Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq

Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq was born into a Maronite family in Ashqout in Mount Lebanon. Following the tragic persecution and death of his brother As'ad in a Maronite monastery for converting to Protestantism, Shidyaq left Lebanon, living in Egypt, Malta, England, and France before converting to Islam in Tunis and settling in Istanbul.

Shidyaq was a linguistic genius who coined hundreds of modern Arabic terms (such as jarida for newspaper and qamus for dictionary). His 1855 masterpiece, Al-Saq ala al-Saq (Leg over Leg), is a dazzling, wildly inventive autobiographical novel combining Rabelaisian satire, feminist advocacy, lexicographical fireworks, and travel narrative. In Istanbul, he founded Al-Jawa'ib, the most prestigious Arabic newspaper of the late 19th century.