Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad | |
|---|---|
عباس محمود العقاد | |
 Photo of Abbas Mahmud al-Aqqad | |
| Born | (1889-06-28)28 June 1889 |
| Died | 13 March 1964(1964-03-13) (aged 74) |
| Occupation | writer |
Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad (Arabic:عباس محمود العقاد,ALA-LC:‘Abbās Maḥmūd al-‘Aqqād; 28 June 1889 – 12 March 1964) was anEgyptian journalist, poet and literary critic,[1][2] and member of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo.[3][4]
More precisely, because "his writings cover a broad spectrum, including poetry, criticism, Islamology, history, philosophy, politics, biography, science, and Arabic literature",[5] he is perceived to be apolymath.[6][7]
Al-Aqqad was born inAswan, a city inUpper Egypt, in 1889.[8] His father was a money-changer originally from theEgyptian rural city ofDamietta while his mother hadKurdish roots.[9][10] He received little formal education, completing only his elementary education; he later supplemented his learning by buying books and reading on his own.[2] Unlike his schoolmates, he spent all his weekly allowance on books. He read about religion, geography, history and many other subjects. He was known for his excellentEnglish andFrench. He was also particularly well-read inGerman literature.[11]
Al-'Aqqad was also an outspoken political thinker, and was jailed for a time between 1930 and 1931 for criticizing the country's government.[2] In 1942 when the forces ofAdolf Hitler advanced on Egypt, al-'Aqqad fled toSudan due to fear of reprisal for his criticism of Hitler.[2] At the height of Hitler's military advances, al-'Aqqad wrote his scathing workHitler in the Balance in June 1940 in which he lambastsNazism as the greatest threat to freedom, modernity and the very existence of man.[12] In addition to his general opposition to bothfascism andcommunism, al-'Aqqad was also both a member of theEgyptian parliament for a time as a member of theWafd Party, and later a member of the Chamber of Deputies.[12]
He wrote more than a hundred of books about philosophy, religion, and poetry, along with a philosophical study of theQur'an and various biographies of historic Muslim leaders.[2] He founded a poetry school withIbrahim Al-Mazny andAbdel Rahman Shokry calledAl-Diwan.
Al-Aqqad experienced two major romantic relationships in his life. The first was whom he called "Sarah" in his novel of the same name.[2] The second was with the famous Egyptian actressMadiha Yousri. This relationship was ended by al-Aqqad himself, because of Yousri's career as an actress. Al-Aqqad wrote a poetry work about this relationship calledCyclones of a Sunset (A-Asiru Maghrib in Arabic).
It was reported by prolific Egyptian authorAnis Mansour and various other attendees of Al-Aqqad's famous 'lounge' that he kept a painting in his bedroom that displayed a beautiful cake with cockroaches crawling over it. Supposedly, Al-Aqqad kept this in his room as 'the first thing he looked at in the morning and the last thing he saw in the evening'. It symbolized beauty and purity (the cake) that is wasted to the glamor of spotlights (the cockroaches) as was the case (as he perceived) with actressMadiha Yousri.
Al-Aqqad died on the morning of 13 March 1964. His body was transported to his hometown,Aswan, for burial on the same day.
In the early 1980s, an Egyptian television series was produced about the life of al-Aqqad, which was titledThe Giant (Al Imlaq in Arabic). It starred Egyptian actor Mahmud Mursi.
There is a street in theNasr City district of Cairo named after al-Aqqad.[13]
Abbās al-Aqqād was "a prolific writer, he authored over a hundred books and several thousand articles",[14] and he is most famous for his Abqarīyat series which consists of seven books cover the life of seven of the most importantSahabah likeAbu Bakr andAli. His works include:
