Said Akl

Said Akl(4, July,1912) (Also transliterated Said Aql and Saeed Akl) is a prominent Lebanese poet, writer and ideologue, He was born in Zahle and is considered to be, one of the most important modern Lebanese poets.

He was known for his radical Lebanese Nationalistic sentiments, in 1972 he helped in the formation of the “Lebanese Renewal Party” which was proposed by, May Murr, the renowned historian of ancient Lebanon, this party was a non-confessional party that adhered Lebanese Nationalism, and during the Lebanese Civil War he served as the spiritual father for the radical Lebanese Nationalist movement named the Guardians of the Cedars which was led by Étienne Saqr. [http://books.google.com/books?id=1bgCAzR5V68C&pg=PA22&dq=Said+Aql&ei=X_BzSJffLoHIigHs-s31Bw&sig=ACfU3U1tBAsUsYh2A8wc2ZXVAG7C0ICjLw#PPA22,M1 The Conscience of Lebanon: A Political Biography of Etienne Sakr (Abu-Arz) By Mordechai Nisan] ]

Early life

Said Aql was born to a Maronite Catholic family in the city of Zahle. After losing his father at the age of 15, he had to drop school and to work as a teacher and then as a Journalist, but later he studied theology, Literature and Islamic History in different Lebanese Universities and became a university instructor in which he lectured in many Lebanese Universities and institutions.

Ideology

During his early years Said Aql was an adherent of the Syrian Social Nationalist party led by Antun Saadeh but he was then expelled by the later because of ideological disputes between the two. Said Aql 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 the Arab language and culture according to Aharon Amir, Said Aql once said “I would cut off my right hand just not to be an Arab”. .And, in 1968 he stated that literary Arabic would vanish from Lebanon. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=G7Q3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA311&dq=Said+Aql&ei=X_BzSJffLoHIigHs-s31Bw&sig=ACfU3U3t3uO6OMeRGVO4056vTvjVKE4DDw Modern Arabic Poetry 1800-1970: The Development of Its Forms and Themes by Shmuel Moreh Page 311] ]

For him Lebanon was the cradle of culture and the inheritance of the Oriental civilization well before the arrival of the Arabs on the historical stage.

He emphasized on the Phoenician legacy of the Lebanese people and promoted the usage of the Lebanese dialect written in a modified Latin alphabet, that had been influenced by the Phoenician alphabet, rather than the Arabic one. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=oak3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA89&dq=Said+Aql&ei=X_BzSJffLoHIigHs-s31Bw&sig=ACfU3U1ILWYsistac9QAr9Y4WQoAT_Yutw The Middle East: From Transition to Development By Sami G. Hajjar] ]

In a magazine he published during the 70’s in Beirut, he offered a prize in each issue, to whoever would write the best essay in the Lebanese Language and since then the Said Aql awards had been granted to many Lebanese intellectuals and artists.

During the Lebanese Civil War, his Lebanese Nationalist ideology had become the ideological basis for the Guardians of the Cedars party led by Étienne Saqr .

Works

Said Aql has tens of writings constituting of theatrical plays, epics and poetry his first published work was released in 1935 which was a theatrical play written in Arabic, his other writings are written in either Lebanese, Arabic, or French.

ee also

*Pheonicianism
*Guardians of the Cedars
*Lebanese Arabic

References