Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Jameel Al-Bahri (1895-1930), is an author, playwright, and translator. Jamil Habib Afara (Al-Bahri) was born on May 12, 1895 in the city of Haifa. The family has been called Al-Bahri since the middle of the eighteenth century, specifically during the days of Sheikh Zahir Al-Omar Al-Zaydani, the Sheikh of Galilee and the ruler of Haifa at that time. The Department of Culture of the Palestine Liberation Organization awarded him the Jerusalem Medal for Culture and Arts in 1990. The Palestinian Ministry of Culture reprinted his first book about the city of Haifa, “The History of Haifa,” in 2022.
His life and his family
His first grandfather was the owner of a commercial naval fleet that roamed the Mediterranean between Haifa, Acre, and Tripoli, and from here his family was nicknamed Afara in Bahri. His father was a church endowment agent, and the members of his family, which still resides in Haifa, owned areas of land on the slopes of Mount Carmel and Haifa. Some of them worked in agriculture and others in maritime trade, and some of them were employed in a prestigious job, such as Yaqoub Habib Afara, who was a private clerk to the governor. Haifa Mustafa Pasha Al-Khalil, whose house still exists in Old Haifa within the walls, some distance from the Istiqlal Mosque and near the Pasha’s Bath, which belongs to the ruler.
Jamil joined the Roman Catholic school in the Old City, and the number of students at that time reached 300. He received his primary education at the hands of Catholic clergy, and learned the Turkish language, as it was the official language of the country that was subject to Turkish rule, and the French language, since the school belonged to the Roman Catholic sect, which was sponsored by the French government.
He worked at the National Episcopal School, and after World War I, he joined the staff of teachers at the Catholic Episcopal School in Haifa and was an Arabic language teacher.
His interests and contributions
He showed signs of interest in literature and writing. He published a series of novels that he wrote or translated from French to Arabic in Al-Masarra magazine, which was published by the Pauline Society in Beirut. He and his brother Hanna were interested in revitalizing the literary and intellectual movement in Haifa, especially after the end of Turkish rule and the advent of British colonialism, so they opened the National Library in Haifa in 1922. He and a group of intellectuals contributed to establishing the Literature Circle in Haifa to encourage the art of public speaking and the Arabic language, and the writer Tawfiq participated in its founding. Zaibak, Rafiq Bey Al-Tamimi, Dr. Qaiser Khoury, Adeeb Al-Jadaa, Tawfiq Al-Khatib, and Abdul Rahman Ramadan.
He published the magazine “Zahrat al-Jamil” in May 1921, then its name was limited to “Zahra Magazine”, which is a literary, fictional, moral and humorous magazine published twice a month and continued until 1927. Then he issued a magazine under the title “Zahrat al-Jameel”, which was a weekly magazine and then changed to twice a week. It continued to be published about nine months after his death in 1931.
His death
Jamil was working as a volunteer for Bishop Gregory Al-Hajjar, the Endowment Agent in Haifa. Major disputes arose between the city’s Muslims and Christians over the ownership of a cemetery in the Carmel Station neighborhood. While he was examining the conditions of the cemetery, two hired young men from Haifa pounced on him and one of them hit him with a sharp object that led to his death on September 6. The year 1930. A sectarian war almost broke out between the people of Haifa had it not been for the intervention of Mufti Hajj Amin al-Husseini and Bishop al-Hajjar.
A huge funeral was held for him, and elegiac poems were recited and eulogies were published in the Palestinian press, such as Al-Karmel newspaper and the Palestine Al-Yafiya newspaper.
They said about him
His friend, the poet Wadih Al-Bustani, said in his eulogy:
Stand with me on the bloody grave of (Al-Jameel) and read my greetings and greetings to him
Is there anything other than a young man who is new to Al-Isawiya and Islam?
Oh, you who are ungrateful for the beautiful, and you are overwhelmed by its beauty
O you who rise to distance after Him, O brows of light with darkness
Neither religion killed him, nor did his companions, you who strike the target with arrows
Do not make the true religion a crime, O great sinners
His writings and translations
Al-Bahri had many workers, including:
The play “The Killer of His Brother” in 1919.
History of Haifa in 1922.
The novel Loyalty of the Arabs, 1922.
The beloved homeland in 1923.
The play Siege of Tiberias 1924.
The Traitor's Tragedy in three acts, 1924.
A collection of short stories entitled The Carmelites.
The play by Abu Muslim Al-Khurasani.
A five-act tragedy for honor, 1926.
He translated many works, such as: The Deaf and Mute, The Strange Concealment, The Attack on Belgium, The Misfortunes of Christianity, The Roman Lover, The Leader's Table, The Blue Diamond, and The Mute.
source
Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
: From
To