Ahmed Shawqi

Ahmed Shawqi (1868–1932), nicknamed the Prince of Poets (Amir al-Shu'ara), was an Egyptian poet laureate and one of the most famous Arabic literary writers of the modern era. Scholars consider him the greatest poet of the Arabic neoclassical movement. ¹

He was born in Cairo — the Arabic article gives 29 Jumada al-Akhira 1285 AH, corresponding to 16 October 1868, in the Hanafi quarter, while the English article gives 17 October; the museum records the day as debated. His wealthy family was of mixed Egyptian, Circassian, Turkish, Kurdish and Greek roots and was closely connected to the court of the Khedive Isma'il. ^{2 1} At four he joined a kuttab in the Sayyida Zaynab neighbourhood, memorising parts of the Qur'an and learning to read and write; he later studied law for two years and then translation. ¹

After a year in the court of the Khedive Abbas II, he was sent to continue his law studies at Montpellier and Paris for three years, where French playwrights — above all Molière and Racine — influenced him deeply. Returning in 1894, he became head of the Foreign Pen in the Khedive's office and represented Egypt at the Orientalists' congress in Geneva. ^{1 3}

For his outspoken opposition to the British he was exiled to Andalusia, Spain, in 1914, and remained there until 1920. In 1927 his peers crowned him Amir al-Shu'ara, "Prince of Poets", in recognition of his contribution to Arabic literature. ¹

His career falls into three periods: court eulogies to the Khedive; patriotic poems of exile, on Egypt and the Arab world; and, after his return, poems preoccupied with the history of ancient Egypt and Islam, including religious poems in praise of the Prophet ﷺ Muhammad such as Nahj al-Burda. ¹

He was the first writer of poetic plays in modern Arabic literature. His five tragedies include Majnun Laila, The Death of Cleopatra, 'Antara, Ali Bey el-Kebeer and Kambeez (1931); his comedies include El-Set Huda and El-Bakhila, and he also wrote a prose play, The Princess of Andalusia. His selected poetry, al-Shawqiyyat, fills four volumes. ^{1 2}

He died in Cairo on 14 October 1932; Wikidata carries two conflicting death dates (23 October and 13 December 1932), neither of which is followed. ^{1 2 4} His Giza house, Karmet Ibn Hani, became the Ahmed Shawki Museum in 1977. ¹