The Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation will be organizing a lecture under the title of ‘Tales and Memories of Palm Trees’ by HE Abdul Ghaffar Hussein, which will be followed by a book signing ceremony of Ammatna Al Nakhla (Our Aunt, the Palm Tree). The event will take place at 9 pm on Wednesday April, 5, 2023 at the Seminar Hall in the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation.
Novelist and historian Abdul Ghaffar Hussein is considered one of the most notable literary figures in the UAE, dedicating his life to research and writing of different genres including historical and social writing as well as literature. Moreover, Hussein is a lecturer and regular participant in seminars and is Chairman of several cultural societies and unions, after working for years in the civil service sector. In addition, he is considered to be the first literary critic in the UAE and the first biographer and book editor. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais.
Born in Dubai in 1936, Abdul Ghaffar Hussein authored a number of important books in the field of poetry, history and biographies including: Al Sowar Al Ibda’iyya Fi Shi’r Sultan Al Owais (Creative Imagery in the Poetry of Sultan Al Owais), Al Burda Al Mubaraka Wa Nahjaha (The Blessed Burda and its Nahj), Al Ja’iza Wal Shi’r (The Prize and the Poetry), Humoom Wataniyya (National Concerns), Tarim Umran: Lamahat min Hayatih (Glimpses from the Life of Tarim Umran), Angham Min Al Wijdan (Music from the Heart), Qira’ati fi Kitabai Al Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid ‘Ru’yati, Wamadat min Fikr’ wa Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum fi Sibaq Maa Al Zaman (My Reading of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid’s Books ‘My Vision, Flashes of Thought’ and ‘Challenges in the Race for Excellence’) and Kutub wa Kuttab: Qira’at Mukhtara (Books and Authors: Selected Readings), which was released by the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation and offers summaries of 150 books of different genres and topics.
It is worth mentioning that Hussein’s book Ammatna Al Nakhla (Our Aunt, the Palm Tree) is one of the distinguished books that celebrate palm trees, their social status and their sentimental value in the hearts of the Emirati people, also shedding light on the economic and scientific dimension and the historical professions related to palm trees as they have always been a source of sustenance and welfare. According to the sayings of Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him): ‘Honor your aunt the date palm tree, I call it your aunt because it was created out of the earth left over after the creation of Adam (on whom be peace). There is no tree more noble than the one under which Mariam the daughter of Imran gave birth’.
The book touches upon the poetry that was written about palm trees and the terms associated with palm trees, as well as date palm agriculture in the UAE and Oman and explores date palms through the eyes of poets, etc.
