Taha Hussein, The Dean of Arab Literature.

Reviewed by: Wafaa El-houseiny
Translated by: Nayira Salah Eddin
Taha Hussein, The Dean of Arab Literature.
Abril, 21, 2022- 14: 36
A life that challenged darkness and materialized dreams in a glorious way. His family’s most desired dream was that their visually impaired child could memorize the Holy Quran in order to be able to join Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, and there was not any problem for them even if he was restricted to memorizing, reciting the Quran on tombs and in funerals. However, that boy challenged his blindness to become later the Dean of Arab Literature. He is remembered as if he is still living between us, and cultural councils are buzzed with his name.
“The Dean’s” heritage has become a major part of our Arab culture and conscience. His fruitful work will always still be among us to study, read, interpret, agree with some things, disagree with others, and discover this enchanted, enriched, and precious world that is full of ideologies, visions, and lessons and the arts of literature, and taste the beautifulness as well as the sweetness of the language.
Taha Hussien Ali Salama, titled as the Dean of Arab Literature, is an Egyptian author and critic. In addition, he is one of the pioneers of the Arab literary movement in the modern age and he had the initiative to develop the Arabic novel. “Al Ayam” is one of his most famous books that was published in 1929, in which he tackled his biography using his amazing style. Moreover, he has another book which tackle several critical issues in literature, heritage, and ideologies, such as “ Fe El Sheer al Jahli” On the Jahli Poetry, “ Ma Abi Alaa Almaary fe Segnoh” With Abi Alaa el Maary in His Prison, “ Hadeeth al masaa” The Talk of the Evening, “ Mustaqbal el Thaqaafa fe Misr” Future of Culture in Egypt, and his enriching books like “ Annaqdu wal Islah” Critique and Reform, “ Al Mu’thabon fe Al Ardh” Those Who are Tortured on Earth, and others.
Taha Hussein was born in 1889 in Mynia governorate and he became visually impaired when he was four-year-old. He learned the Arabic Language and memorized the Holy Quran, then he studied at Al-Azhar schools until he reached Al-Azhar University. He got his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1889 and then traveled to France to complete his studies and gain more knowledge in the modern scientific branches. He returned from France and was appointed in several positions such as the Editor-in-Chief of Aljomhorya newspaper, professor of the History of Arabic Literature at the Faculty of Arts and, gradually, he became the Dean of the Faculty. Taha Hussein also served as the Minister of Knowledge in 1950. He passed away on October 28, 1973, aged 83.
It was our duty, In the Bozoor project, to mention that we consider “The Dean” as our model guide whenever we are about to start a new business, as he was the first one to call for free education and its reformation in order to keep up with the modern time. We also gain knowledge from his writings that guide us on how to develop education and training programs that we present and how to tackle the themes of religion, science, and identity. This is because his writings always boom with solutions and ideas and go deep into several intellectual, literary, and cultural issues of concern to us, in addition, they firmly seek renaissance and enlightenment. As a result, it has a pivotal role in building one’s personality and enriching their vocabulary. Moreover, it provides him with an expressive and eloquent ability. This matter is closely attached to Bozoor School, whose main objectives are to stimulate the skills and abilities of individuals and to develop them intellectually and culturally to be able to build personal and collective identities, through all arts, particularly the arts of literature.