Nasib Arida ( ar, نسيب عريضة, ; 1887–1946) was a Syrian-born poet and writer of the

Mahjar The Mahjar ( ar, المهجر, translit=al-mahjar, one of its more literal meanings being "the Arab diaspora") was a literary movement started by Arabic-speaking writers who had emigrated to America from Ottoman-ruled Lebanon, Syria and Palestine ...

movement and a founding member of the

New York Pen League The Mahjar ( ar, المهجر, translit=al-mahjar, one of its more literal meanings being "the Arab diaspora") was a literary movement started by Arabic-speaking writers who had emigrated to America from Ottoman-ruled Lebanon, Syria and Palestine ...

Life

Arida was born in Homs to a Syrian Greek Orthodox family where he received his education until his immigration to the United States in 1905.. In New York City, Arida started working in retail and writing for '' Al-Hoda'' and ''

Meraat-ul-Gharb ''Meraat-ul-Gharb'' ( ar, مرآة الغرب, translit=mirʾāt al-ġarb, translation=Mirror of the West) is an Arabic-language newspaper founded and published in New York City by Najeeb Diab in 1899. By 1911, it was considered "the best Arabic n ...

''. Arida later married Najeeba Haddad, the sister of fellow Homs-born writers

Abd al-Masih Haddad Abd al-Masih Haddad ( ar, عبد المسيح حداد, ; 1890–1963) was a Syrian writer of the Mahjar movement and journalist.. His magazine '' As-Sayeh'' (''The Traveler''), started in 1912 and continued until 1957, presented the works of pr ...

and

Nadra Haddad Nadra Haddad (; 30 October 1881– 27 May 1950) was a Syrian poet, and a founding member of The Pen League, the first Arabic-language literary society in North America. Early life Nadra was born on 30 October 1881 in Homs in Ottoman Syria to Ra ...

; the couple would not have children, but would raise the daughter of another Haddad brother after the latter's wife's death in childbirth. In 1913, Arida founded ''

Al-Funoon ''Al-Funoon'' ( ar, الفنون, translit=al-funūn, translation=The Arts) was an Arabic-language magazine founded in New York City by Nasib Arida in 1913 and co-edited by Mikhail Naimy, "so that he might display his knowledge of international l ...

'', which was "the first attempt at an exclusively literary and artistic magazine by the Arab immigrant community in New York.". In 1915 or 1916 along with Abd al-Masih Haddad he co-founded the

Pen League The Mahjar ( ar, المهجر, translit=al-mahjar, one of its more literal meanings being "the Arab people, Arab diaspora") was a literary movement started by Arabic-speaking writers who had emigrated to America from Ottoman Empire, Ottoman-ruled L ...

in New York, an Arabic-language literary society, later joined by

Kahlil Gibran Gibran Khalil Gibran ( ar, جُبْرَان خَلِيل جُبْرَان, , , or , ; January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931), usually referred to in English as Kahlil Gibran (pronounced ), was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist ...

Mikha'il Na'ima Mikha'il Nu'ayma ( ar, ميخائيل نعيمة, ; US legal name: Michael Joseph Naimy), better known in English by his pen name Mikhail Naimy (October 17, 1889 – February 28, 1988), was a Lebanese poet, novelist, and philosopher, famous for ...

and other Mahjari poets in 1920. He had one collection of poems, ''Perplexed Spirits'' (), published in 1946.. He died the same year. Similar to other Syro-Lebanese writers and intellectuals of his time, Arida opposed the

Ottoman rule Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to: Governments and dynasties * Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924 * Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...

on Syria and repression of

Syrian nationalism Syrian nationalism, also known as Pan-Syrian nationalism (or pan-Syrianism), refers to the nationalism of the region of Syria, as a cultural or political entity known as "Greater Syria". It should not be confused with the Arab nationalism that is ...

. He lamented that the Syrian people were slow to act or protest, as in the following poem:

References

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

Website devoted to ''Al-Funoon''
(Nasib Aridah Organization) Syrian poets Syrian Christians 1887 births 1946 deaths People from Homs American people of Syrian descent 20th-century poets 20th-century American male writers 20th-century Syrian people 20th-century American people Mahjar Syrian magazine founders Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to the United States {{syria-writer-stub