FEZ: Moroccan poets and critics remembered Kuwaiti literary figure Abdulaziz Al-Babtain and his virtues in promoting poetry and culture in the Arab world, specifically in Morocco, as he supported literature and culture. This came in a seminar organized by the Moroccan Association for Arab Academic Studies and the Research Group on Moroccan-Kuwaiti Cultural Communication in cooperation with the Faculty of Letters and Humanities as well as Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdullah University.

Moroccan poet and critic Abdullah Al-Alawi said in a statement to KUNA that the cultural movement in Kuwait has evolved significantly, with a rich history, as the poet and critic Abdulaziz Al-Babtain was one of the prominent figures in this movement. He recalled Al-Babtain’s support for training courses in language and rhetoric at Fez, Meknes, and Rabat universities during 2005–2016.

Al-Alwai also commended the Kuwaiti figure’s organization of the Abi Al-Qasim Al-Shabbi course in Fez in 1994 and the Abi Tamam course in Marrakech in 2014; furthermore, his support and dissemination of publications and libraries that “had a strong impact on the Moroccan cultural movement.” On his part, Moroccan poet Ahmad Mafdy said that Al-Babtain was a prominent figure in intellectual and cultural work in the Arab world.

He revealed that the Kuwaiti figure helped to recognize what was obscured in the Arab nation, a step assisting in the gathering of the scattered Arab literary culture, unifying it, and making it capable of influencing the minds and souls of the writers, poets, and critics in the Arab world. Nabela Al-Hamani, a Moroccan poet, said that, on her part, Al-Babtain’s impact on literature was unforgettable through his institution and would last for decades for all future generations.

Al-Babtain dedicated his money, thoughts, and efforts to serving Arab culture and cognitive development to build civilizations where culture and knowledge were the main foundations, as he established libraries, including the Al-Babtain Library for Arabic Poetry in Kuwait and the Al-Babtain Library at Al-Quds University, she added. He founded schools and universities in many countries, established the Abdulaziz Al-Babtain Scholarship since 1974, Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain’s Poetic Creativity Award, as well as translation centers and other entities. — KUNA