Said Akl

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Saïd Akl ( Arabic سعيد عقل Said Aql , also transcribed as Saeed Akl ; * July 4, 1911 or 1912 ; † November 28, 2014 ) was a Lebanese poet , philosopher , author , playwright and reformer of Lebanese Arabic . He was considered one of the most influential poets in Lebanon.

In addition, he was an advocate of Lebanese nationalism . He developed a Lebanese alphabet based on the Latin letters , consisting of 36 letters. His works consisted of poetry and prose, among other things, in both Lebanese Arabic and classical Arabic . He has also written plays and is the author of several popular songs.

Personal

Akl was born into a Maronite family in the Lebanese city of Zahlé in either 1911 or 1912 . After losing his father at the age of 15, he had to drop out of school and later worked first as a teacher and then as a journalist. He studied theology, literature and Islamic history, became a university teacher and taught at a number of Lebanese universities and other institutes and educational institutions. He died in Beirut , Lebanon, aged 102 or 103 .

ideology

In his early years, Akl was a supporter of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party ( Arabic الحزب السوري القومي الإجتماعي), which was directed by Antun Saadeh . However, he was ultimately banished from the party by Saadeh due to insoluble ideological disputes.

Akl embraced the powerful doctrine of an authentic millennial Lebanon that was consistent with a significant sense of Lebanese dignity. His admiration for Lebanese history and culture was accompanied by strong animosity towards an Arab identity for Lebanon. He is reported to have said "I would chop off my right hand so I wouldn't have to be an Arab ". In 1968 he stated that Arabic would disappear from Lebanon's literature.

For Akl, Lebanon was the source of culture and the legacy of oriental civilization, even before the arrival of the Arabs in history. He emphasized the Phoenician heritage of the Lebanese.

Akl is known for his radical Lebanese attitudes; In 1972 he helped found the Lebanese Renewal Party (Arabicحزب التجدّد اللبناني, transcribed as Hizb al Tajaddod al Lubnaani ) suggested by May Murr , a well-known writer and researcher on ancient Lebanese history and a loyal supporter of Akls. This party was a non-denominational party based on Lebanese nationalism. During the Lebanese civil war , Akl served as the spiritual leader of the Lebanese nationalist movement Guardians of the Cedars ( Arabic حرّاس الأرز), which was directed by Étienne Saqr .

Lebanese language and alphabet

Akl was an advocate for the independence of the Lebanese language from Arabic . Although he recognized the influence of Arabic, he argued that the Lebanese alphabet was equally, if not more, influenced by the Phoenician language and promoted the use of the modified Latin alphabet instead of Arabic .

The alphabet he designed for the Lebanese language uses, in addition to the Latin alphabet, some newly developed characters and some accented letters to correspond to Lebanese phonology. The Lebanese alphabet designed by Akl consists of 36 characters. The proposed alphabet was as follows:

Beginning in the 1970s, Akl began offering an award for the best essay written in Lebanese Arabic. Since then, the Saïd Akl Awards have been given to a variety of Lebanese intellectuals and artists. He published his volume of poetry, Yara , which only uses the Lebanese alphabet he proposed, making it the first book ever to be published in this form. Later he also published his book of poems Khumasiyyat in the same alphabet. He also published the tabloid Lebnaan in this Lebanese dialect. This was issued in two versions,لبنان(Transliteration and emphasis Lubnān , which means Lebanon in Arabic), which uses the Lebanese dialect and was written in the traditional Arabic alphabet and the other, Lebnaan (Lebanese for Lebanon), in the Lebanese Latin-based alphabet he introduced.

Works

Akl wrote a number of documents ranging from plays, epics, poetry to light texts. It was first published in 1935, a play written in Arabic. His works are written in either Lebanese Arabic, Arabic or French. He is also known to have written lyrics for many well-known pieces, including the song Zahrat al Madaen ( Arabic زهرة المدائن), sung by Fairuz .

  • 1935: Bint Yifta '(Theater) - (in Arabic بنت يفتاح)
  • 1937: Al Majdaliyyah (Epic) - (in Arabic المجدليّة)
  • 1944: Qadmos (Theater) - (in Arabic قدموس)
  • 1950: Rindalah - (in Arabic رندلى)
  • 1954: Mushkilat al Nukhba - (in Arabic مشكلة النخبة)
  • 1960: Ajmal minki ...? La! - (in Arabicأجمل منك ...؟ لا)
  • 1960: Lubnaan in haka - (in Arabic لبنان إن حكى)
  • 1961: Ka's el Khamr (in Arabic كأس الخمر)
  • 1961: Yara (using his designed Lebanese alphabet) (in Arabic يارا)
  • 1961: Ajraas al Yasmeen (in Arabic أجراس الياسمين)
  • 1972: Kitab al Ward (in Arabic كتاب الورد)
  • 1979: Qasaed min Daftari (in Arabic قصائد من دفتري)
  • 1974: Kama al A'mida (in Arabic كما الأعمدة)
  • 1978: Khumasiyyat (using the Lebanese alphabet he designed) (in Arabic خماسيّات)

In 1981 he also published French poems.

Popular culture

Hymns
  • Akl suggested the lyrics for the anthem of the Pan-Syrian Social Nationalist Party , but this was rejected by its founder Antun Saadeh , who suggested another anthem he had written in prison. When asked about the content, Akl denied having written the lyrics and named a certain Wadih Khalil Nasrallah (a legitimate relative of Akl) as the author of the lyrics.
  • Akl wrote the anthem of another pan-Arab movement, Jam'iyyat al Uruwwa al Wuthqa (in Arabicجمعية العروة الوثقى).
Song lyrics

Akl has also written poems that have become pan-Arab hymns and were accompanied by music by the Rahbani Brothers and sung by the Lebanese diva Feyrouz . Among other things, these are Zahrat al Madaen (in Arabicزهرة المدائن) via Palestine, Ghannaytou Makkah (in Arabicغنّيتُ مكة) about Islam and Saailiini ya Sham (in Arabicسائليني يا شام) via Syria, Ruddani ila biladi (in Arabicردني إلى بلادي) about Lebanon and Ummi ya malaki (in Arabicأمي يا ملاكي), which was about his mother.

media

Said Akl has written as a journalist in various publications, including the Lebanese newspaper Al-Jarida and the weekly magazine Al-Sayyad . In the 1990s, Akl also had a front-page personal column in the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir .

See also

literature

  • Hind Adeeb: شعرية سعيد عقل. Dar Al Farabi Editions (Arabic)
  • Plonka Arkadiusz: L'idée de langue libanaise d'après Sa'īd 'Aql . Geuthner, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-7053-3739-3 (French).
  • Plonka Arkadiusz: Le nationalisme linguistique au Liban autour de Sa'īd 'Aql et l'idée de langue libanaise dans la revue «Lebnaan» en new alphabet . In: Arabica , 53 (4), 2006, pp. 423-471 (French).
  • Jean Durtal: Saïd Akl: Un grand poète libanais . Nouvelles Editions Latine, 1970 (French).
  • Elie Kallas e Anna Montanari: Akl Said, Yaara - Inno alla donna . Cafoscarina, Venezia 1997.
  • Franck Salameh: Language Memory and Identity in the Middle East; The Case for Lebanon . Lexington Books, Lanham MD 2011, ISBN 0-7391-3738-7

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Centenarian Lebanese poet, philosopher, writer Saïd Akl dies. Daily Star , November 28, 2014, accessed November 28, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Leading Lebanese Poet Saeed Akl Dies at 102nd ABC News .com, accessed November 28, 2014 .
  3. ↑ Renowned Poet Said Akl Passes Away at 102. Naharnet.com, accessed November 28, 2014 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e Mordechai Nisan: The Conscience of Lebanon: A Political Biography of Etienne Sakr (Abu-Arz) . in Google Book Search
  5. ^ Modern Arabic Poetry 1800–1970: The Development of Its Forms and Themes by Shmuel Moreh Page 311 in the Google book search
  6. ^ Sami G. Hajjar: The Middle East: From Transition to Development . in Google Book Search
  7. ↑ اللغة اللبنانية بالحرف اللاتيني بين رسائل الهاتف والعقل الالكتروني… وسعيد عقل Kadmous.org (Arabic)
personal data
SURNAME Akl, Said
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Akl, Saïd; Aql, Said; Akl, Saeed
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lebanese poet, philosopher, author, playwright and reformer of Lebanese Arabic
DATE OF BIRTH uncertain: July 4, 1911 or July 4, 1912
DATE OF DEATH November 28, 2014