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Mikha'il Nu'ayma (, ; US legal name: Michael Joseph Naimy), better known in English by his pen name Mikhail Naimy (October 17, 1889 – February 28, 1988), was a Lebanese poet, novelist, and philosopher, famous for his spiritual writings, notably '' The Book of Mirdad''. He is widely recognized as one of the most important figures in modern Arabic literature and one of the most important spiritual writers of the 20th century.
In 1920, Naimy re-formed the New York Pen League, along with its original founders Nasib Arida and Abd al-Masih Haddad, and other Mahjari literary figures such as
After the war, Naimy returned for a time to Walla Walla, where he began his writing career in 1919. He wrote poetry in Russian, Arabic and English. He then moved back to New York, where he joined with Khalil Gibran and eight other writers to form a movement for the rebirth of Arabic literature, the New York Pen League. Gibran was its president and Naimy its secretary. In 1932, having lived in the States for 21 years, Naimy returned to Baskinta, where he lived for the rest of his life. He died of pneumonia at the age of 98 on February 28, 1988, in
Mikhail Naimy: some aspects of his thought as revealed in his writings
'' University of Durham E-Thesis.
Kahlil Gibran
Gibran Khalil Gibran (January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931), usually referred to in English as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and Visual arts, visual artist; he was also considered a philosopher, although he himself reject ...
.
Biography
Naimy was born into aGreek Orthodox
Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...
family and completed his elementary education at the Baskinta school. He then studied at the Russian Teachers' Institute in Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...
and the Theological Seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
in Poltava
Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...
. He moved to the United States in 1911, joining his two older brothers in Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,339 as of 2023. The combined populat ...
, where they owned a furniture store. He then moved to Seattle to study at the University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
, earning degrees in law and liberal arts. After his graduation in 1916 he moved to New York City, and in 1918 he was drafted in the U. S. Army.
After the war, Naimy returned for a time to Walla Walla, where he began his writing career in 1919. He wrote poetry in Russian, Arabic and English. He then moved back to New York, where he joined with Khalil Gibran and eight other writers to form a movement for the rebirth of Arabic literature, the New York Pen League. Gibran was its president and Naimy its secretary. In 1932, having lived in the States for 21 years, Naimy returned to Baskinta, where he lived for the rest of his life. He died of pneumonia at the age of 98 on February 28, 1988, in Beirut
Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
.
The mystic Osho had this to say about ''The Book of Mirdad'': "There are millions of books in the world but ''The Book of Mirdad'' stands out far above any book in existence".
Selected works
Arabic works
Poetry
* ''Hams al-jufūn'', 1928.Drama
* ''Al-ʾābāʾ wa-l-banūn'', 1918.Short stories
* ''Kān mā Kān'', 1932; * ''ʾAkābir'', 1953; * ''ʾAbū Baṭṭa'', 1957.Novels
*', 1948 (author's trans. ''The Memoirs of a Vagrant Soul; or, the Pitted Face'', 1952).Autobiography
* ''Sabʿūn: ḥikāyat ʿumr'', 1959-1960.Criticism and biography
*''Al-Ghirbal'', 1923; * ''Jibrān Khalīl Jibrān'', 1936 (author's trans. ''Kahlil Gibran: A Biography'',1950).English works
* ''The Book of Mirdad'', Beirut, 1948.Critical essays on Na'ima
(from the MLA database, March 2008) #Abbe, Susan. "Word Length Distribution in Arabic Letters." ''Journal of Quantitative Linguistics'' 2000 Aug; 7 (2): 121-27. #Bell, Gregory J. ''Theosophy
Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...
, Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
and Love in the Poetry of Mikhail Naimy.'' Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 2002 May; 62 (11): 3804. U of Pennsylvania, 2001.
#''Poeti arabi a New York. Il circolo di Gibran'', introduzione e traduzione di F. Medici, prefazione di A. Salem, Palomar, Bari 2009.
# Boullata, Issa J. "Mikhail Naimy: Poet of Meditative Vision." ''Journal of Arabic Literature'' 1993 July; 24 (2): 173-84.
#El-Barouki, Foazi. "How Arab Émigré Writers in America Kept Their Cultural Roots." ''Dialog on Language Instruction'' 1997; 12 (1-2): 31-36.
#Najjar, Nada. "Mikhael Naimy (1889-1988)." ''Aljadid: A Review & Record of Arab Culture and Arts'' 2000 Summer; 6 (32): 27.
#Nijland, Cornelis. "Religious Motifs and Themes in North American Mahjar Poetry." ''Representations of the Divine in Arabic Poetry.'' Ed. Gert Borg and Ed De Moor. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rodopi; 2001. pp. 161–81
See also
* List of Arab American writers * Lebanon#Literature * New York Pen LeagueReferences
Further reading
* * Dabbagh, Hussein Muhammad Ali (1968).Mikhail Naimy: some aspects of his thought as revealed in his writings
'' University of Durham E-Thesis.
External links
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Naima, Mikhail Lebanese writers American writers of Lebanese descent Lebanese Christians 1889 births 1988 deaths People from Walla Walla, Washington 20th-century Lebanese poets 20th-century American poets University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni Lebanese emigrants to the United States Lebanese male poets 20th-century American male writers Mahjar University of Washington School of Law alumni