Hamdi Uld Allal Uld Daf (better known as Zaim Allal) is a famous saharawi poet who was born in Hawza, Western Sahara in 1957. He was an activist against the Spanish colonialisation of Western Sahara and he joined the ranks of the revolution led by the POLISARIO after the Moroccan invasion. Zaim Allal was a fighter among the Sahrawi People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) against the Moroccan occupation since 1978, and these experiences are most clearly reflected in his poetry. In his journey, he has held many positions in the SPLA and the Saharawi State in the refugees camp in Algeria. He served as the Director of Musical Arts and Popular Traditions in the Ministry of Culture, and since 2020 the function of Creativity and Promoting Talents was added to his responsibilities.
Zaim Allal has published several books including Commandments of a Poet, a poetry collection, in which he collected his father’s poems. A Poet, a Life, and a Case, which is a collection of his own poetry, a third poetry collection in which he curated poems of a Saharawi martyr who was his brother in arms, Spotlights on Saguia El-Hamra and Rio de Oro: Its Dialect and Traditions, a very important book about the Saharawi traditions and rituals, full of the Saharawi Proberbs, tales, wisdoms, and a dictionary of Hassani dialect and From the Wells of Culture, a study about the Saharawi culture.
