Professor Ihsan Abbas
King Faisal Prize in Arabic Language and Literature 1980 Laureate
Topic: "Studies on Contemporary Arabic Poetry "
Writing creates a healthy path for criticism but can’t create an organized criticism by itself; there must be external factors, and one crucial factor lies within the sensation of change and development
Ihsan Abbas received his basic education in Haifa and Acre, and graduated as a teacher from the Arabic language college in Jerusalem in 1941. He received his BA, MA, and Ph.D. degrees in Arabic Literature from Fuad Al-Awal (currently Cairo) University in 1954.
In addition to his numerous scholarly articles and reviews, Professor Abbas authored 75 books covering not only a wide range of modern and ancient Arabic literature but also history, geography, law, science and political thought. His works included seminal contributions to the founding principles of the modern edited texts and groundbreaking work on the Arabic literary legacy of Muslim Spain. Among his books on modern Arabic poetry are Modern Trends in Contemporary Arabic Poetry, Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab, and Abd Al-Wahhab Al-Bayati. Abbas also translated and co-translated 12 books, including The Poetics of Aristotle by Samuel Butcher, The Achievements of T.S. Eliot by Matthiessen, The Writer as Artist by Carlos Baker, The Arab Awakening by George Antonius, The Armed Vision by Stanley Hyman, and Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Some of the books and articles written by Professor Ihsan Abbas have become standard readings of Arabic literature in many universities around the world.
Professor Ihsan Abbas was a Professor Emeritus at the American University in Beirut (AUB) in 1961. He served earlier as a Chair of Arabic Language and Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at AUB, a Professor of Arabic Literature at Khartoum University and the Jordanian University, and a Visiting Professor at Princeton University. He was also a member of the Royal Jordanian Academy, the Arabic language academies in Cairo and Damascus, the German Oriental Society.
This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.
- He authored many books including:
- Mu’jam Al-Olama’ Wa Al-Shua’ra’ Al-Sigillieen (Dar Al-Gharb Al-Islami), (1994).
- Ghurbat Al-Ra’ei (Dar Al-Shorooq), (1996).
- Fan Al-Sirah (Dar Al-Shorooq), (1996).
- Azhar Bariyyah (Dar Al-Shorooq), (1999).
- Muqadimat Fi Al-Ta’reef Bi Namathij Min Al-Turath (Arabian Incorporation Publishing), (2007), (Published After Death).
- He received many awards including:
- The Lebanese Order of Merit in 1981.
- The Columbia University award for translation in 1982.
- The Order of Jerusalem in 1988.
- Al-Owais award for literary criticism in 1992.
- An Honorary Doctorate in humanities from Chicago University in 1993.
- The Lebanese National Order of the Cedar in 1999.
- The Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation prize in 2002.
- Professor Ihsan Abbas passed away in Amman, Jordan on 29/1/2003.
- In 2012, the Palestine Cultural Forum inaugurated the Ihsan Abbas Prize for his memorial.