Ibrahim Tuqan

Ibrahim Abd al-Fattah Tuqan was born in Nablus and studied literature at the American University of Beirut before teaching at An-Najah National University and directing the Arabic programming section of the Palestine Broadcasting Service in Jerusalem from 1936 to 1940.

Tuqan was the supreme poet of the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt in Palestine, composing stirring, fearless patriotic odes—including 'Al-Fida'i' (The Guerrilla) and 'Al-Thulatha' al-Hamra' (Red Tuesday)—that mobilized popular resistance against British colonial repression. His poem 'Mawtini' (My Homeland), set to music by the Lebanese composer Mohammed Flayfel, became an immortal pan-Arab anthem, adopted as the national anthem of Iraq.