Omani poet recognised by UNESCO

Muscat: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has announced the inclusion of Omani poet Abu Muslim al Bahlani among the list of global influential figures.

With this announcement Al Bahlani becomes the fifth Omani to be included in the UNESCO list of important historical events and globally influential figures.

UNESCO announced on November 14, 2019 the inclusion of Omani poet Nasser bin Salim al Rawahi, nicknamed (Abu Muslim al Bahlani) on the occasion of the centenary of his death in 1920. The announcement was made at the 40th session of the UNESCO General Conference at its headquarters in Paris.

The other four Omanis to make the list are: the great linguist and founder of the prosody Al Khalil bin Ahmed al Farahidi, who was included in 2006; the physician and pharmacist Rashid bin Omeira, was listed in 2013, and the encyclopedic and social reformer Shaikh Nur A’Din al Salmi, who was listed in 2015 and finally the physicist and Omani physician Abu Mohammed al Azdi known (Ibn al Dhahabi) who was listed in 2015.

Abu Muslim al Bahlani was chosen as a poet and pioneer of the journalism diaspora in Zanzibar and his global influence has extended beyond the borders of the homeland to many parts of the Arab world and East Africa. Thus, the name of the great poet of Oman will be immortalised in the list of the world’s creators.