Maruf al Rusafi

Maruf al Rusafi was an Iraqi poet, educationist and literary scholar, known for his neoclassical style and his support for Arab nationalism and anti-imperialism. He was born in 1875 in Al Rusafa, Baghdad, to a religious and traditional family. He received his early education at a local madrasa, where he learned Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Islamic sciences. He then joined the military school in Baghdad, where he studied modern sciences and languages. He graduated in 1898 and became a teacher at the same school. He also worked as a journalist and editor for several newspapers and magazines, such as Al-Muqtataf, Al-Muqtabas, Al-Hilal and Sabil al-Rashad. He was influenced by the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 and the Arab nationalist movement. He wrote many poems that expressed his patriotic sentiments and his opposition to the Ottoman and British rule. He also wrote poems on social and religious issues, such as women's rights, education, reform and Sufism. He was known for his mastery of the classical Arabic language and his adherence to the rules of prosody and rhyme. He also wrote several books on Arabic literature, such as Al-Muqaddimah fi al-Shi'r al-'Arabi (An Introduction to Arabic Poetry), Al-Muqaddimah fi al-Nahw al-'Arabi (An Introduction to Arabic Grammar) and Al-Muqaddimah fi al-Balaghah al-'Arabiyyah (An Introduction to Arabic Rhetoric). He left Iraq in 1914 and moved to Istanbul, where he became a member of the Ottoman parliament, representing Baghdad. He also taught Arabic at the Royal College and continued his journalistic and literary activities. He returned to Iraq in 1920, after the end of World War I and the establishment of the British mandate. He resumed his teaching career and became the principal of the Teachers' Training College in Baghdad. He also participated in the Iraqi nationalist movement and was arrested several times by the British authorities. He died in 1945 in Baghdad, at the age of 70. He was buried in Kadhimiya, near the shrine of Imam Musa al-Kadhim. He is regarded as one of the most prominent and influential poets of modern Iraq and the Arab world.