Literary and cultural circles mourned the critical poet Dr. Salma Al-Khadra Al-Jayousi, who passed away yesterday in the Jordanian capital, Amman. At the age of 95 years.
The deceased was born in the Jordanian city of Salt. She attended primary school for girls in Acre, Palestine, then Schmitt College for Girls in Jerusalem, joined the American University in Beirut, then the School of Oriental and African Sciences at the University of London, and obtained a PhD in Arabic literature.
She worked as a writer in journalism and radio, and taught at the University of Khartoum, then at the University of Algiers, Constantine and Utah in the United States. She was appointed as a visiting writer at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, for two years. In 1963, she founded the Palestinian Humanitarian Organization in Kuwait, and in 1980 she founded the Prota Project and supervised its management. During her university studies in Beirut, she met Burhan Jayousi and they got married after their graduation. By virtue of her husband's work in the Jordanian diplomatic corps, she moved between Rome, London and Baghdad. For her, this period was, as she said, "a journey of cultural and self-discovery." In Rome, she wrote poetry, and when her husband moved to Baghdad, her reputation preceded her. She returned to Amman and renewed her contact with the literary movement, and issued her collection, "The Return from the Dreaming Spring." Through her personal efforts, she edited dozens of encyclopedias, books and studies in English to introduce the Western world to the treasures of the ancient and modern Arab-Islamic civilization. She welcomed the prose poem, defended it, and promised it a kind that enriches the Arabian Sea (the seas of Arabic poetry). And I dreamed of accomplishing the history of Arabic poetry.
The late was awarded the Jerusalem Medal for Culture and Arts in 1990. The Palestinian-American Women’s Federation Medal for Outstanding National Service, the Palestine Liberation Organization Medal, and won the Sheikh Zayed Award for having accomplished over the years major works of an encyclopedic nature concerning modern Arabic poetry, Palestinian literature, and Andalusian civilization, as well as translations. She has performed works of theatre, poetry and popular literature. What adds to her work exceptional value is that she produced these works in English, which allowed her to bring Arab culture to the rank of becoming accredited references across universities and research institutions in the world. This scholarly effort, which characterized business and perseverance in serious work, returned once again to the Arabic language and its culture. As such, they are works that contribute to presenting an enlightened Arab culture, with a scrutinizing critical vision, and a modern scientific approach that is open to the culture of the era in the fields of research and literary and cultural knowledge. With these and other works translated into Arabic and then into English, Al-Jayyousi provided her generation and future generations in the Arab world and across the world with scientific and cultural repertoire, guided by a high morality in dealing with Arab culture with responsibility and passion.
She published: 1. The Return from the Dreaming Spring (a collection of poetry), Beirut, Dar Al-Adab, 1960. 2. Trends in Modern Arabic Poetry (in English), Daterbriel, Netherlands, 1970. She has many translations, including: 1. The Humanity of Man, written by Ralph Barton Barry (translation) Beirut, Knowledge Foundation 1961. 2. Balthazar (translation) by Lawrence Durrell. Beirut, Dar Al-Tali'ah 1961. 3. Joshin (translation) by Lawrence Durrell. Beirut, Dar Al-Tali'ah 1961. 4. American Poetry (translation), authored by Louis Buchan. Beirut, House of Culture 1961. 5. Poetry and Experience (translation) by Archibald MacLeish, Beirut, The House of Arab Awakening 1962. 6. This is How Jenny Was Created (translation) by Erskine Caldwell, Beirut, Dar Al-Tali'ah 1961. 7. Walt Whitman (translation) by Author Richard Chase, Beirut, National Library 1962. 8. Anthology of Modern Arabic Poetry (Translation).
Ali Al-Rubai (Al-Baha)