Bahraini poet and cultural pioneer Ali Abdullah Khalifa, whose career spanned more than six decades, has died aged 82, leaving a lasting mark on Gulf literature and folklore. [Ali Abdullah Khalifa official website]
Bahraini poet and writer Ali Abdullah Khalifa has died at the age of 82, ending a literary and cultural career that spanned more than six decades and helped shape modern Bahraini poetry while preserving Gulf folk heritage.
Khalifa died on Monday morning, according to local reports.
He first published poetry in the early 1960s before releasing his debut collection, Anin al-Sawari (The Moaning of the Masts), through Dar Al Ilm Lilmalayin in Beirut in 1969. The collection established themes that would define much of his work, particularly his engagement with the sea and Bahrain’s popular culture.
Writing in both classical Arabic and colloquial dialect, Khalifa combined modern poetry with traditional folk forms throughout his career.
His poetry collections included Atash al-Nakhil (Thirst of the Palm Trees) in 1970, Idaa’a li Dhakirat al-Watan (Illumination for the Memory of the Homeland) in 1973, Asafeer al-Masa (Evening Birds) in 1983, Fi Widaa al-Sayyida al-Khadraa (Farewell to the Green Lady) in 1992, Houriyat al-Ashiq (The Lover’s Mermaid) in 2000, La Yatashabah al-Shajar (Trees Are Not Alike) in 2005, and Tahwidah li Najmat al-Bahr (Lullaby for the Sea Star) in 2019.
His collected works were later published in Fifty Years of Poetry 1969–2019.
Alongside his poetry, Khalifa produced a significant body of research on Gulf folklore and oral traditions, including studies on the mawwal poetic form, Gulf music traditions, fijiri sea songs, the use of folk heritage in creative works, and Nabati poetry.
Khalifa also played a major role in building Bahrain’s cultural institutions. He helped establish the Bahrain Writers’ and Authors’ Family in 1969, founded Dar Al Ghad publishing house in 1974, and launched the literary magazine Kitabat in 1976.
He later contributed to the establishment of the Gulf States Folklore Centre in Qatar and served as editor-in-chief of Al Maathourat Al Shaabia (Folk Heritage) magazine.
He subsequently headed several cultural organisations, including Popular Culture magazine and the International Organisation of Folk Art, which he led from 2016 onward.
Born in Muharraq in 1944, Khalifa was educated in Bahrain and received numerous honours throughout his career, including a first prize for poetry from Huna Al Bahrain magazine, Tunisia’s Cultural Merit Medal, the Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa Medal, and Bahrain’s First Class Order of Merit.
