Dubai: Award-winning poet Dr Shihab Ganem has published his 43rd book in the UAE with a view to bridging cultural and linguistic differences.
Co-authored by the Slovak Republic non-resident Ambassador to the UAE Dr Peter Zsoldos, Contemporary Poems from the Arabian Peninsula landed on shelves this week.
The idea behind the new leather-bound publication was to foster a better global understanding of Middle East culture through the 35 poems written by poets from UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
The coffee table book was supported by the Cultural Foundation of Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage and is a volume containing three languages: English to the left of the book, Slovak in the centre and Arabic on the right, Ganem said.
In the book's dedication, Ganem quoted the Quran verse: "O mankind. We have created you male and female and made you into races and tribes that you may know one another…"
Ganem said the best way to understand a culture was through its poets, especially in the Arab world where poetry was the diwan (or record) of the culture over time.
Ganem, who has spent much of his life translating poems from Arabic to English, said poetry was still dear to the hearts of those in the region.
"Poetry is the soul of a nation," the poet said.
"If you want to know how we really feel, go to the poetry," Ganem said.
"Glimpse into the heart of the Arab Peninsula through its poetry and you will see everything.
"This is a message to encourage dialogue between cultures and races."
In the book's introduction, co-author Zsoldos wrote about the things that bound cultures together, including small treasures such as poetry.
"In a world falling apart, it is in poetry one finds some remaining sense of integrity," Zsoldos said, noting that cultures can enrich each other through understanding.
"It is evident that we drink from different cups but we have the same water," Zsoldos said.
"East and West can meet, enrich each other, whether it's a silver coin or car, golden poetry, prose or philosophy and can take advantage of each other's culture and civilization.
"That, in a nutshell, is the aim of this present anthology of poetry of the seven countries of the Arabian Peninsula."
