Said Akl

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Said Akl
Saýid Ýaql
سعيد عقل
Ottoman Lebanon
Died28 November 2014 (aged 103)
Beirut, Lebanon
OccupationPoet, writer, philosopher, linguist, ideologue
LanguageLebanese Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic, Classical Arabic
Genres
Literary movementSymbolism

Said Akl (

literary movements (primarily, symbolism)[2][3] in Modern Standard Arabic
, producing some of the masterpieces of modern Arabic belle lettres.

Akl aligned himself with Lebanese nationalism, and was one of the founding members of the Lebanese Renewal Party in 1972. The party, characterized by its pro-Phoenicianism stance, aimed to distance Lebanon from Pan-Arabism. His views found support within the Guardians of the Cedars movement.[6]

His writings include poetry and prose both in Lebanese Arabic and in Classical Arabic. He has also written theatre pieces and authored lyrics for many popular songs, such as Meshwar (Trip), and the classical Shal (Scarf), the latter of which was sung by Fairouz and composed by the Rahbani Brothers, which Egyptian composer and singer Abdel Wahab described as "the most beautiful poem composed into a song in Arabic music."[7]

Personal life

Akl was born in 1911 to a

Ottoman Lebanon
. After losing his father at the age of 15, he had to drop out of school to support his family and later worked as a teacher and then as a journalist. He then studied theology, literature and Islamic history, becoming a university instructor and subsequently lecturing in a number of Lebanese universities, educational and policy institutes.

He died in Beirut, Lebanon at the age of 103.[8][1]

Ideology

Portrayal of poet Said Akl in the Beirut district of Gemmayzeh

During his early years, Akl was an adherent of the

Antun Saadeh, eventually being expelled by Saadeh due to irreconcilable ideological disputes.[9]

Akl adopted a powerful doctrine of the authentic millennial character of Lebanon resonating with an exalted sense of Lebanese dignity. His admiration to the Lebanese history and culture was marked by strong enmity towards an Arab identity of Lebanon. He was quoted saying, “I would cut off my right hand just not to be an

Arab”.[9] In 1968 he stated that literary Arabic would vanish from Lebanon.[5]

For Akl Lebanon was the cradle of culture and the inheritor of the Oriental civilization, well before the arrival of the Arabs on the historical stage.[9] He emphasized the Phoenician legacy of the Lebanese people, aligning with Phoenicianism.[6]

He is known for his radical

Étienne Saqr.[9]

Lebanese language and alphabet

Said Akl's book Yara and an excerpt from the book in his proposed Lebanese alphabet

Akl was an ideologue for promotion of the

Arabic language. Although acknowledging the influence of Arabic, he argued that Lebanese language was equally if not more influenced by Phoenician languages and promoted the use of the Lebanese language written in a modified Latin alphabet, rather than the Arabic one.[5][10]

His designed alphabet for the Lebanese language using the Latin alphabet in addition to a few newly designed letters and some accented Latin letters to suit the Lebanese phonology. The proposed Lebanese alphabet designed by Akl contained 36 letters. The proposed alphabet was as follows:[11][12]

Starting in the 1970s Akl offered a prize to whoever authored the best essay in Lebanese. Since then the Said Akl awards have been granted to many Lebanese intellectuals and artists.[9] He published his poetry book Yara completely using his proposed Lebanese alphabet, thus becoming the first book ever to be published in this form. In later years, he also published his poetry book Khumasiyyat in the same alphabet.

LEBNAAN in proposed Said Akl alphabet (issue #686)
LEBNAAN in Lebanese using Arabic alphabet (9 February 1977 issue)

Akl published the tabloid newspaper Lebnaan using the Lebanese language. It was published in two versions, لبنان (transliteration and pronunciation Lubnan which means Lebanon in

Arabic language) using Lebanese written in traditional Arabic alphabet, the other Lebnaan (Lebanese
for Lebanon) in his proposed Lebanese Latin-based alphabet.

Works

Akl has numerous writings ranging from theatrical plays, epics, poetry and song lyrics. His first published work was released in 1935, a theatrical play written in Arabic. His works are written in either Lebanese, literary Arabic, or French. He is also known for writing lyrics of many well-known songs, including

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 minik...? La! – (in
    Arabic
    !أجمل منك...؟ لا)
  • 1960: Lubnaan in haka – (in
    Arabic
    لبنان إن حكى)
  • 1961: Ka's el Kamr (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 his designed Lebanese alphabet) (in
    Arabic
    خماسيّات)

In 1981 he also published poems in French

In popular culture

Said Akl's statue in the American University of Science and Technology's campus in Beirut, Lebanon.
Anthems
  • Akl proposed the lyrics for an anthem for the pan-Syrian
    Antun Saadeh
    , who proposed another anthem for the party that he had written in prison. When asked about what he wrote, Akl denied writing it, and said that it was a certain Wadih Khalil Nasrallah (a relative of Akl by marriage) who wrote the lyrics.
  • Akl wrote the anthem of another pan-Arab movement, Jam'iyyat al Urwa al Wuthqa (in
    Arabic
    جمعية العروة الوثقى).
Songwriting

Akl has also written poems that were turned into pan-Arab anthem songs with music from the

Arabic
أمي يا ملاكي ) about his mother.

Media

Said Akl wrote as a journalist in a number of publications, notably the Lebanese Al-Jarida newspaper and the weekly Al-Sayyad magazine. In the 1990s, Akl also wrote a front-page personal column in the Lebanese As-Safir newspaper

See also

References

  1. ^
    Daily Star
    . 2014-11-28. Retrieved 2014-11-28.
  2. ^
    ISBN 90-04-04920-7
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-691-15491-6
    .
  4. ^ "Prominent Lebanese poet Akl dies at over 100 years old". reuters.com. Reuters. 28 November 2014.
  5. ^
    ISBN 90-04-04795-6
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-1-5381-2043-9
    .
  7. ^ "The Most Beautiful Poem Composed into a Song in Arabic Music". Dearborn Blog. 2020-01-21. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  8. ^ "Renowned Poet Said Akl Passes Away at 102". Naharnet.com. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
  9. ^ a b c d e The Conscience of Lebanon: A Political Biography of Etienne Sakr (Abu-Arz) By Mordechai Nisan
  10. ^ The Middle East: From Transition to Development By Sami G. Hajjar
  11. ^ Kadmous.org: اللغة اللبنانية بالحرف اللاتيني بين رسائل الهاتف والعقل الالكتروني…وسعيد عقل (in Arabic)
  12. ^ The Olive Tree Dictionary A Transliterated Dictionary of Conversational Eastern Arabic (Palestinian) by J. Elihay Jerusalem: Minerva Instruction & Consultation, 2006. 767 pp. $102.50, paper. Reviewed by Franck Salameh Middle East Quarterly Spring 2007, pp. 85-86 http://www.meforum.org/1690/the-olive-tree-dictionary read online

Further reading

External links
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