Muhammad Afifi Matar (; 1935 – 28 June 2010), was an Egyptian poet. He was born in the village of Ramalat al-Anjab in the

Menoufia Monufia ( ' ) is one of the governorates of Egypt. Monufia’s name was derived from the hieroglyphic word “Nafr”, which means “The Good Land”. It is located in the northern part of the country in the Nile Delta, to the south of Gharbia ...

region of the

Nile Delta The Nile Delta (, or simply , ) is the River delta, delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's larger deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the eas ...

. He went to school in Menouf and afterwards moved to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

where he studied philosophy at

Ain Shams University Ain Shams University () is a public university located in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 1950, the university provides education at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels. History Ain Shams University was founded in July 1950, the third ...

Early life

During the reign of

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...

, Matar left Egypt for

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and lived there for several years due to his difficulties with the military regime. During this period of self-imposed exile, he kept up his work as a poet and edited a literary journal called ''al-Aqlam''. He was also a member of the Egyptian

Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...

and was one of six people arrested in April 1991 on accusations of involvement in an anti-government plot.

Career

Matar is recognised as one of the more difficult of modern Arab poets. The scholar and translator

Ferial Ghazoul Ferial Jabouri Ghazoul is an Iraqi scholar, critic, and translator. She was educated in Iraq, Lebanon, Britain, France, and the USA. She obtained her PhD in comparative literature from Columbia University in 1978. Currently, she is chair and profe ...

has written: "Muhammad 'Afifi Matar ..is known for the sophistication of his poetics, and the multiple allusions in his poetry. He is a poets' poet who has kept his trajectory apart from other literary schools and cliques. His voice is passionate and singular." The poet and translator

Desmond O'Grady Desmond O'Grady may refer to: * Desmond O'Grady (journalist) (1929–2021), Australian journalist and author * Desmond O'Grady (poet) (1935–2014), Irish poet * Des O'Grady (born 1952), Irish former Gaelic footballer {{hndis, OGrady, Desmon ...

called him "one of the most difficult poets in contemporary Arabic."

Awards and honours

Matar received numerous cultural prizes in the Middle East including the prestigious Al Owais Prize. He published more than a dozen volumes of poetry during his lifetime. A book of his poems ''Quartet of Joy'' was translated by

and John Verlenden and won the Arkansas Arabic Translation Award. He also contributed the text to an art book called, ''Twilight Visions in Egypt’s Nile Delta'' with photographs by Ann Parker. He was honored also in Kfrazayat city with the poet Abdelghani Mustafa Abdelghani in 1986.

Death

Afifi Matar died in Cairo of liver complications.

References

1935 births 2010 deaths 20th-century Egyptian poets 20th-century Egyptian male writers Ain Shams University alumni Ba'ath Party politicians Egyptian male poets People from Monufia Governorate {{Egypt-writer-stub