Awad Al Luwaihi
Only a few years separated the birth of the poet Abdullah al Tai in 1924 from the death of the poet Abu Muslem al Bahlani in 1920.
Yet from the earliest stages of Al Tai’s engagement with Omani literary experience, Al Bahlani’s poetry played a decisive role in shaping his literary consciousness. Abu Muslem became, in many ways, the poetic and spiritual predecessor Al Tai sought for himself. Indeed, as Dr Mohsen Al Kindi observes, the relationship between the two poets was marked by profound spiritual and intellectual affinity.
Al Tai wrote extensively about numerous literary experiences and never overlooked Omani poetry, engaging with it through reading, debate and critical reflection during a life shaped by travel, political awareness and experimentation across multiple literary forms.
In Contemporary Poets, he discussed Omani poets such as Abdullah bin Ali Al Khalili, Suleiman bin Said Al Kindi and Mohammed bin Shaikhan Al Salimi. In Contemporary Literature in the Arabian Gulf, he explored a wide range of poetic voices from Oman and the Gulf. Yet among all these figures, Abu Muslem Al Bahlani remained Al Tai’s favourite poet, as even the titles of his essays suggest.
This article explores that relationship and the image Al Tai constructed of Al Bahlani — an image of a poet he regarded as the true representative of Oman during one of its most difficult historical periods.
Abu Muslem in the Dedication to The Creeping Dawn
The Creeping Dawn was Abdullah Al Tai’s first published poetry collection, printed in Aleppo in 1966 and containing poems written between 1948 and 1966. The dedication opening the collection reveals the extraordinary place Abu Muslem occupied in Al Tai’s imagination. He dedicates the book:
“To the poet who called for the freedom of Oman from the moment he understood the aims of British colonialism at the beginning of the twentieth century; who warned, awakened and enlightened; who sent his poems from exile in Zanzibar calling for support of the revolution and its leader Imam Salim bin Rashid Al Kharousi and Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamid Al Salimi.
To the exemplar whose path we hope Omani poets and writers will follow in fulfilling their duty towards their homeland and sacred values.
To the late poet Abu Muslem Nasser bin Salem al Rawahi al Absi, I offer this collection as humble steps along the clear road he drew...”
Al Tai then quotes Abu Muslem’s famous verses:
We sit lamenting one another’s pain,
Yet tears and grief are uttered all in vain.
O shepherd, wake — for little now remains
Of grazing fields or flocks upon the plains.
He concludes:
“I believe, our pioneering poet, that your description still applies to us until our people erase it with their own hands. It is therefore no wonder that one of your readers should present this collection to you.”
For Al Tai, Abu Muslem was ‘the exemplar’, the poet whose path Omani writers should follow. Al-Tai even presents himself as one of those continuing along that poetic and intellectual road. The dedication establishes clearly the immense literary and moral authority Al Bahlani held in Al Tai’s consciousness.
Dr Mohsen Al Kindi argues that this dedication reflects “a profound spiritual and intellectual harmony” between the two men, especially in their shared political concerns. Abu Muslem began the poetic project of awakening and resistance in his famous nationalist poems, while Al Tai continued that mission through the fiery patriotic verse filling The Creeping Dawn.
Al Kindi further notes striking parallels in their lives. Both were poets, writers and journalists. Both experienced exile and constant movement. Both were deeply engaged in the political struggles of their homeland. Abu Muslem moved repeatedly between Oman and Zanzibar, enduring hardship in the process, while Al Tai’s life likewise unfolded through travel, journalism and political engagement.
Al Tai’s critical writings on Abu Muslem
Essay writing occupied a central place in Al Tai’s literary career. He wrote 281 articles spanning literary, historical, social and religious subjects, with literary criticism forming the largest share. Much of this productivity stemmed from his journalistic and broadcasting work. His writings appeared across the Arab world in publications such as Sawt Al Bahrain, Al Adab, Al Aqlam and Al Thaqafa.
Al Tai consistently sought to introduce readers to literary movements across the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula, and Abu Muslem occupied a prominent place within that effort. Much of Al Tai’s literary criticism reflected his broader intellectual and nationalist concerns. As critic Hassan Madan observes, Al-Tai focused heavily on themes of Arab awakening, cultural revival and national dignity, mirroring the dominant intellectual discourse of the mid-twentieth century.
Al Tai described Abu Muslem as:
“A poet overflowing with poetic spirit, a man of strong character, a steadfast fighter firm in his convictions, and a writer of refined style. For that reason, he became a symbol of heroism among his people and a figure deeply admired by readers of his poetry.”
He points to the wide circulation of Abu Muslem’s poems across the Gulf. Sent from East Africa, where many Gulf Arabs lived in exile, the poems resonated strongly in Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. Kuwaiti historian Abdulaziz Al Rasheed considered obtaining copies of Abu Muslem’s poems a great achievement and published parts of them in Al Kuwait magazine, where they quickly spread through literary circles.
In Contemporary Literature in the Arabian Gulf, Al Tai introduces Abu Muslem as:
“Nasser bin Salem al Rawahi — the poet of awakening, the voice reminding people of their ancestors’ legacy, the herald of Oman’s civilisational role, and the poet addressing the Omani people about their place in culture and history.”
He also notes that Kuwait’s intellectuals recognised Abu Muslem’s importance early on. The reformist poet Abdullah Al Sane‘ reportedly collected Abu Muslem’s poems from Dubai and sent them to Kuwait, where they were serialised in literary journals.
‘We Have a Poet’
One of the most significant contributions Al Tai made to Abu Muslem’s legacy was his role in preparing the 1957 Cairo edition of Abu Muslem’s diwan, overseen by Sheikh Saleh bin Issa Al Harthi. Scholar Ahmed Al Falahi notes that Al Tai wrote the long introductory study published with the collection under the signature ‘An Omani Citizen’.
That introduction reveals Al Tai not merely as a journalist, but as a serious literary critic deeply immersed in Abu Muslem’s poetic world. Interestingly, he begins not with the poet’s biography, but with the poetry itself:
“This is Abu Muslem the struggling poet. I have not yet told you about his personality. Convention would require introducing the poet first and then his poetry, but I chose otherwise because I did not wish to distract you with the man before allowing you to encounter his verse.”
The central question occupying Al Tai throughout the introduction is whether Oman possesses a poet capable of expressing its collective spirit:
“Who is the poet that represents you in Oman? Who is the title by which the Omani people are known? It is a question upon whose answer the identity of an entire people depends.”
He then turns inward, questioning himself:
“Do we Omanis possess a poet who represents our aspirations? Our spirit? Our moral character? Our history? A poet who connects us to the greater Arab nation?”
Finally, he arrives at his answer:
“Our poet in Oman is Abu Muslem Nasser bin Salem bin Adayem Al Rawahi Al Absi... We have a poet.”
This long meditation reveals Al Tai’s urgent belief in the necessity of a national poet capable of preserving a people’s collective memory and embodying its moral and historical identity.
Anyone reading Al Tai’s introduction can immediately recognise the consistency of his language, vision and emotional attachment to Abu Muslem — the same attachment visible in Contemporary Poets, Contemporary Literature in the Arabian Gulf, and even in the dedication to The Creeping Dawn. For Al Tai, Abu Muslem was never merely a historical poet. He was Oman’s poetic conscience, its voice of awakening, and proof that “we have a poet.”
Translated by Badr al Dhafari
This is an adapted translation of the original Arabic article published in the print edition of the cultural supplement of the Oman Arabic newspaper on February 26.
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