Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has found the complete 14 verses of a poem he had remembered only in fragments since attending school as a child, ending a search that had lasted for decades.

Sheikh Sultan spoke about the discovery during an appearance on the Direct Line programme on Sharjah Radio and TV. He said he located the poem shortly before Monday's noon prayers and had read it several times.

"I read it several times and it is quite a piece despite its shortness. It is ... full of imagery," he said.

The ruler raised the personal memory while announcing plans for a women-only tower in Kalba. The proposed building will stand opposite the existing clock tower near the University of Kalba. Reflecting on the happiness that community projects can bring, he recalled the opening of Al-Islah Al-Qasimia School nearly eight decades ago.

Sheikh Sultan said he was a first-grade pupil when the school opened and heard a 14-verse poem sung as part of the celebrations. The poem was attributed to Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah at that time, who had given it to the school principal, Mohammed, for the children to perform.

Although the verses remained in his memory, Sheikh Sultan said he could recall only a small number of lines. He sought help from former schoolmates and older people in an effort to identify the full text and understand its context.

"For a long time I couldn't remember more than a few lines of that poem. I used to go around looking for the whole thing, asking my school friends what the poem was about, what the occasion was, why it was written," he recalled.

His search later established that Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr had written the poem in response to Nasir bin Salim Abu Muslim Al Bahlani, an Omani poet known as the poet of Sohar.

"I went to all the elders and could not get any information at all," Sheikh Sultan said. "By the grace of God I have finally found this very important poem of 1855 AH."

Early school memories

During the programme, Sheikh Sultan also revisited memories from his first days at Al-Islah Al-Qasimia School, including details of the classroom that have remained clear over the years.

He recalled that pupils sat on mats, which would cling to their clothes when they got up. "You could hear the sound of them as you peeled them off and the edges would curl," he said.

He also described the bustle around the classroom entrance on his first day, when he and other young pupils heard a song welcoming an honoured visitor: "O honoured visitor, welcome, welcome!"

The children initially did not know who was singing, he said. They later learned it was Sheikh Mohammed, the son of Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr.

"There are so many details in those memories that time and the passage of life can't take away," Sheikh Sultan said. "Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, our lives have been full of so many beautiful moments which will always remain in our hearts."