Universality of verse celebrated at Omar Al Khayyam poetry evening

Dubai: Poetry knows no boundaries, as its feeling and essence reaches its audience regardless of language. This is the impression established at a night organised to pay tribute to some big names that contributed to the world of poetry.

The Dubai International Poetry Festival (DIPF) organised an evening dedicated to Omar Al Khayyam and the Emirati translator of his works. The evening was held at Dubai House of Poetry on Thursday evening to pay tribute to the great works produced.

The DIPF is an initiative of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation and runs until Tuesday.

Rubaiyat Al Khayyam, has been translated by Mohammad Saleh Al Gurg from Farsi into Arabic. The Rubaiyat is a collection of poems by the Persian mathematician and astronomer that are best known in English in the translations of about a hundred of the verses (of which there are about a thousand) by Edward Fitzgerald. "Rubaiyat" means quatrains or four-line verses.

The evening was a treat for true lovers of poetry as it combined recitations of some of Al Khayyam's Rubaiyat and language was no barrier, as the recitations were done in Arabic, Farsi and even Albanian languages.

The essence of the words and feelings seemed to have touched all present. The evening also saw a musical performance by Suhair Shaqeer who sang verses of the Rubaiyat as a cold breeze swept over the open-air venue for the event. Al Gurg also signed copies of his book Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam for all attendees and guests.

Al Gurg said he was attracted to Al Khayyam's Rubaiyat from the age of 15. "My father's friend, who used to come to our house, used to read the Rubaiyat and I used to listen very carefully. I memorised a lot of those verses just by listening," he told Gulf News.

Al Gurg said it took him more than eight years to translate Khayyam's Rubaiyat from Farsi to Arabic.

He said it is not just the translation to Arabic that took him that long, but also including the Farsi, English and French versions of the verses to make it approachable to larger numbers of people, especially in the West.

Al Gurg said reading is the first door to knowledge and the young generations now must go back to reading.

Khalid Al Budoor, an Emirati poet, recited some verses from Al Gurg's book saying that the Rubaiyat had influenced him since he was very young.

Vladimir Marku, from Albania, recited some verses in the Albanian language saying that most Albanians know Al Khayyam's Rubaiyat because they carry many messages.

The event also included inauguration of an exhibition open for the public.

Forthcoming events at DIPF

Saturday, March 7

- Special poetry soiree led by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation. 8.30-10.30pm, Dubai World Trade Centre.

- Mahmoud Darwish Night 6-8pm; House of Poetry, Shindagah.