Nations take pride in their poets, for they are the voice that speaks in domestic and international forums of a country's past, present, and future ambitions — especially those poets who dedicate their creativity to singing the praises of their homeland, raise their voices in times of hardship, and serve its cause across the ages.
In our Gulf homelands there are poetic names and towering figures who have proven, through their verses, their generosity, and their stances, a love for their countries that defies description, and a devotion to their history and heritage that surpasses the limits of imagination.
One such poet whom Kuwait produced — and upon whom he showered, throughout the years of his life and until his final moment, poems and verses celebrating its grandeur, the struggles of its men on land and sea, the stances of its leaders, the steadfastness of its sons in upholding righteousness, and the beauty of its soil and its people — employing sweet vocabulary, moving phrases, rousing similes, and flowing expressions, is the late poet Abdullah Al-Oteiba, known as "Lover of the Homeland", "Kuwait's Warm Voice", "The Nation's Lute", and "Prince of the Word".
Al-Oteiba was known for his national and pan-Arab sensibility, and for the influence upon him of Iraq's poet Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab. His poems — whether in classical or colloquial Arabic — expressed the reality and dreams of his Kuwaiti homeland. He began his literary life with poetry in 1965, when he composed a patriotic ode to mark the Independence Day celebrations that year; it was broadcast on Kuwait Radio before being sung by Shadi Al-Khaleej to music by Ahmed Baqer, with Al-Oteiba declaring:
I am Arab and Arabhood is my nation; on this feast day I come to express my joy. I have sworn to offer life cheaply so that the banner of liberation shall remain on my horizon. A proud people who have known the path to my dignity and my honour.
He then leveraged his relationships with musicians to transform his patriotic poems into musical pieces, artistic tableaux, and dancing operettas that delighted the ears, stirred the emotions, captivated hearts, and charmed the eyes. Through his collaboration with the voice of Shadi Al-Khaleej and the music of Ghanam Al-Dikan, the most beautiful operettas and immortal choral epics were born.
Among them: the epic "Qawafil Al-Ayyam" (Caravans of Days) in 1981; the operetta "Al-Zaman Al-Arabi" (The Arab Era) in 1982, which depicts Arab reality and its circumstances and embodies the connection between art and the nation's reality; the song "Dafa'aha Allah" (God Repelled It) in 1985, a song dedicated to the safety of Sheikh Jaber — may God have mercy on him — following the assassination attempt on his life; and the epic "Ana Al-Ati" (I, the Coming One) in 1982, which chronicled the past and its heroism, its glories, and the journey of successive generations toward building a bright future.
Also: the epic "Ahl Al-Kuwait" (The People of Kuwait) in 1992, presented at the first National Day celebration after the liberation; the epic "Sada Al-Tarikh" (The Echo of History) in 1986, comprising 24 artistic tableaux depicting Kuwait's history before the discovery of oil; and the epic "Hadith Al-Sur" (The Wall's Tale) in 1988, containing five magnificent tableaux and an array of well-known Kuwaiti rhythms.
And the epic "Mawakib Al-Wafa" (Processions of Loyalty) in 1990, presented at the Ministry of Education's National Day celebrations with the participation of 3,000 male and female students, depicting the wedding traditions of 22 Arab countries through their songs, dances, and folk costumes; and the operetta "Ashiq Al-Dar" (Lover of the Homeland) in 1995, presented at a ceremony honouring graduates of the Music Studies Centre and serving as the crowning finale to Al-Oteiba's collaboration with Al-Dikan and Shadi Al-Khaleej.
Al-Oteiba says in "Mawakib Al-Wafa": Kuwait and the Arabs are kin and family, as if they are the eye and the eyelash around her; on the night of the wedding our Kuwait comes, adorned by the glad tidings of joy. And in "Hadith Al-Sur" he says: Kuwait, O Kuwait, you who dared to step toward the impossible, Kuwait, O Kuwait, a destination the like of which imagination never dreamed; O land of love, of family and loved ones, O shore of tenderness, O land of ancestors, with borders open to all who seek safety.
And in "Ana Al-Kuwait" (I Am Kuwait) he says: I am the bridle for the raging winds, and by you I am a sword among the steadfast; I am the yearning of the seas amid their perils, I am the nobility of the Bedouin when wronged. In "Ashiq Al-Dar" he says: I have entrusted you, my homeland, with my fate, and written my love for you across my lifetime; I have abandoned the kingdoms of my longings so that your heart may dwell within my chest — for the ships of my days can sail no sea but yours. And in "Al-Zaman Al-Arabi" he says: If you behold a sky that never parts from the warmth of suns and the glow of the moon, and if you cross borders that never cease to hold the spoils of beauty and show you the sweetness of images — the necklace of past ages and its beginning — then the bygone time grows green with longing for it.
