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Ibn Zuwaybin: A Memory Worth Preserving

Mohammed al-Biladi

Date of publication: July 14, 2026 23:20 KSA

I have a firm conviction that the Nabati poetry prevalent in the Arabian Peninsula is the natural historical extension of classical Arabic poetry, and that the relationship between them is not a fleeting verbal similarity, but a true linguistic kinship; differing in tongue and dialect, while the spirit, purposes, values, rhythm, and poetic instinct remained. Therefore, I find it unsurprising to see later poets of the Arabian Peninsula, such as Ibn Jidlan, al-Mas'udi, Bandar ibn Sirour, and Badiwi al-Waqdani, as extensions of Zuhayr, Tarafah, Abu al-Tayyib, Jarir, and others of the poets of wisdom, eloquence, chivalry, and noble virtues, even if times and words differed. Had I the opportunity to present evidence and proofs to support this conviction, I would do so, but in my view, it is clearer than to need proof, especially for those who have lived poetry and known its secrets, as Taha Hussein once did.

Among the Saudi poetic peaks stands out the name (Abdullah ibn Zuwaybin), may God have mercy on him, as one of the most important poets of the Arabian Peninsula in the last century. Perhaps he is among the names that have received broad consensus among poetry lovers from sea to sea, due to his rare rhetorical and descriptive ability, strength and richness of meaning, and unmistakable wisdom. This made him a unique school in itself and one of the most prominent who elevated this art to high levels of creativity. What strikes you most in Ibn Zuwaybin's experience is not only his unique poetry, but also his wisdom and poetic ethics. In an era when some poems drifted toward harsh words or vulgar expressions, Abdullah ibn Zuwaybin maintained the refinement of his language and the loftiness of his vocabulary. He did not believe that popularity required crudeness, nor that strength of argument was completed by roughness of expression. Perhaps his rhetorical mastery sufficed him; the incapable one resorts to vulgar words when meanings fail him, while the true poet triumphs with wise words and deep meaning.

Today, as our country enjoys—praise be to God—an unprecedented renaissance, we remember this great poet and other folk poets in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Because when nations rise, they do not merely build cities and projects, but also turn to their cultural memory and preserve it for future generations. Nabati poetry is not just a form of entertainment as some imagine, but a social, historical, and linguistic document that has preserved the details of life in our country over the past two centuries, recording its dialects, customs, values, transformations, victories, joys, and sorrows. Whoever reads this type of poetry with awareness reads the history of an entire society, not just metered verses. All I wish is to see a comprehensive national project to document the prominent figures of Nabati poetry in the Kingdom, through audio and video, manuscripts, oral narratives, critical studies, and documentary films, so that this heritage remains alive in the nation's memory, not confined to old tapes or the chests of narrators. If many nations today boast of their poets' museums and complete archives, we have poets who shaped the Saudi society's conscience for decades and contributed to its taste and culture, and they are no less deserving of having their legacy preserved for future generations. If every word that came to us we rejected, we sold the precious at a price that does not match. People with the truth, the judge's ruling did not satisfy them; people will not be satisfied even if you argue. Draw boundaries for yourself and do not cross them; whoever puts himself on the path of narrowness embarrasses it!"

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