Long before social media, Arabia had its own broadcast network: poetry. Verses travelled by memory from majlis to majlis, carrying news, praise, love and pride. His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum — Crown Prince of Dubai — is one of that tradition’s best-known living voices, publishing Nabati poetry under the pen name that made him famous: Fazza.
For visitors who only know him as a modernising chairman and minister, the poetry can come as a surprise. For Emiratis, it is the opposite: a leader who could not speak in verse would be missing half the language of his own culture. This guide explains what Nabati poetry is, why the Fazza pen name matters, and what his poems tell us about how he sees Dubai.
What Is Nabati Poetry?
Nabati poetry is the vernacular poetry of the Arabian Peninsula — composed in the spoken dialect of the region rather than in formal classical Arabic. For centuries it was the literature of the desert: composed orally, memorised, and passed between generations. Its subjects are the permanent things of Bedouin and coastal life — courage, generosity, loyalty, love, horses, falcons, the sea and the homeland.
Because it uses the language people actually speak, Nabati verse enjoys an intimacy classical forms cannot match. A line of Nabati poetry is quoted the way other cultures quote scripture or song lyrics: at weddings, in arguments, in moments of pride. When a ruler writes in this form, he is speaking to his people in their mother tongue of the heart.
Why a Pen Name?
Pen names are an honoured custom among Nabati poets. The signature “Fazza” — the nickname Emiratis already knew, evoking the man who hurries to help — lets the poem arrive before the rank. It is a gesture of respect toward the craft: judge the verse, not the office of the man who wrote it.
The custom also runs in the family. His father, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is himself a published Nabati poet. In the Al Maktoum house, poetry is not an ornament on leadership; it is part of its education — a training in metaphor, memory and the exact weight of words.
Themes in Fazza’s Verse
Without inventing lines he never published, it is fair to describe the country his published poetry inhabits: pride in the UAE and its union, devotion to Dubai, the values of loyalty and courage, the romance of the desert and the sea, and reflections on life, time and character. These are the classical themes of Nabati poetry, carried by a poet who also chairs government meetings and launches metaverse strategies — and that doubleness is precisely what fascinates his audience.
The poems circulate the way Nabati verse always has — person to person — except that the caravan is now digital. Lines signed Fazza are shared across the same platforms where he posts his photography and his diving films, reaching an audience of millions who may never have opened a printed diwan.
Why It Matters for Dubai
Dubai sells the future, but its leadership works hard to keep the past fluent. A crown prince who publishes dialect poetry is performing an act of cultural continuity: proof that a city of glass towers and paperless government still speaks the language of its pearl-diving grandfathers. For young Emiratis especially, Fazza’s verse is a bridge — heritage arriving through a feed, in a voice they already follow.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Nabati poetry?
It is the traditional vernacular poetry of the Arabian Peninsula, written in the spoken dialect and passed down for centuries, dealing with themes like honour, love, loyalty, horses, falcons and the homeland.
Why does Sheikh Hamdan publish as Fazza?
Fazza is his long-standing nickname and poetic pen name. Using it follows the Nabati custom of letting the poem speak before the poet’s rank — and it is the name his people know him by.
Is his father a poet too?
Yes. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum is a published Nabati poet, and poetry is a deep tradition in the Al Maktoum family.
What themes does Fazza’s poetry cover?
His published work moves through the classical Nabati landscape: pride in homeland, loyalty, love, the desert and the sea, and reflections on character and life.
Where can people read or hear his poems?
His verses circulate widely through his official channels and across social media, where lines signed Fazza are shared by his millions of followers.
