Abu dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre is set to release a new book, “One Hundred Songs and a Song: Modern Poems That Enriched Arabic Music,” authored by a team of researchers under the guidance of Dr. Ali bin Tamim, the Centre’s president.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, this publication is the fifth installment in the annual “One Hundred Books and a Book” series. It serves as a sequel to “One Hundred Sung Poems and a Sung Poem,” which explored Arabic poems enriched through music from ancient to contemporary times. The new book focuses specifically on modern Arabic poems set to music and performed by renowned singers, providing scholarly analyses from literary, cultural, and musical angles.

Spanning 396 large-format pages, the book navigates through a century of creative synergy between illustrious figures in poetry, music, and singing. It explores connections like those between Ahmed Shawqi, Riad Al-Sunbati, and Umm Kulthum, as well as Said Akl, the Rahbani brothers, and Fairuz, and further with Nizar Qabbani, Kazem El Saher, and Majid Al-Muhandis. It also sheds light on various poetic traditions across the Arab world.

Prepared by ten experts in poetry and music, the book includes 101 entries, each dedicated to a modern sung poem. Each entry offers a brief introduction to the poet, a concise explanation of the lyrics, and an analytical examination of the melody and vocal performance. An appendix of musical and poetic terms is provided to aid the reader, and the book is noted for its high-quality, full-color printing, featuring photographs of the featured poets, composers, and singers.

In the introduction, Dr. Ali bin Tamim comments on the longstanding relationship between poetry and song in Arab culture. He notes that the art of singing has historically been important, not only for entertainment but also for its alignment with the musicality of the Arabic language. This cultural backdrop allowed ancient singers to effortlessly perform hundreds of poems by both pre-Islamic and post-Islamic poets, a tradition that is reflected in the famous “Kitab al-Aghani” (The Book of Songs) by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, emphasizing the deep connection between poetry and song.