Bayram al-Tunisi () (born in 1893 in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

as Maḥmūd Muḥammad Muṣṭafā Bayram () - died 1961), was an Egyptian poet with Tunisian roots. He was exiled from Egypt by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

for his Egyptian nationalist poetry.

Early life

Born and raised in Alexandria, al-Tunisi was nevertheless considered a "foreigner" due to his father's Tunisian origin and he was exiled from Egypt from 1919 to 1938Starr (2009): 39
/ref> and was finally granted Egyptian citizenship in 1954.Siddiq (2007): 209
/ref>

Education

Bayram received his education at an Islamic religious school in Egypt. However, he learned the pure Arabic art of poetry by listening to oral presentations in the form known as

zajal ''Zajal'' () is a traditional form of oral Strophic form, strophic poetry declaimed in a colloquial dialect. The earliest recorded zajal poet was Ibn Quzman of al-Andalus who lived from 1078 to 1160. Most scholars see the Andalusi Arabic ''zajal' ...

. In 1919, the year of the first Egyptian revolution, he began to publish his poetry in the journal ''Issues''. These satirical ballads, based on the traditional zajal form, were critical of both the British occupation to Egypt and the Egyptian monarchy, which was referred to as a puppet. This led to his exile from Egypt his land of birth, which he spent in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, and then asked the Egyptian kingdom for his return and ending his exile. Al-Tunisi returned to

in 1938, where he continued to publish his Egyptian political poetry.

Career

Bayram coined the term ''ʾadab al-ʾisʿāf'' ()Radwan (2012): 28
/ref> (the "literature of rescue") to describe "the successful rejection of external threats, the reorientation and redistribution of power in society, and construction of a strong and independent nation." In addition to zajal, of which Bayram al-Tunisi was considered a master,Bamia (2001): 36
"The most famous poet of this trend (zajal) was the Egyptian-born Tunisian Bayram al-Tūnisī" he was proficient with

maqama The ''maqāma'' (Arabic: مقامة aˈqaːma literally "assembly"; plural ''maqāmāt'', مقامات aqaːˈmaːt is an (originally) Arabic prosimetric literary genre of picaresque short stories originating in the tenth century C.E.Qian, ...

which he preferred in much of his later output. Among those who have been influenced by Bayram were

Salah Jahin Muhammad Salah Eldin Bahgat Ahmad Helmy (, ), known as Salah Jaheen ( ; December 25, 1930 – April 21, 1986) was a leading Egyptian poet, lyricist, playwright and cartoonist. Life and career Jaheen was born in Shobra district, Cairo in 1930 ...

and

Ahmed Fouad Negm Ahmad Fo'ad Negm (, ; 22 May 1929 – 3 December 2013), popularly known as Elfagumi الفاجومي (), was an Egyptian vernacular poet. Negm is well known for his work with Egyptian composer Sheikh Imam, as well as his patriotic and revolutiona ...

Notes

References

* * Beinin, Joel (1994) "Writing Class: Workers and Modern Egyptian Colloquial Poetry (Zajal)" ''Poetics Today'' 15(2): pp. 191–215 * Booth, Marilyn L.(1990) ''Bayram al-Tunisi's Egypt: Social Criticism and Narrative Strategies'' (St. Antony's Middle East Monographs no. 22) Ithaca Press, Exeter, UK, * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tunisi, Bayram Egyptian male poets 1893 births 1961 deaths 20th-century Egyptian poets 20th-century Egyptian male writers Egyptian people of Tunisian descent

Early life

Education

Career

See also

Notes

References