Khedivate of Egypt
•
3 views
Taha Hussein
Maghagha, Khedivate of Egypt
Archival Overview
Revered as the 'Dean of Arabic Literature' (Qahir al-Zalam), blind Egyptian modernist author, educational reformer, and author of the classic autobiography The Days (Al-Ayyam).
Biographical Record
Taha Hussein (1889–1973) was an Egyptian intellectual, writer, and education minister universally venerated across the Arab world as the 'Dean of Arabic Literature' ('Amid al-Adab al-'Arabi). Blinded in rural Upper Egypt at age two through faulty medical treatment, he demonstrated astonishing intellectual resilience, studying at Al-Azhar, earning the first doctorate from Cairo University, and completing a second doctorate at the Sorbonne under Émile Durkheim.
In 1926, Hussein ignited a fiery intellectual storm with his critical treatise On Pre-Islamic Poetry (Fi al-Shi'r al-Jahili), pioneering modern scientific textual criticism in Arabic studies. His multi-volume autobiography The Days (Al-Ayyam, 1929) became the foundational masterpiece of modern Arabic autobiography. As Minister of Education (1950–1952), he realized his lifelong democratic conviction that 'education is as essential as water and air', establishing free state secondary schooling throughout Egypt.
Key Life Milestones
On Pre-Islamic Poetry
Published Fi al-Shi'r al-Jahili, introducing Cartesian doubt and rigorous historical-critical methods to classical Arabic scholarship.
Al-Ayyam (The Days) Published
Published Al-Ayyam, an intimate third-person memoir of his childhood blindness and education that inspired millions across the Middle East.
Memorial Guestbook & Tributes
0 messages recordedLeave a Respectful Tribute
Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialCairo, Egypt