Ahmed Shaker bin Sheikh Saeed Al Karmi . A Palestinian, born in 1312 AH / 1894 in the city of Tulkarm in the West Bank. He served as editor of Al-Qibla newspaper in Mecca and then Al- Kawkab newspaper in Cairo. He died in 1346 AH / 1927 in Damascus .
Ahmed Shaker Al-Karmi, son of Sheikh Saeed Al-Karmi , and the brother of the poet Abdul Karim Al-Karmi - Abu Salma - was born in the city of Tulkarm , the center of the Bani Saab district in Palestine, in the year 1894 , as mentioned in the Civil Status Register in Damascus, Channels Amendment 205. He received his education in the primary stage in Tulkarm schools, then He turned his face towards Cairo to acquire science and knowledge from the source of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif . He was accompanied on his trip to Egypt and to join Al-Azhar by his brother Mahmoud Al-Karmi. It was stated in a document signed by Sheikh Issa Manoun, Sheikh of Riwaq Al-Shawam in Al-Azhar, dated 5 Rajab 1342, the following: By examining the records of Riwaq Al-Shawam in Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, it was revealed that the Sheikh Ahmed Shaker, son of Sheikh Saeed Al Karmi, is a resident of Tulkarm, affiliated to NablusIn Palestine, he came to Al-Azhar Al-Sharif Mosque, and joined the Burwaq Al-Shawam on Shawwal 11 , 1331, Numru 703, and continued until Rajab 9 , 1336.
The origin of his family is from Yemen, and it was mentioned in A`lam Al- Zirikli , Part 7, p. 131, in the talk about Ahmed Shaker, that his father, Sheikh Saeed Al-Karmi, wrote saying: Our origins are from the Arabs of Yemen who came to conquer Egypt with Amr bin Al-Aas , and when Egypt was conquered and its land was divided among the conquerors by the order of Omar bin Al-Khattab. Their share came out in the Al-Sharqiya region, which was inhabited by several tribes who are still known, and the town that our people inhabited is “ Shinbara ” with Fath Al-Shain and Sukun Al-Nun, and since there are two villages with this name, our village was distinguished by the name of Shanbara Al-Tanainat, and our relatives have remained there until now, and they are its masters and are known as Bayt Al-Dahhar, and the first Those of them who came to the country of Palestine, my father’s grandfather, were displaced, as were other people from the villages of Egypt, for reasons they differed on. Some say that the lack of the Nile to irrigate the lands is the reason, and some say that the costs that Muhammad Ali, the grandfather of the Khedive family, asked of them were what forced them to emigrate.
The two brothers spent about seven years studying and seeking knowledge at Al-Azhar, and when World War I broke out and communication between Egypt and Palestine became impossible, Ahmed Shaker traveled to Hijaz to edit the Al-Qibla newspaper , which was published in Mecca at that time, based on the choice of the distinguished Arab writer and freedom fighter, Professor Mohib Al-Din. Al-Khatib specifically invited him to help him edit the newspaper in the year 1336 AH , corresponding to 1917 AD . Al-Karmi spent one year in Hijaz, after which he returned to Cairo and worked as an editor in the weekly newspaper Al-Kawkab , which was edited by Muhammad Al-Qalqili . He began studying the English language until he mastered it, and then returned to his city of Tulkarm, where he stayed for a short period, after which he traveled with his father to Damascus, who was at that time vice president of the Scientific Academy there.
In the year 1921, he contributed to the formation of the first literary group in Syria, which was named after the Literary Association , and in editing its magazine, which was named after it. Then he took over the editorship of Al-Fayhaa magazine in 1923, and in 1925 he created Al-Mizan magazine , which lived in 1925 and 1926. Through his work, he contacted Arab writers in Egypt and the Emigrants, and correspondence occurred between him and them. He signed his articles under several names, the most famous of which was Qudama. He married but did not have children, then he was struck by tuberculosis.
On October 9, 1927, the flame of his life was extinguished, and he was buried in the “Bab al-Saghir” cemetery in Damascus. Written on his grave was written: Here lies Ahmed Shaker bin Sheikh Saeed al-Karmi. He died as a stranger except for his brothers. Under this word, he wrote these two lines of poetry by the Syrian poet. The famous Muhammad Al-Bazm :
Ahmed rested under this grave, and his fire was ignited in his heart
He quickly sought the satisfaction of his Lord, his history, and his forgiveness
His manners
Ahmed Shaker Al-Karmi is a distinguished writer, a brilliant writer, a brave critic, and a glorious translator, with a wide culture and diverse knowledge. He wrote many research papers and articles in literature and criticism. He enjoyed a rich share of fame that went beyond the borders of his country. He was praised for his literature and talent by a number of notables who praised his idea. They considered the suitability of this thought to the spirit of the times.
One of the first literary works he created was “The Karmiyyat,” which is a collection of articles that dealt with thirteen topics in literature, history, philosophy, ethics, sociology, and translation. Professor Mohieddin Reda published it in Cairo in 1921 and wrote an introduction to it in which he stated that the Karmiyyat aims to achieve three purposes:
- Upgrading the written language. This is clearly evident from its harmonious style, which tends toward ease and durability. Its writer chased the old styles.
- Moral refinement. The author of Al-Karmiyat knew that souls have become deprived of good deeds, alienated from virtues, crave evils, and ride every vehicle for them. So he highlighted to us truths that if people followed them, they would find peace and comfort, and turn to goodness....
- This world is nothing but a stage on which works are presented as they are, and people receive what they see as relevant to their souls.
The Arabic writer Muhammad Isaf al-Nashashibi described him as the brilliant critic Mazni al-Sham and his Aqada. In 1964, Professor Fouad al-Shayeb wrote a long introduction to Ahmed Shaker al-Karmi’s book, which was issued by the Ministry of Culture and National Guidance. The Directorate of Writing and Translation said the following about Al-Karmi:
Arab in spirit and kind, Azhari studied and educated, humane in culture and longing, with the knowledge he had of Western literature through his mastery of the English language. These are the features of the image around which the attention of the Damascenes rose, and became attached to it in 1920 when this rare Arabian bird with the twisted wings and sweeping beak landed on their land. He was neither Palestinian, nor Hijazi, nor Egyptian, nor Levantine, this bold Arab boy who soon topped the plate of the Levantine house as if he had been born there with its lemons, or had been inscribed like a verse on the top of its hall...
His looks
In the book issued by the Translation Directorate of the Ministry of Culture and National Guidance in the Syrian Arab Republic in 1964, Abu Salma divided the works of his brother Ahmed Shaker into the following seven sections:
1) Editor's notebook.
2) Opinions of Ahmed Shaker Al-Karmi.
3) General exhibition.
4) Cash.
5) Western poetry.
6) Stories.
7) Sayings and messages.
An example of his literature
- Ahmed Shaker Al-Karmi said in dedicating his book Al-Karmiyat to Professor Mohieddin Reda : “The great king in his power, the tyrannical oppressor among his guards and assistants, and the great rich man among his servants are nothing but false manifestations of life. Since ancient times, people have been accustomed to burning their intelligence in incense before these three funerals. I have another path to follow: I do not dedicate my book to kings and oppressors because I hate them, and I do not dedicate it to the rich and the wealthy because I despise them, but I present it to you, O Muhyiddin, my dear friend, to be a memory of our close friendship and our recognition of your morals and virtue.
excitement
- Al-Karmiyat, a collection of articles and stories - Cairo - 1921.
- Mai or Autumn and Spring, voiced in English 1922.
- Al-Mizan Magazine 1925-1926.
Sources
Related encyclopedias:
- Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature
- Encyclopedia of notables
Source