Muhammad Kurd Ali

Muhammad Kurd Ali (Arabic: محمد كردعلي‎‎, 1876–1953) was a notable Syrian scholar, historian and literary critic in the Arabic language. He was the founder and director of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Damascus (1918) till his death.

Is Muhammad ibn Abd al-Razzaq ibn Muhammad Kurd 'Ali, born in Sulaimaniya in 1876 and was originally from the Kurdish region of Iraq. Kurd 'Ali learned to read and write in the kuttab where he also studied the Koran. He received his preparatory education at Al-Rushdieya school, and then completed his secondary education at the Azarieh School.

Muhammad Kurd 'Ali loved writing and journalism and developed an early interest in reading books and collecting them since childhood. Although illiterate himself, his father encouraged him to acquire books, and gave him sufficient assistance to possess them. As Kurd 'Ali developed more skill in science and language, he started to read newspapers and magazines in French, Turkish and Arabic. At the age of sixteen, he was writing news articles and was paid by newspapers. His vocation did not stop at this point, he loved Arabic poetry and rhyme rhetoric; and he kept close company with well-known local senior scholars at the time, drawing on their knowledge and literature, such as: Saleem Bukhari, Sheikh Mohammed Al Mubarak, and Sheikh Taher Algaza’ri.

In 1897, he was entrusted with editing the government weekly newspaper (Sham); he kept this job for three years and was committed in his articles to assonance. Then Kurd 'Ali started corresponding with Al-Muqtataf (excerpt) magazine in Egypt for five years through which his fame spread into Egypt.

Kurd 'Ali afterwards left for Cairo and remained there for ten months during which he worked as the editor of Al-Ra’ed Almasri (the Egyptian pioneer) newspaper. While there, he was introduced to many scientists, literary men and thinkers, which further broadened his horizon and increased his fame so much so that his name in Egypt became no less known than the most famous writers and the very best scholars of that time.

He returned to Damascus only to find himself a victim of a slander that lead to orders by the Turk ruler to have Kurd 'Ali’s house searched, but he was later found innocent. Following this incident, Kurd 'Ali emigrated to Egypt in 1906 and established the monthly Al-Muqtabas (quoted) magazine where he published scientific, literary and historical research; he also edited another two daily newspapers: Al-zaher and Al-Mu’ayyad. Citing from Western magazines, he used to report the latest news on science, civilization, invention and development; in addition to that, he translated a number of rare manuscripts. His work, therefore, was dedicated to the spreading of knowledge, both old and new.

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