The General Secretariat of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters in Kuwait mourned poet Yaqub Youssef Al-Sibai, who passed away today, Tuesday, at the age of 79. The General Secretariat stated in a press release that the deceased is considered "a significant cultural figure, with his prominent contributions to the cultural movement in Kuwait and the Arab world, in addition to his pioneering works in national songs."
According to the Al-Babtain Dictionary of Contemporary Arab Poets, poet Yaqub Al-Sibai was born in the Mirqab district of Kuwait City in 1945 and obtained his high school diploma in 1964. He was a member of the Writers' Association and served as its Secretary. He was also a member of the Creative Publications Support Committee at the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, and a member of the jury in the Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain Poetry Creativity Award.
Al-Sibai made notable contributions to Kuwaiti songwriting and published some of his literary work in the newspaper "Sout Kuwait" and magazines "Al-Dera" and "Al-Arabi," among others. His most prominent poetry collections include "Falling Up," "Distances of the Soul," "Silence is a Field of Doubts," and "Illuminations of Black Hair." Among his famous sung poems are "We All Belong to Kuwait, and Kuwait Belongs to Us" and "Oh My Homeland, O Sun of Holidays."