Ousha bint Khalifa Al Suwaidi ( ar, عوشه بنت خليفة السويدي) also known as Fatat Al-Arab (Girl of the Arabs), Ousha Al Sha'er (Ousha the Poet) (1 January 1920 – 27 July 2018) was a poetess from the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

Early life and education

Ousha was born and raised in Al Ain and moved later in life to the

emirate of Dubai The Emirate of Dubai ( ar, إمارة دبيّ; pr. ) is one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates. It is the most populous emirate of the UAE. The capital of the emirate is the eponymous city, Dubai. Geography The city of Dubai i ...

. A prominent cultural figure, she is regarded as among the finest

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

Nabati Nabaṭī ( ar, الشعر النبطي), historically also known as najdi, is a vernacular Arabic poetry that stems from the Arabic varieties of the Arabian Peninsula. It exists in contrast to the poetry written according to the classical rules of ...

poets with a large number of her poems sung by popular Emirati and Arab artists. Her work has been influential in the development of Nabati poetry in the UAE, particularly among young female poets.

Works

Her work was influenced by both classical poets such as Al Mutannabi, Abu Tammam and Al Ma’ari, as well as local Nabati poets including Al Majidi bin Thahir, Rashid Al Khalawi, Saleem bin Abdul Hai and Mohsin Hazzani. In 1989, Sheikh

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم, links=no; ; born 15 July 1949) is the vice president, prime minister, and minister of defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as the ruler of Dubai ...

, Crown Prince of Dubai at the time, dedicated a poem from his first published collection giving her the sobriquet "Fatat Al Arab" instead of her original name "Fatat Al Khaleej" (Girl of the Gulf).

Awards

In 2010, she was awarded at the 11th Sharjah Festival of Classic Poetry and later won the Abu Dhabi award, presented by Sheikh

Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan ( ar, مُحَمّد بِن زَايد آل نَهيَان, Moḥamed bin Zāyed Āl Nahyān; born 11 March 1961), colloquially known by his initials as MBZ, is the third president of the United Arab Emirates ...

. In 2011 an annual award for female Emirati poets was established in her name and a section in her honour was dedicated in Dubai's Women's Museum. A biography of Ousha was published by Rafia Ghubash, the President of the Arabian Gulf University in Bahrain. She was awarded with Abu Dhabi Awards for her services in 2009. On 28 November 2022, she was celebrated with a

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...

. Google doodle image was illustrated by Abu Dhabi-based artis
Reem Al Mazrouei

References

1920 births 2018 deaths 21st-century Emirati poets People from Al Ain 20th-century Emirati poets Emirati women poets {{UnitedArabEmirates-bio-stub