Said Akl | |
|---|---|
| Young Said Akl as a university instructor Young Said Akl as a university instructor | |
| Occupation | Retired |
Said Akl (Arabic: سعيد عقل, also transliterated Said Aql and Saeed Akl; born July 4, 1912) is a prominent Lebanese poet, writer and ideologue. He was born in Zahlé, Lebanon, and is considered one of the most important modern Lebanese poets.
Said Akl was born to a Maronite Catholic family in the city of Zahle. After losing his father at the age of 15, he had to drop out of school and later worked as a teacher and then journalist. He then studied theology, literature and Islamic history, becoming a university instructor and subsequently lecturing in many Lebanese universities and policy institutes.
During his early years, Said Akl was an adherent of the Syrian Social Nationalist party led by Antun Saadeh, eventually being expelled by Saadeh due to irreconcilable ideological disputes.[1]
Said Akl adopted a powerful doctrine of the authentic millennial character of Lebanon resonating with an exalted sense of Lebanese dignity. His admiration to the Lebanese history and culture was marked by strong enmity towards the Arab language and culture according to Aharon Amir. This view is crystallized by Akl once stating “I would cut off my right hand just not to be an Arab”.[1] In 1968 he stated that literary Arabic would vanish from Lebanon.[2]
For him Lebanon was the cradle of culture and the inheritor of the Oriental civilization, well before the arrival of the Arabs on the historical stage.[1]
He emphasized the Phoenician legacy of the Lebanese people and promoted the use of the Lebanese dialect written in a modified Latin alphabet, that had been influenced by the Phoenician alphabet, rather than the Arabic one.[3]
He is known for his radical Lebanese Nationalistic sentiments; in 1972, he helped to found the “Lebanese Renewal Party” which was proposed by May Murr, the renowned historian of ancient Lebanon. This party was a non-sectarian party that adhered to Lebanese Nationalism. During the Lebanese Civil War, Akl served as the spiritual leader of the radical Lebanese Nationalist movement Guardians of the Cedars, which was led by Étienne Saqr.[1]
Said Akl is one of the staunchest ideologues for Lebanese language as independent of Arabic language. He also designed adopted a Latin-alphabet for the Lebanese language using mostly the Latin alphabet in addition to a few new accented letters to suit the Lebanese phonology.
In a magazine he published during the '1970s he offered a prize in each issue to whoever authored the best essay in Lebanese Arabic. Since then the Said Akl awards had been granted to many Lebanese intellectuals and artists.[1]
Said Akl has tens of writings ranging from theatrical plays, epics and poetry. His first published work was released in 1935, a theatrical play written in Arabic. His other works are written in either Lebanese Arabic, literary Arabic, or French.