A Critical Introduction to Modern Arabic Poetry

(Greg DeLong) #1
INTRODUCTORY 12

by Ya'qub Sarruf and Faris Nimr in 1876, and it transferred to Egypt only in
1885, where it continued to appear until 1952. When religious and political
disturbances broke out in Syria after the forced departure of Muhammad Ali's
Egyptian forces, a process which culminated in the massacres of 1860, many
Syrians later emigrated to Egypt, eitherforfearoffuturemassacresorattracted
by prospects of material gain during the British occupation. The result was
that they played an active part in the Arabic cultural renaissance, especially
through their activities in the field of journalism.^13 Still later generations
emigrated to America and were to contribute one of the most interesting
chapters in modern Arabic poetry.
The coming of Syrian immigrants to Egypt coincided with the various
cultural and educational schemes launched by Khedive Isma'il. The age of
Isma'il is in many ways of crucial importance in the history of Arabic culture
in Egypt. Towards the end of his life Muhammad Ali lost interest in educa-
tion, which was also neglected by his successors 'Abbas Pasha (1849—54) and
Sa'id Pasha (1854-63). But Isma'il (1863 -79), who was educated in France,
promoted the cause of modern Arabic learning and culture, and particularly
the cause of popular education. He may have been a vain man and a
foolish administrator, but whatever were his motives his policy in the field
of education was enlightened, even though in other fields it eventually led
the country to financial ruin and ultimately to political disaster. During his
reign the direction which Arabic culture was to take was defined once and
for all, and westernization was assured. Over a hundred European schools
were opened in Egypt, and the number of Europeans residing in the country
grew larger than ever before.
One of the contributions of Isma'il in the field of culture was the establish-
ment in 1872 of the first Teachers' Training College, the syllabus of which
combined traditional Arabic culture with western learning (taught in Arabic).
The College was to play a significant role in the revival of the serious study of
Arabic literature. Its establishment coincided with the appearance of the
influential religious leader, Jamal al-DIn al-Afghani (1839-97) on the Egypt-
ian cultural scene, and the growing importance of his disciple, the Azhar
reformer Muhammad' Abduh, who together with his followers tried not only
to liberate Islam from the stranglehold of centuries of traditions and to
reconcile it with modernism but also to reform the Arabic language by making
it a fit instrument for expressing modern needs. It was also at that time that
Egyptian journalism took a major step forward — it was in newspapers and
periodicals that poets published their work and reached society at large. An-
other significant development in the reign of Isma'il was the growing import-
ance of the position of the Arabic language, which ousted Turkish as the

Free download pdf