwane Qodaisate (Jordan), Abdul Rahman Al-Harbi (Saudi Arabia), Mohammad Mohammad Salem Mahboubi (Mauritania), Mohammad Salem Ahmad Salem Abadah (Egypt) and Osama Shaabane Mohammad Al-Riyani (Libya).
The audience had the opportunity to watch the most important highlights of the previous episode, including the qualification of Saeed Ateeq Saif Batiye Al Qubaisi (UAE) and Mohammad Al-Sudi (Yemen), joining Mohammed Arij (Morocco), who won the jury’s vote.
Poet Rawda Al-Haj, the fifth episode’s guest of honour, thanked HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces for his patronage of the programme and the endless efforts of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage in promoting culture and literature.
“Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed is the number one sponsor of culture,” said Al-Haj.
Saber Al-Rebae, who entertained the crowd with his songs, praised the programme which “gives us a great hope to continue singing and helps to preserve the language.”
After a thrilling night of painstakingly analyzing the contestants’ poems, the jury settled on Hikmate Hassan Jumaa who scored the highest percentage, while Mohammad Salem Mahboubi won the public’s online vote and Mohammad Salem Ahmad Salem Abadah won the Shatea' Al Rahaa Auditorium's vote.
The competition got to a hot start with Osama Al-Riyani’s poem which won judge Dr. Salah Fadhel’s praise.
“The poet is capable of formulating beautiful dialogues in his poem, which is full of vivacity,” said Dr. Fadhel. However, judge Dr. Ali Bin Tamim said the poem “does not rely on the occurrence of a sequence, but falls in non-desired transfers, which makes it an immature poem.” Judge Dr. Abdul Malik Murtadh said that the poet built an amazing poetic world with very beautiful poetic images despite making linguistic mistakes.
Hassan Jumaa's poem drew a positive criticism. Judge Nayef Rashdan said that there was some wobbling in the poem, but the poet managed to save it at the end. Dr. Murtadh stressed that the poem “is beautiful” despite some linguistic lapses which poets insist on their use. Judge Dr. Ahmed Khreis backed Dr. Murtadh on the poem’s beauty although Jumaa made some linguistic errors.
As for Safwane Qodaisate’s poem, Dr. Bin Tamim said “the poet imitates the poet ‘Arar’ in his poem and creates a modern language.” Dr. Rashdan noted that Qodaisate expressed the reality of life with the existence of modern systematic structures in poetry. Dr. Fadhel said “the tone of the lines rises but the rhyme imposes itself at the end of the lines.”
Qodaisate was followed by the poet Abdul Rahman Al-Harbi whose poem attracted a mixed criticism. Dr. Khreis said Harbi’s poem “is beautiful and its language is excellent.” Dr. Bin Tamim saw an exaggerated Sufism in the poem while Fadhel echoed Dr. Khreis’s opinion, adding that the poet declared his poetic dignity in the text.
Mohammad Salem Ahmad Salem Abadah’s poem bears a different vision of poetry in each line as the text holds a high culture, according to Dr. Rashdan. Dr. Murtadh sais that the poet tried to portray and expose the real experience of his trip to Europe, but did not take it out from the uncommon nor did he make it more humane. Another criticism came from Dr. Khreis who said that the poem was good in terms of linguistic construction, but did not get the admiration of the classical critics.
Mohammad Mohammad Salem Mahboubi’s poem did not please Dr. Mutadh who said that good intentions “do not make poetry” as the expressions used by the poet were weak. However, Dr. Bin Tamim said the poem’s language and rhyme were very good with a break in the weight besides the absence of personal experience in the text. Dr. Murtadh noted that the poem was beautiful, but corrupted by the language used in some parts.
Najat bint Obaid Faraj Al-Hajri concluded the poetry contest to the criticism of the judge Dr. Rashdan said the poet bothered herself in writing some of her lines. Dr. Bin Tamim pointed out that the first part of the poem was extensive and beautiful, while the second part was repetitive as the poet was caught in the language trap. Dr. Khreis recognized the poet’s clear effort put into her text in addition to bring back the ancient poetic spirit.
At the end of the fifth episode, Dr. Bin Tamim briefed the audience about the rules of the second stage which is divided into three episodes. Five poets will take part in every episode, leading to the qualification of two of them only. Every poet is required to write a private vertical poem about the subject of their own choice.
Prince of Poets is supported and produced by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH). The first place winner gets the title of "Prince of Poets" and a cash prize of one million UAE dirhams, in addition to the Princely Garments which is a historical legacy of the Arabs, and the Princely Ring which is a symbol of the Prince of Poets title.
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