MUTRAN 69sons of Nasif al-Yaziji, Khalil and Ibrahim. like other young intellectuals of
his time Mutran took an active interest in politics. Inspired by the principles
of 1789, he used to gather with his friends, we are told, in order to sing the
Marseillaise, and to attack the tyranny and oppression of the policy of the
Ottoman Caliph, with the result that Abdul Hamid's spies are reported to
have made an unsuccessful attempt on his life. Consequently and in order
to avoid the Sultan's wrath, Mutran's family prevailed upon him to leave
for Paris in 1890. In Paris he developed his interest in French literature, but
he also associated with the Young Turk group, which was founded to oppose
Abdul Hamid, and once more, fearing the Sultan's men, he was forced to
leave his home. At first he thought of emigrating to Latin America where
some of his relations had settled, and actually began to leam Spanish for
that purpose, but eventually he left for Alexandria in 1892, and from that
date until His death in 1949 he lived in Egypt. There he began his career
as a journalist in the well-known paper al-Ahram, then in 1900 he started
himself a fortnightly cultural review under the name al-Majalla al-Misriyya,
which continued to appear for three years. In 1902 he set up a daily, al-Jawd'ib
al-Misriyya, in which was published much poetry including his own, but the
newspaper had financial difficulties and lasted only five years, and Mutran
turned subsequently to commerce and speculation, making a considerable
fortune for himself. However, in 1912 as a result of an unfortunate deal he lost
all his possessions, which almost drove him to despair. Luckily he was soon
appointed secretary to the Khedivial Agricultural Society, where he earned
much respect and admiration because of his efficiency, both as an agricul-
turalist and as an economist. He was even entrusted with the task of planning
the initial programme for the Misr Bank. For many years Mutran was Direc-
tor of the National Theatre Company, a post in which he discharged his
duties with great industry and enthusiasm, and which enabled him to render
a great service to the cause of theEgyptiantheatre.^4 Asapoethewashonoured
in Egypt, in 1913 and in 1947, when at impressive festivals held specially for
the occasion he received the tribute of leaders of thought in the Arab world.
He is usually referred to as Shd'ir al-qutrain, the poet of two countries, mean-
ing Egypt and Lebanon.
Mutran's literary output, although some of it remains unpublished,^5 was
both large and varied. His collected poems, known as Diwan al-Khalil, run into
four large volumes, the first volume of which appeared in its first edition
in 1908. He wrote extensively on history, translated several works from the
French in moral philosophy, economics, and natural and agricultural history,
was the joint author of a book on the social and economic conditions of the
Egyptian peasant (1936), and compiled the elegies written onBarudi(1905).