In his poem "Taer Al-Bushra" (The Bird of Glad Tidings), written during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, he says: The bird of glad tidings came to me with the victory of my country, so my ribs became a rababa for Kuwait; it renewed my longing to sing once more, translating the knight's longing for the great joy; and my letters became for Kuwait ears of grain — if the hurricane passes over them, it leaves only barrenness behind.
Kuwaiti literary figure Dr Suleiman Al-Shatti said of him: "He has every right to be loved as a poet, and I am not alone in my captivation with his poetry — all of us have felt the sincerity of expression, the purity of approach, and the warmth of patriotism in this poetry he dedicated to the homeland."
He added: "In his collection 'Mazar Al-Hulm' (The Dream's Shrine) he offered us words of a special kind — poetry that one can boast of and take pride in, the poetry of those who know the value of a distinctive, cultured, authentic, contemporary word and an illuminating, guiding, heralding idea. He presented this in the Arabic word in its pure and classical form, and it was his domain, with which every measure of satisfaction was achieved."
Al-Shatti also said of him: "Our poet Abdullah Al-Oteiba lived singing to Kuwait, and died dreaming of it. He is the nation's lute through his patriotic poetry, which shall remain immortal with the immortality of patriotic verse — a beacon for us in times of hardship — and its echo shall endure in our souls forever."
Visual artist Badr Al-Qatami said, in substance, that he came to know Al-Oteiba as a child in the Freej Aliywa neighbourhood, where they studied together under the Mulla Saleh Al-Adassani, and that Al-Oteiba was among the first to memorise the Holy Quran. He then lived alongside him during their studies in Egypt in the 1960s.
He found Al-Oteiba to be "gentle in manner, generous of hand, a lover of the arts in all their forms, and open-hearted. Whenever I painted a work, I would consult him to benefit from his opinion of it, and he would provide me — God have mercy on him — with sound views and guidance."
Dr Mohammed Saif Al-Islam Bouflaka wrote about him in the Jordanian newspaper Al-Ra'i on 31 July 2015: "Al-Oteiba was a devotee of his society, whose cultural fabric was interwoven with the influences of the sea and the influences of the desert — embodying in these two contrasting yet simultaneously interacting worlds the qualities of spatial vastness as a space that expands for imagination and creativity.
The desert was an inspiring expanse for the arts of its inhabitants, for some patterns of their thought and life, and a source of their anxieties, challenges, and chivalry, while the sea was a field for their constant quest, contemplation, voyaging, chants, and songs — as much as it was an important source of their daily livelihood and a bridge for their cultural contact with the world.
Al-Oteiba had experienced much of this historical culture in its many dimensions, so he sang of it and composed for it pearls of expression. The thread of poetry woven by his creative pen, his vast memory, and his reflective soul was never severed; rather it manifested in the form of songs and long poems with rhythms and music, which the voices of singers and the strings of composers transformed into anthems glorifying the homeland, and stories of heroism and love for life."
The poet, literary figure, and academic Dr Abdullah Mohammed Al-Oteiba was born in Kuwait City in 1942, into a noble family tracing its lineage to the Al-Naf'a branch of the Otaiba tribe, descended from the progeny of Hajjaj Al-Oteiba, who came to Kuwait from Najd in the early 20th century and settled in the Marqab district, according to the Kuwait History Forum.
Al-Oteiba began his education in the religious schools under Mulla Mohammed Saleh Al-Adassani in the Qibla quarter, beside the blacksmiths' market, where he learned to read and write and memorised the Quran. He then continued his studies in formal schools through secondary level, which he completed at the Religious Institute.
He subsequently travelled to Egypt to pursue his university education, enrolling in the Faculty of Dar Al-Ulum, which awarded him a Bachelor of Arts in Arabic language and literature in 1970. He then continued postgraduate studies at the same faculty, earning a Master's degree in 1973 with a thesis entitled "Peace Poetry in the Pre-Islamic Era".
