Mikhail Naimy

Mīḫāˀīl Nuˁayma
Born	October 17th, 1889 Baskinta, Metn, Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate
Died	February 28, 1988 Beirut, Lebanon
Occupation	author
Nationality	Lebanese
Genre	poetry
Literary movement	Mahjar, New York Pen League
Notable works	Book of Mirdad (1948, trans. 1962)

Mīḫāˀīl Nuˁayma (also spelled Mikhail Naimy; Arabic: ميخائيل نعيمة) (Baskinta, Lebanon 1889- Beirut, 1988) was a Lebanese author famous for his spiritual writings, notably “The Book of Mirdad”. He is widely recognized as one of the most important figures in modern Arabic letters and one of the most important spiritual writers of the 20th century.

A poet, novelist and philosopher, Naimy co-founded, along with Khalil Gibran and others, the New York literary society known as the Pen League

Na'ima completed his secondary education in the Baskinta school, studied at the Russian Teachers' Institute in Nazareth and the Theological Seminary in Poltava, Ukraine. He moved to the United States where he received degrees in Law and Liberal Arts at the University of Washington and began his writing career in Walla Walla, Washington in 1919.

After graduation he moved to New York, where along with Khalil Gibran and eight other writers he formed a movement for the rebirth of Arabic literature, the New York Pen League. He was the Vice President and Khalil Gibran was President. In 1932, having lived in the States for 21 years, he returned to Baskinta, where he lived for the rest of his life. He died of pneumonia at the age of 98 on February 28, 1988 in Beirut.

The mystic Osho had this to say about The Book of Mirdad: "There are millions of books in the world, but The Book of Mirdad stands out far above any book in existence".

(from the MLA database, March 2008)

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