Bayram al-Tunisi () (born in 1893 in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

as Maḥmūd Muḥammad Muṣṭafā Bayram () - died 1961), was an Egyptian poet with Tunisian roots. He was exiled from Egypt by the British for his Egyptian nationalist poetry.

Early life

Born and raised in Alexandria, al-Tunisi was nevertheless considered a "foreigner" due to his father's Tunisian origin and he was exiled from Egypt from 1919 to 1938Starr (2009): 39
/ref> and was finally granted Egyptian citizenship in 1954.Siddiq (2007): 209
/ref>

Education

Bayram received his education at an Islamic religious school in Egypt. However, he learned the pure Arabic art of poetry by listening to oral presentations in the form known as zajal. In 1919, the year of the first Egyptian revolution, he began to publish his poetry in the journal ''Issues''. These satirical ballads, based on the traditional zajal form, were critical of both the British occupation to Egypt and the Egyptian monarchy, which was referred to as a puppet. This led to his exile from Egypt his land of birth, which he spent in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, and then asked the Egyptian kingdom for his return and ending his exile. Al-Tunisi returned to

in 1938, where he continued to publish his Egyptian political poetry.

Career

Bayram coined the term ''ʾadab al-ʾisʿāf'' ()Radwan (2012): 28
/ref> (the "literature of rescue") to describe "the successful rejection of external threats, the reorientation and redistribution of power in society, and construction of a strong and independent nation." In addition to zajal, of which Bayram al-Tunisi was considered a master,Bamia (2001): 36
"The most famous poet of this trend (zajal) was the Egyptian-born Tunisian Bayram al-Tūnisī" he was proficient with

maqama ''Maqāmah'' (مقامة, pl. ''maqāmāt'', مقامات, literally "assemblies") are an (originally) Arabic prosimetric literary genre which alternates the Arabic rhymed prose known as '' Saj‘'' with intervals of poetry in which rhetorical ...

which he preferred in much of his later output. Among those who have been influenced by Bayram were

Salah Jahin Muhammad Salah Eldin Bahgat Ahmad Helmy (, ), known as "Salah Jaheen" or "Salah Jahin" ( ar, صلاح جاهين, ; December 25, 1930 – April 21, 1986) was a leading Egyptian poet, lyricist, playwright and cartoonist. Life and career Jah ...

and

Ahmed Fouad Negm Ahmed Fouad Negm ( ar, أحمد فؤاد نجم, ; 22 May 1929 – 3 December 2013), popularly known as el-Fagommi الفاجومي (), was an Egyptian vernacular poet. Negm is well known for his work with Egyptian composer Sheikh Imam, as well a ...

Notes

References

* * Beinin, Joel (1994) "Writing Class: Workers and Modern Egyptian Colloquial Poetry (Zajal)" ''Poetics Today'' 15(2): pp. 191–215 * Booth, Marilyn L.(1990) ''Bayram al-Tunisi's Egypt: Social Criticism and Narrative Strategies'' (St. Antony's Middle East Monographs no. 22) Ithaca Press, Exeter, UK, * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tunisi, Bayram Egyptian male poets 1893 births 1961 deaths 20th-century Egyptian poets 20th-century male writers Egyptian people of Tunisian descent

Early life

Education

Career

See also

Notes

References