Qatari literature

Coin minted in the name of war poet Qatari ibn al-Fuja'a with slogan of Kharijite. His poems were predominantly related to war and martyrdom.

Poems were the first literary form to be mass produced by Qatari writers. Qatari ibn al-Fuja'a, a folk hero dating to the seventh-century, was renowned for writing poetry. He led the Kharjite sect of Islam for a short period; his poems often glorified martyrdom.[3] However, as a result of wide-spread illiteracy that historically prevailed in the Arabian Peninsula, poetry was more often spoken than written. It was seen as a verbal art which fulfilled essential social functions. Having a renowned poet among its ranks was a source of pride for tribes; it is the primary way in which age-old traditions are passed down generations. Most often, poems were composed in the Nabati form (also known as Bedouin poetry). Poems composed by females primarily focused on the theme of ritha, to lament. This type of poetry served as an elegy.[4]

The beginnings of contemporary written poetry in Qatar dates back to the early 1800s with Abdul Jalil Al-Tabatabai and Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Uthaymeen.[1] The former poet was born in Basra but migrated to the flourishing coastal town of Zubarah at a young age. In September 1802, after the Sultan of Muscat and Oman Sultan bin Ahmad imposed a sea blockade of Zubarah, Al-Tabatabai wrote the following poem:[5]

For you God will suffice against
the pangs of separation from your dead ones,
Your longing and pining is like a fire burning
in your heart
Your longing is not hidden,
A longing for the southern wind.

Al-Tabatabai later migrated from Qatar to Bahrain in the 1820s, following the lead of many other prominent residents of Zubarah.[5] As for Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Uthaymeen, he was born in the mid-1800s in Saudi Arabia. He would go on to form a close relationship with Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, then ruler of Qatar, and even composed eulogies praising him.[6] Nonetheless, according to academic Mohammed Al Qafud, these two poets did not leave a lasting impact on the poetry scene in Qatar, mainly due to the temporary nature of their stays in the country.[1]

One of the first Qatari-born poets to leave an enduring impact on the peninsula's literary culture was Majid bin Saleh Al-Khulaifi, born in 1873.[1] He expressed an interest in poetry since a young age, and his poems ranged in theme from war to his wife's death. Like most other poems produced in the Arabian Peninsula, his poems followed the nabati structure. Al-Khulaifi's poems were preserved and printed in a 1969 book entitled From Qatari Poetry alongside fellow poets Mohammed Al Fayhani and Ahmed Al Kuwari.[7]

During Sheikh Jassim Al Thani's reign (1878–1913), he funded the printing of many Islamic texts. For instance, in 1892 he provided financing to print 100 copies of Mahmud al-Alusi's book Fathul Mannan: Completion of Laying the Foundation and Response to Brothers Reconciliation and then donated those copies to Muslim academics and students. The next year, in 1893, he gifted al-Alusi with 100 copies of the book.[6]

In the early and mid-1900s, two notable poets were Ahmad bin Yousef Al Jaber and Abdulrahman bin Qassim Al Maawda. Al-Jaber wrote many poems with religious as well as political themes, including a eulogy for Gamal Abdel Nasser, the recently deceased President of the United Arab Republic. The latter poet, Al Maawda, spent his life in both Qatar and Bahrain. He too wrote poems with a political slant, often about pan-Arabism.[1]

The emergence of contemporary literature in the 1950s coincides with the beginnings of the modern arts movement. This was largely because the increased prosperity from oil extraction activities allowed Qataris to receive formal education, adopt more settled lifestyles and attend higher education institutes abroad in order to hone their creative skills.[1] Other factors involved in triggering a literary revolution were the improved social standing of women, the advent of a national identity, and the introductions of literary organisations, journalism and mass immigration.[8]

Qatar, as well as most other Persian Gulf countries, borrowed practices and writing styles from the more-developed literary cultures of other Arab countries like Egypt, Syria and Lebanon.[9]

Qatar's Department of Information published the first weekly magazine 1969, called Doha Magazine.[10] Abdullah Al Ni'ma produced the first weekly magazine devoted to culture the same year, entitled Al Uruba; this would later be branded as Al Arab. Throughout the 1970s, at least 14 more periodicals appeared, allowing Qatari writers with platforms to showcase their works. This made short stories and traditional poems widely accessible to the masses for the first time.[8]