Al-Oteiba remained in Cairo as a student until 1977, the year in which he was awarded a doctorate with distinction from the Faculty of Dar Al-Ulum for a thesis entitled "War and Peace in Arabic Poetry from the Dawn of Islam to the End of the Umayyad Era".
He began his professional career teaching at secondary level, but moved into academia at Kuwait University after his return from his long sojourn in Egypt, working as an assistant professor in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature. He then headed the Arabic Language Department before becoming Assistant Dean and subsequently Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Kuwait University.
His academic commitments did not prevent him from contributing to other fields. He played an active role in establishing the Popular Heritage Centre for Gulf Cooperation Council States in Doha in 1982, and participated as an active member in the work of the Supreme Committee for Technical Institutes in Kuwait, the Board of Directors of the Higher Institute of Musical Arts, and the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters.
As for his poetic contributions, they were not confined to writing patriotic songs for national occasions and official state holidays; he also wrote love poetry, albeit sparingly in that domain. He was, for example, the lyricist of the song "Hali Hal" (My State Is My State), a romantic song set to music by composer Ghanam Al-Dikan that brought the artist Shadi Al-Khaleej back into the spotlight after a long absence. There was also another, much earlier romantic song written by Al-Oteiba and sung by Shadi Al-Khaleej in the 1960s — when the latter was studying music in Egypt — set to music by Ahmed Baqer: the song "La Ya Qalbi" (No, My Heart).
As for the positions he held, beyond the academic posts already mentioned, he served as chairman of the board and editor-in-chief of the Arab Journal of Humanities published by Kuwait University; he served as editor-in-chief of Al-Bayan magazine published by the Kuwait Writers Association and was a member of its advisory committee; he served as Secretary-General of the Kuwait Writers Association; and from the post-liberation period until his death he served as Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). In addition, Al-Oteiba participated in numerous conferences, cultural activities, and poetry evenings inside and outside Kuwait, and represented Kuwait at many poetry festivals and cultural weeks.
Amid all these responsibilities and engagements, Al-Oteiba succeeded in producing a number of research studies on heritage and folk poetry, including: a study on the art of "Al-Laqta" published in Al-Bayan magazine in 1981; a critical study entitled "Kuwaiti Folk Poetry and Its Social Issues" published in the Journal of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies; a critical study entitled "The Influence of the Sea on Kuwaiti Folk Poetry" published in Al-Bayan magazine in 1982; and a study entitled "Folk Literature in Kuwait" published by the Arab League in Tunis in 1983.
He also published two poetry collections: "Mazar Al-Hulm" in 1989 and "Taer Al-Bushra" in 1993; and three books: "Peace Poetry in the Pre-Islamic Era", "Studies in Kuwaiti Folk Poetry", and "A Lexicon of Contemporary Kuwaiti Poetry" — in addition to a book co-authored with Professor Khaled Saud Al-Zaid entitled "The Poet Abdullah Sinnan: A Study and Selected Verses".
On Sunday, 15 January 1994, Al-Oteiba passed away, leaving behind four children — two sons and two daughters — and a bright legacy as bright as the history of the homeland that had settled in the depths of his heart and which he had defended with the most sincere of poems and the most eloquent of meanings.
He died in one of London's hospitals, to which he had travelled seeking treatment for a grave illness. Kuwait's cultural, artistic, literary, and media communities eulogised him in recognition of his merit and as a testament to their love for him and his place in their hearts.
Just as he had throughout his life been distinguished by his patriotic poetic generosity, he maintained that distinction even on his sickbed — as evidenced by the fact that, one month before his death, he wrote a long poem entitled "Qala Al-Ma'na" (The Meaning Said).
Although he indicated that "Al-Ma'na" was merely a Kuwaiti citizen recounting his autobiography and the extent of his attachment to his homeland, the truth is that this citizen was none other than himself — a soul that refused to cease its poetic journey until its very last breath.
We conclude by noting that a number of publications have been issued about Al-Oteiba's life, works, and poetic methods, among them the book "Ashiq Al-Dar" published by the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters in Kuwait in 2005, which contained two studies written by Dr Hamad Abdullah Al-Habbad and Dr Salem Abbas Khadadha, and an appendix with samples of Al-Oteiba's poetic and prose writings. Among them also is the book "Dr Abdullah Mohammed Al-Oteiba: A Renewed Presence", published by the Faculty of Arts at Kuwait University in 2014, authored by a committee of researchers, and containing studies of Al-Oteiba's output as well as testimonies and poems expressing love and loyalty to his fragrant memory.