Veteran Emirati Nabti poet Rabie bin Yaqut, one of the UAE’s most prominent poets of popular poetry, passed away on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, at the age of 96.
Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Crown Prince of Ajman and Chairman of the Executive Council, mourned the passing of bin Yaqut via his Instagram account. “Ajman’s great poet bin Yaqut departed our world. We belong to God and to Him we shall return We ask Allah to bestow His mercy upon him and place him in paradise.
“The great poet of Ajman has departed. Truly we belong to God and truly to Him we return. Poet Rabie bin Yaqut passed away. We ask Allah to have mercy on him and grant him a place in Paradise. Our condolences to his family and tribe. There is no power and there is no strength other than by Allah,” Sheikh Ammar said in a post.
Rabie bin Yaqut was born in Ajman in 1928. He joined the Katateeb (traditional Islamic schools) early on but did not remain there for long. In the late 1940s, he traveled to Kuwait.
He began writing poetry at the age of 20. He maintained close friendships with a group of his poet friends such as Hamad Khalifa Bushahab and Rashid bin Safwan.
In Kuwait, bin Yaqut worked at the Al Ahmadi Oil Company for 12 years before moving to work in a garage affiliated of the Kuwaiti Government’s Ministry of Public Works. He continued to work in the garage for 18 years. He returned to his home country a few years before the declaration of the Union of the UAE.
Bin Yaqut engaged in volunteer work through the Folk Arts Association in Ajman, where he took on the important task of transferring cultural heritage from one generation to the next. As the original pioneers of folk arts, songs, and culture began to age, it became crucial for the younger generation to learn and preserve the artistic traditions of their forefathers.
Bin Yaqut joined the “Council of Poets” program, founded by Hamad Khalifa Bushehab on Dubai TV in the late 1960s. He collaborated with a group of poets from the golden generation of that period, including Rashid Al Khidr, Salem Al Jamri, Mohammed bin Souqat, Ahmed bin Khalifa Al Hameli, and Ali bin Rahma Al Shamsi.
Despite the emergence of new faces and the passing of many poets from that golden generation, bin Yaqout remained a prominent member of the program, maintaining his brilliance even in his later years. He also participated in numerous radio programs and poetry evenings.
He maintained close friendship with Hamad Khalifa Bushahab, with whom he shared a relationship lasting over 55 years, during which Bushahab published a collection of bin Yaqut’s poetry in the late 1980s.
His poetry has a unique flavour, characterized by tenderness in words, humour and romantic themes. Many of his poems remain preserved in the memories of people and were frequently requested during poetry evenings and radio programs.
He was one of a few poets who addressed various negative societal phenomena, such as marriage to foreign women, the high cost of living, favouritism (wasta), and foreign customs, as well as the intellectual challenges faced by the youth. Additionally, he discussed numerous Arab issues in his poems. Beyond these topics, he composed many poems in praise of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and the nation. His poems were sung by several artists.
