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Abdellah Guennoun

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Guennoun (standing) during a banquet in Tangier, April 1957, next to Habib Bourguiba (with bow tie) and Allal al-Fassi (with fez)
Moroccan literature
Moroccan writers
Forms
Criticism and awards
See also

Abdellah Guennoun (Arabic: عبد الله ڭنون ʻAbd Allāh Gannūn, Born 16 September 1908 in Fes – died 9 July 1989 in Tangier) was an influential Moroccan writer, historian, essayist, poet, academic, administrator, journalist, and faqīh.[1][2] He was one of the leaders of the Nahda movement in Morocco, and served as the general secretary of the League of Moroccan Religious Scholars (رابطة علماء المغرب).[3][4]

He is known for writing an-Nubūgh al-Maghribī fī al-adab al-ʻArabī (النبوغ المغربي في الأدب العربي, Moroccan Intellect in Arabic Literature),[5] a three-volume anthology of Moroccan literature in Arabic that was banned by the French Protectorate.[6][7]

Guennoun also served as a member of a number of linguistic, educational, and Islamic academies and organizations in places such as Rabat, Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, and Amman.[8][9]

Early life

Abdallah Guennoun was born in Fes in 1908 to a family of noble Idrissid lineage long associated with knowledge.[10] His family moved from Fes to Tangier in 1914.[10]

He had a traditional Islamic education, memorizing the Quran and some Hadith.[10] With access to international books in Tangier, he also taught himself Spanish and French.[10]

Career

Guennoun began his writing career early; he published in the newspaper Idhar al-Haqq (إظهار الحق) in 1927 when he was 20 years old.[11] He also wrote for publications such as the Egyptian literary magazine Arrissalah.[10][12][13][14][15][16]

He became active and influential in the flourishing intellectual and cultural scene in Tetuan, and he published many of his works there.[11] As part of this intellectual circle in Tetuan, he was involved in the first nationalist publication in Morocco, as-Salaam, which published its first issue October 1933.[17][11]

Abdallah Guennoun was well-connected, associated with Said Hajji in the French area, Mohammed Daoud in the Spanish area, and Shakib Arslan in the Mashriq.[11] Guennoun became involved with the Moroccan Action Committee in 1934.[8]

He opened the first of the Moroccan free schools in Tangier, the Free Abdallah Guennoun School (مدرسة عبد الله كنون الحرة), and worked as a teacher in 1936.[10]

He was the editor in-chief of a monthly Islamic publication called Lisaan ad-Din (لسان الدين) in the 1940s and published a number of articles.[10][18][9] He also served as the general secretary of al-Mithaq, a journal put out by the faculty of al-Qarawiyyin University.[10][18]

He refused the support Mohammed Ben Aarafa, the puppet monarch chosen by France to replace Muhammad V, whom France had exiled.[8]

Guennoun was, among other members of the Mococcan Nationalist Movement (الحركة الوطنية المغربية) including Allal al-Fassi, Abdelkhalek Torres, Abdallah Ibrahim, a member of a generation of Moroccan intellectuals brought together the political and the cultural, and who criticized the reform movement in the country, arguing that there can be "no reform without independence."[11]

Abdellah Guennoun taught Ahmed Boukmakh [ar] and later assisted him in the creation of Iqra'  [ar] (اِقْرَأ, "Read"), the first series of Arabic textbooks for children in Morocco, published in 1956, 1957, and 1958.[19][20]

an-Nubūgh al-Maghribī

In 1938, he published an-Nubūgh al-Maghribī fī al-adab al-ʻArabī (النبوغ المغربي في الأدب العربي, Moroccan Intellect in Arabic Literature), his three-volume anthology of Moroccan literature.[7] This anthology indexed and contextualized major Moroccan works of literature written in Arabic, and led to the development of a Moroccan literary canon.[5] Affirming both Morocco's contributions to Arabic literature and the long tradition of Arabic literature in Morocco, an-Nubūgh al-Maghribī was seen as a nationalist reaction to colonialism.[5] It was banned by the authorities of the French Protectorate, and could not be brought into the area under French colonial control, nor could it be sold, displayed, or distributed there.[6][7] Spain, however, was receptive of the work; an-Nubūgh al-Maghribī was translated into Spanish and Abdallah Guennoun was granted an honorary doctorate from a university in Madrid.[21]

