Emirati poet Ahmed Rashed Thani dies

February 22, 2012 Ahmed Rashed Thani, a 50-year-old poet from the United Arab Emirates, passed away on Monday. One of the fathers of Emerati poetry, he battled chronic heart disease for a number of years, suffering numerous heart attacks that made him treasure every minute of his life. “I have been on the brink of death many times, and that is when you are completely and truly alone,” he is quoted as saying. “But it is OK, I always come out a different and stronger person.”

Thani started writing poetry in the 1970s, and his most famous work was a 1981 collection written in colloquial Arabic, entitled O! You Eat Dates . . . You Collect Gold.

Read more about Thani and his work here.