ON entering his museum, one is welcomed by two bronze statues of cherubim, representing messengers of thought and culture bearing torches of enlightenment. There is also a large statue of him, created by late Egyptian sculptor Gamal el-Seguini, which is a replica of a bronze statue the Italian Government commissioned in 1962 to be erected in the Villa Borghese Park in Rome, alongside statues of a number of the world's geniuses. Ahmed Shawqi (1868-1932), popularly known as ' The Prince of Poets' in Arabic, was one of the greatest Arabic poets and a dramatist who pioneered the modern Egyptian literary movement, notably introducing the genre of poetic epics to the Arabic literary tradition. The museum, his last home, is located in a street named after him, off Nile St., Giza. Previously Shawqi lived in a house in a suburb of Cairo called el-Matariya, which location he selected for its proximity to the Qubba Palace, the royal seat of Khedive Abbas of Egypt, who was a close friend. It was not merely Shawqi's home but also a hub of poets, playwrights, musicians and singers as well as a meeting place for statesmen, pressmen and other dignitaries. On the outbreak of World War I, Britain proclaimed Egypt as a British protectorate. Khedive Abbas, who was in a visit to Turkey lost his throne and was banned from entry into Egypt, being replaced by Sultan Hussein Kamel as the Khedive of Egypt. As a result Shawqi was also exiled, choosing to live in Spain in 1915, where he settled with his family in Barcelona, suffering the pain of forced estrangement from home. In his poems composed during this period, he expressed his feelings of patriotism and nostalgia. His poetry, notable mainly the Andalusian master poems, conveyed the bitterness of exile and passionate love of, and yearning for, his home country and include a famous line: "My homeland is always in my mind even if I were in paradise." In 1920, Shawqi was warmly welcomed on his return from exile but no longer wished to live in el-Matariya, although his house had remained intact. Shawqi believed that this was due to the sign hanging on the entrance stating 'There is No God but Allah' and ensured that the same board was put up at the entrance of his new home in Giza. The Ahmed Shawqi Museum director, Ahmed Fekry told the Egyptian Mail that the late poet chose his new home for two reasons: he could see the Pyramids from his bedroom and his study overlooked the Nile, which remained the poet's favourite spaces, as evidenced by the many photos hanged on the walls, showing Shawqi in these two rooms. The director revealed how the home became a museum. In the 1970s, Shawqi's sons wanted to sell the house and travel abroad. When late president Anwar Sadat learnt this through a local newspaper, he requested them not to sell the house and gave them the money they sought from the projected sale. The sons agreed and left the belongings of the poet there. President Sadat then issued a Republican Decree converting the house together with all the surrounding grounds into a national museum. The ground floor has a magnificent Islamic orientation with a frieze just below its ornamented wooden ceiling of Qur'anic verses written in gold on a green background. In this main entrance, rehearsals of his prose plays such as Majnun Laila (Mad about Layla), The Death of Cleopatra and Cambyses II) have been performed. A passage from Magnun Laila, reads: O' God ! I wander all day and pine through time, And seek some comfort in my rhyme. The noblest of rhymes overflow with love, The sweetest line - the musical and pure - Are written down for the heart as a cure. Men turn as they pay to the holy place; To Laila's home I turn my face. Twice people say their prayers at dawn; When I think of her I know not the times I repeat my own, Laila hid behind a crowd; Her lip betrayed a smile, Like the break of morn, Or the sun as it shone. Also on the ground floor, there is a spacious suite, in which Shawqi received the outstanding 20th-century Egyptian singer, musician and composer Mohamed Abdel-Wahab (d. 1991) in the last seven years of Shawqi's life. It comprises a high-quality audio library, which contains recordings of all songs written by Shawqi and performed by Abdel-Wahab. This suite was the birthplace of several memorable songs created by the poet and the composer. Shawqi's bedroom in the upper floor remains intact, including the original wall paper and containing Shawqi's brass four-poster bed and a dressing table, on which remains his ink bottle. In the same floor there is the room of his wife Khadija Hanem Shaheen, in which it is said she always sat, not leaving the room or the house. The museum guide said that she sat on a chair with her sleeping cat on her lap, and did not move from the chair until the cat awoke. On this floor is Shawqi's study overlooking the Nile, still containing his elegant desk chair with a semi-circular base, and a harp-shaped design ornamenting its back. The desk itself rests on lion-shaped brass feet. Insignias and badges of honour awarded to Shawqi are on display in another room and gifts and documents presented to the poet on the occasion of the ceremony recognising him as Poet Laureate in 1927. His elegant gala uniform is still kept in a glazed showcase. The walls of the home are adorned with photos of family and friends as well as oil paintings by his granddaughter Khadiga Riadh, daughter of his daughter Amina. A number of his great-grandchildren are visiting the museum from time to time. Many well-known poets and literati attend his birthday anniversary event on October 16, when his famous poems are recited. Ahmed Shawqi Museum is located at 6 Ahmed Shawqi Street, off Nile Street Giza and is open daily from 9am to 3pm except Mondays.
