Yusuf al-Khal

Yusuf al-Khal was a Lebanese-Syrian poet, journalist, and publisher who played a major role in the modernization of Arabic literature. He was born in Amar al-Husn, a village near Homs, Syria, in 1917. He studied philosophy and English literature at the American University of Beirut, where he later taught for four years. He moved to the United States in 1948 and worked as a journalist for the United Nations. He returned to Lebanon in 1955 and founded the influential poetry magazine Shi'r, which promoted avant-garde and surrealist poetry in Arabic. He also established Dar al-Kitab, a publishing house that translated many Western literary works into Arabic. He joined An-Nahar Publishing House in 1967 as an editor-in-chief and continued to write and publish his own poetry. He was known for his innovative use of language, imagery, and form, as well as his engagement with social and political issues. He translated several poets, such as Khalil Gibran, T.S. Eliot, and Robert Frost, into Arabic. He married twice and had four children, two of whom became famous actors in Lebanon. He died of a heart attack in Beirut in 1987. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in contemporary Arabic poetry and culture.