Ali Ahmad Bakathir

Ali bin Ahmad bin Mohammed Bakathir (21 December 1910 - 10 November 1969) (Arabic: علي أحمد باكثير) was an Egyptian poet, playwright and novelist of Hadrami origin, who is Indonesian-born. He also wrote historical novels, the most famous being Oh Islam! (original: Wa Islamah) and The Red Revolutionary (original: Ath-thaa'er Al-Ahmar). He is also a translator, for he translated Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. When he reached the age of 10, his father took him to Hadramaut, where he grew up in an Arab-Islamic environment with his siblings. He arrived in the city of Sayyoun, Hadramaut on April 5, 1920, and there he was educated at the Al-Nahda Scientific School. He studied Arabic and Sharia sciences at the hands of highly respected sheikhs, including his uncle, Poet, Linguist and Judge Mohammed bin Mohammad Bakathir.

Egypt

He arrived in Egypt in 1934 and attended King Fuad I University (currently known as Cairo University), where he received a Bachelor of Arts from the English Department in 1939.

Bakathir taught for 14 years, ten of which were spent in Mansoura, the rest in Cairo. It includes the poems Bakathir wrote in 1932 and 1933, the time he spent in Aden after his departure from Hadramaut.

Plays

The Chain of Sin and Forgiveness (original: al-Silsilah wa-al-Ghufran) The Lost Bible (original: at-Tawrāh al-dāʼiʻah) Empire for Auction (original: Imbiraturiyya fi al-Mazad) Zainab's Tragedy (original: Maʼsāt Zaynab) The Secret of al-Hakim bi Amrilla (original: Sirr al-Hakim bi Amrilla) The Lord of Israel (original: Ilah Isra’il) Epic of Omar (original: Malhamat Omar) The Biography of the Brave (original: Sīrat shujāʻ) Oh Islam! (original: Wa Islamah) as well as many Arab countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Kuwait where Epic of Omar was printed. He also visited Turkey, where he intended to write an epic theatre play about the siege of Constantinople but passed away before starting it. In April 1968, he visited Hadramaut a year before his death. He was also a member of the story club. He was also granted a sabbatical to write a historical epic about Omar ibn Al-Khattab.