The international response to the imprisonment of poet Mohammed al-Ajami was overwhelming. Pictured here is a demonstration outside the Qatari Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Although poetry no longer dwarfs other literary forms in importance, it is still a long-honored tradition which has attracted new writers in the mid- and late-1900s and even into the 21st century. Poets such as Sheikh Mubarak bin Saif Al Thani, Hassan Al Naama, and Hajar Ahmed Hajar were prominent figures in the late 1900s. Around this time, females such as Kaltham Jaber, Hessa Al Awadhi and Zakiya Mal Allah also started composing poems. Poems were being published in newspapers, magazines and books on a large-scale for the first time. Mubarak Al Thani even published a poem that would serve as Qatar's national anthem, adopted in 1996.[1]

Mohammed al-Ajami, a 21st century Qatari poet, was noted for his political poetry that touched on subjects such as the Arab Spring. He was imprisoned in 2012 allegedly for publicly reading a poem in which he criticized Qatar's emir.[11] After several different sentences were handed down, he was finally released in March 2016, after four years of detention.[12]

Short stories first became popular in the 1970s.[13] Yousef Ni'ma introduced the first two collections of short stories in 1970, entitled Bint Al-Khaleej (Daughter of the Gulf) and Liqa fi Beirut (A Meeting in Bayrut). He went on to publish several more short stories throughout the proceeding decades.[8]

Kaltham Jaber was the first Qatari woman to author a collection of short stories, doing so in 1978. The collection was titled Ania wa Ghabat as-Samt wa at-Taraddud, and the main focus of these stories is the desire for Qatari women to have a role in restructuring social norms and cultural conceptions.[14] Other women who later wrote short stories include Mai Salem, Abeer Al Suwaidi, Umm Aktham and Noura Al Saad.[15] Similar to most Qatari women writers of the period, Umm Aktham (the pseudonym of Fatimah Turki) was a vocal proponent of women's rights. She wrote short stories criticizing Qatar's treatment of women, but also offered fair criticisms of Western countries so as not to the draw the ire of conservatives.[2]

Qatari author Ali Khalifa Al-Kuwari's 2012 book The People Want Reform in Qatar, Too was banned in Qatar because of its critical views towards the emir.

Shu'a' Khalifa and her sister Dalal Khalifa were the first two Qatari novelists to publish their works. They accomplished this feat with the publishing of three separate novels in 1993: al-Ubur ila al-haqiqa (Passage to Truth), written by Shu'a' in 1987, Ahlam al-bahr al-qadima (The Old Dreams of the Sea), written by Shu'a' in 1990 and Usturat al-Insan wa-l-buhayra (The Myth of the Man and the Lake, written by Dalal. The sisters would go on to publish four more novels by 2000. Their novels center around social limitations faced by women, and scrutinize long-held social values. Another important theme in their novels is the rapid societal transition experienced by Qatar since the discovery of oil.[8]

Since the 2000s, most novels released have explored topics of social change, cultural alienation, and political issues through the perspectives of highly educated youth. These topics are expressed through fictitious autobiographies and personal crises. Some of novels in the 2000s with political motifs were Ahmed Abdul Malik's 2005 novel Ahdan al-manafi (The Embraces of Exile), his 2009 novel Fazi shahid al-islah fi al-Khalij (Fazi', the Martyr of Reform in the Gulf), and Jamal Fayiz's 2013 novel Mud Foam.[8] Some novels with political themes deemed controversial have been banned by Qatar, such as a number of Ahmed Abdul Malik's books and Ali Khalifa Al-Kuwari's 2012 book The People Want Reform in Qatar Too.[16]

Abdulaziz Al-Mahmoud published his successful novel Al Qursan in 2011.

Abdulaziz Al-Mahmoud and Issa Abdullah were two pioneers of historical novels in Qatar.[8] As a writer, Al Mahmoud's debut novel Al Qursan experienced commercial success after its release in August 2011. The novel was translated into English under the title The Corsair one year later and went on to become one of the best-selling books to be released by a Qatari author.[17] Al Qursan's plot revolves around British politics and piracy in the Persian Gulf region during the 19th century, with the central figure being the Arab pirate Rahmah ibn Jabir al-Jalahimah.[18] Abdullah's first historical novel was released in 2013 as Kanz Sāzīrān (Saziran's Treasure).[8]

Qatar launched the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel in September 2014 which has a $200,000 prize for the top fiction book.[19] This competition was later incorporated under the authority of Katara Publishing House, established in 2018.[20]

By June 2015, twelve Qatari women and eight Qatari men had published a collective total of thirty-nine novels.[8] Novels have proven to be one of the fastest growing categories of literature, with nearly a quarter of all existing Qatari-authored novels being published as recently as 2014. Six new female Qatari writers published novels in 2014: Hanan Al-Fayyad, Sumayya Tisha, Amala Al-Suwaidi, Shamma Al-Kuwari, Muhsina Rashid, and Iman Hamad. Similar to their predecessors, the main themes in their books are women's role in society and the social transition of Qatar.[8]