Museum of the Poet Al Oqaili, Literary museum in Al Ras, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Museum of the Poet Al Oqaili is a former private house in the Al Ras area of Deira that now holds a collection dedicated to the Saudi-born poet Mubarak bin Hamad bin Mubarak Al Manea Al Oqaili. The two-story coral and stone structure, built around a central courtyard, contains nine wings with manuscripts, household objects, furniture, and personal items from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The house was built in 1923 by workers from Al Ahsa after the poet settled in Dubai in 1897, following his departure from Saudi Arabia. It remained his residence until his death in 1954, and later the building was restored and converted into a museum by Dubai Culture.

Inside the majlis areas, visitors can sit in the low reception room where the poet once received guests, with carved teak doors and wooden ceilings framing the space. The handwritten poetry displays and the quiet central courtyard still feel close to the daily rhythms of an early twentieth-century Gulf home.

The entrance is tucked into narrow lanes behind the spice market, so the easiest way to find it is to walk slowly through the shaded alleyways of Al Ras instead of following the main street. Give yourself about half an hour inside, and pair the visit with the nearby gold and spice souqs or the women's museum to make a longer afternoon.

Many visitors miss that the structure was made with sarooj, a traditional water-resistant mortar once common across the Emirates, and that the builders also carved artistic details into the plasterwork. These small touches, along with the display of the poet's original will, connect the building directly to the physical craft of old Dubai.