Friday, February 14th, 2014 4:22 pm

Our public event in Abu Dhabi last December, “Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Falcons, and Abbasid Hunting Poetry,” was a great success, and drew enthusiastic interest (and questions) from the audience.

The event took off with a reading of a much-loved poem by Sheikh Zayed about hunting with a young falcon, delivered in its original Arabic by the noted Emirati poet Mohamed Al Hashimi and then in English translation by Executive Editor James Montgomery, who goes on to discuss why poetry is such an apt medium for expressing the unique bond between man and animal.

Watch the video below for the full lecture, which also features recitations by Professor Michael Cooperson, Abdulla Al Hussam, and Shahkbut Al Kaabi… and don’t miss the slideshow of LAL Board members interacting with live specimens on their tour of the falcon hospital in Abu Dhabi!

Chip Rossetti
Managing Editor, Library of Arabic Literature