At a petrol station in the desert, a poet serves coffee by night and writes verses on love by day. Zoi Constantine drops by.
When Sayed Mohammed Ali wants to clear his head, he steps outside his small one-room home and walks to the nearby sand dunes, armed with a pen and paper. Then he writes. Seated in between the curves of the dunes, preferably at night, under the stars, Sayed pours his feelings onto blank pages, writing poems and songs primarily on one theme - love.
I first met Sayed, an introspective, soft-spoken Egyptian, when I stopped for a much-needed caffeine fix on a recent drive along the desert road between Dubai and Al Ain. His workplace - a remote service station near the town of al Faqaa - is about as isolated as they come here. It it this isolation, he says, that gives him the time and space to do what he enjoys most.
"My favourite shift is the night shift, because I can never sleep early anyway," he told me. "At night I like to make coffee, sit outside, look out at the desert and write. Sometimes I'll go out at around 6am and just sit on the dunes."
In between his shifts at the service station's coffee stand and cash register, Sayed writes to express feelings which he thinks would otherwise consume him. "It's my nature," he said, sitting at a small table in the back of the service station, surrounded by sheet upon sheet of his poetry.
"Life is not easy, especially in love. When I finish one song or piece of poetry, I go directly to sleep. If I have an idea in my mind, I have to get it out and find the right words. You have to get it out."
Sayed, who is 30, lives in one room with an Indian colleague and another Egyptian he refers to as "uncle". Their home is in a block of rooms just behind the petrol station, surrounded by high sand dunes.
"I am very happy in this place," he said. "You have time here, it is quieter and you can relax. Nothing disturbs you, only the sand storms. But, if the rain comes, it is so beautiful here. When you see it you feel as though there is nothing bad in the world anymore, everything looks so clean.
"Here you have different nationalities with you, Asians and Arabs, and you learn so many different things. I think I have learnt more in the last three years than in the previous 27."
Sayed was born in Sohad, a town in northern Egypt. Whereas he says he cannot contemplate a life without writing, his father and mother cannot even write their names. He went through school and studied Arabic at a college in the area. After graduating, he went home to work on his father's farm and teach at a local school.
In 2002, Sayed married his cousin, Noha, who two years later gave birth to their son, Mohammed. In 2005, Sayed followed his brother and uncle (and hosts of fellow Egyptians) to the UAE in search of better economic opportunities.
"The salaries in Egypt are very low, and I need to give my family a good life, so I had to leave them," he explained.
It is his remorse at having to leave his family, especially his son - "the best gift in my life" - that inspires his writing. "One time," he recalled, "I was talking to my son and he said 'Baba, please come home.' I felt so sad I walked outside and found a bird with a broken wing." This experience produced a poem, Janah Maksur (Broken Wing).
Sayed started writing poetry when he was in college. but he still has not finished the very first poem he started. "It is about what happens when you lose hope in love," he said quietly. "I don't know if I will ever be able to finish it."
Some of his poems take weeks, others days, others just hours. Most focus on one theme: love: unrequited, unfulfilled, lost. "My idea about love," he said, "is without it there is nothing in this life. There are many types of love, but without any love, we would be worse off than animals."
One of his poems, Inti fi Oyouni (You in My Eyes), is "about how I see the one I love in my eyes and what would happen if I lost her; my future would only be my past and I would just have to close my eyes." In Zifaf (Wedding), Sayed images how tortured he would be if the woman he loved was marrying someone else and he was invited to the ceremony. Umi al Aziza (Dearest Mother) is dedicated to Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak. "She always tries to help, not only in her country, here, but also in Egypt," he said.
In addition to poetry, Sayed also pens songs, such as Hiya Maadi (She is Past), but is careful to stress that he is only a songwriter, not a singer. His own musical taste does not stray far from the Arab classics - Umm Kulthoum, Nagat, Fairouz. But Abdul Halim Hafez, the legendary Egyptian singer, is his favourite. Why? Because he sings from his heart.
"It is too hard to think about my life without music and poetry. I don't think that I could sleep, as I would always be talking and trying to tell people about how I feel," he said. "Life without love means nothing."
zconstantine@thenational.ae
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Company%20Profile
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Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
The%20specs
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Company%20Profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The%20Roundup%20%3A%20No%20Way%20Out
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Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cargoz%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Premlal%20Pullisserry%20and%20Lijo%20Antony%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2030%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
About RuPay
A homegrown card payment scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India and backed by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank
RuPay process payments between banks and merchants for purchases made with credit or debit cards
It has grown rapidly in India and competes with global payment network firms like MasterCard and Visa.
In India, it can be used at ATMs, for online payments and variations of the card can be used to pay for bus, metro charges, road toll payments
The name blends two words rupee and payment
Some advantages of the network include lower processing fees and transaction costs
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 0
Manchester City 2
Bernardo Silva 54', Sane 66'
EXPATS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Lulu%20Wang%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nicole%20Kidman%2C%20Sarayu%20Blue%2C%20Ji-young%20Yoo%2C%20Brian%20Tee%2C%20Jack%20Huston%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Women%E2%80%99s%20Asia%20Cup
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The%20Kitchen
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
THREE
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'Nope'
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The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
SPECS%3A%20Polestar%203
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding