Ibrahim al-Yaziji ( / ; 2 March 1847 – 1906) was a Lebanese writer,

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

, poet and journalist.

Life

Ibrahim al-Yaziji was born in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. He was the son of Nasif al-Yaziji, who was born in

Kfarshima Kfarshima (), also spelled Kfarchima, is a town in the Baabda District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, southeast of Beirut and is part of Greater Beirut. The town is populated by Lebanese Christianity in Lebanon, Christians: mainly Melkite C ...

from a Melkite Catholic family originally from

Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...

(modern-day Syria). He was an editor of several newspapers and magazines, such as ''Nagah'' and '' At-Tabib''. Al Yaziji founded ''

Ad-Diya Between 1898 and 1906, the Arabic periodical ''aḍ-Ḍiyā''ʾ (Arabic: ''Illumination'') was published twice a month in Cairo. There are eight year's issues with 24 numbers each (first to third year), resp. 20 numbers each (fourth to eighth yea ...

'' magazine which was published between 1898 and 1906 in Cairo. He was instructed by

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

to translate the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

into

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. The translation, which took place from 1876 to 1880, was published and said to be linguistically richer than the first translation of the Protestants. It was the second Bible translation in the Arabic language. The first translation was approved by the American

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

missionaries under the leadership of the missionary Cornelius Van Alen Van Dyck, a professor at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

, along with

Butrus al-Bustani Butrus al-Bustani (, ; 1819–1883) was a Lebanese writer and scholar. He was a major figure in the Nahda, the Arab renaissance which began in Ottoman Egypt and had spread to all Arab-populated regions of the Ottoman Empire by the end of the ...

and Nasif al-Yaziji. Their

translation appeared in 1866. Among al-Yaziji's more well-known intellectual and ideological commitments was "championing Arabic as the bond of identity, over religion, among those for whom the language is a common tongue." This was sociopolitical project on the rise more broadly during

Nahda The Nahda (, meaning 'the Awakening'), also referred to as the Arab Awakening or Arab Enlightenment, was a cultural movement that flourished in Arabs, Arab-populated regions of the Ottoman Empire, notably in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Tunisia, ...

(the Arab renaissance), which took place around the turn of the 20th century. Al-Yaziji advocated for secular Arab identity, based on language, "explicitly and famously" during his lifetime. One of al-Yaziji's most significant innovations was the creation of a greatly simplified Arab font. By reducing Arabic character forms from 300 to 60 he simplified the symbols so that they more closely resembled

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

characters. It was a process that contributed to the creation of the

typewriter A typewriter is a Machine, mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of Button (control), keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an i ...

. The Bible translations of Bustāni, Nasif al-Yaziji and Ibrahim al-Yaziji were the first in the modern Arabic language.

Literature

* Raif Georges Khoury: Importance et rôle des traductions arabes au XIX siècle comme moteur de la Renaissance arabe moderne. In : Les problématiques de la traduction arabe hier et aujourd’hui. Textes réunis par Naoum Abi-Rached. Strasbourg 2004. 47–95. * Raif Georges Khoury: Quelques remarques sur le rôle des libanais dans la renaissance arabe moderne. In : Romanciers Arabes du Liban. Hrg. Edgard Weber. Toulouse 2002. 7-48.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yaziji, Ibrahim 1847 births 1906 deaths 19th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire Lebanese people of Syrian descent Arab people from the Ottoman Empire Writers from the Ottoman Empire Writers from Beirut Translators of the Bible into Arabic 19th-century translators Lebanese magazine founders