He held a number of different positions. In 1937, he was made director of the Khalifi Institute (المعهد الخليفي),[9][22] then professor at the High Institute of Religion (Arabic: المعهد الديني العالي) and the College of Theology in Tetuan (كلية أصول الدين بتطوان).[22] He held the office of Minister of Justice in the Khalifi government from 1954 to 1956.[9]

He became a member of the Arab Academy of Damascus in 1956, the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo in 1961, the League of Moroccan Religious Scholars, the al-Quds Scientific Commission (هيئة القدس العلمية) in 1973, the Muslim World League in Mecca as a founding member in 1974, the Jordan Academy of Arabic in 1978, the Iraqi Academy of Sciences in 1979, and the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco in 1980.[9]

In 1981, he founded al-Ihyaa' (الإحياء The Revival), a journal published by the Association of Moroccan Academics focusing on Islamic theological sciences and thought from an open, critical perspective.[23]

Abdallah Guennoun passed away July 9, 1989 in Tangier.[8]

Notable works

Abdallah Guennoun's works include poetry, literary fiction, and history. Some of his most notable works include:

  • an-Nubūgh al-Maghribī fī al-adab al-ʻArabī (النبوغ المغربي في الأدب العربي, Moroccan Intellect in Arabic Literature), 1st ed. al-Matba'a al-Mehdia. 1938; 2nd ed. Dar al-Kitab al-Lubnani. 1961; 1st ed. Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyah. 2014.
  • Umarāʼunā al-Shuʻarāʼ (أمراؤنا الشعراء Our Poet Princes). 1941.
  • al-Qudwat ul-Samiya lil-Nashi'at il-Islamiya (القدوة السامية للناشئة الإسلامية). 1945
  • Wahat al-Fikr (واحة الفكر The Oasis of Thought). 1948.
  • Dīwān Malik Gharnaṭah Yusuf al-Thalith (ديوان مالك غرناطة يوسف الثالث The Poetry of Yusuf III, King of Granada). 1958.
  • Aḥādīth ʻan al-Adab al-Maghribī al-Ḥadīth (أحاديث عن الأدب المغربي الحديث On Modern Moroccan Literature). 1964.
  • Mafāhīm Islāmīyah (مفاهيم إسلامية Islamic Concepts). 1964.
  • al-Muntakhab min Shiʻr Ibn Zākūr (المنتخب من شعر ابن زاكور A Selection of the Poetry of Ibn Zakur). 1966.
  • Luqmān al-Ḥakīm (لقمان الحكيم Luqman the Wise). 1969.
  • Adab al-Fuqahāʼ (أدب الفقهاء Literature of the Theologians). 1970.
  • Naẓrah fī Munjid al-Adab wa-al-ʻUlum (نظرة في منجد الأدب والعلوم). 1972.
  • al-Taʻāshīb (التعاشيب). 1975.
  • Dhikrayāt Mashāhīr Rijāl al-Maghrib (ذكريات مشاهير رجال المغرب). 2010.

Legacy

Abdellah Guennoun's personal library, which he donated in 1985 to the City of Tangier, has been housed since his death in the former building of the Moroccan Debt Administration.[24]

Notes

  1. ^ Literatura Marroqui [1] (retrieved Feb. 13, 2009)
  2. ^ ""النبوغ المغربي" لعبد الله كنون في طبعة جديدة". Hespress (in Arabic). Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  3. ^ هيسبريس: ذاكرة العلامة عبد الله كنون تؤسس لذاكرة مغربية حقيقية تاريخ الوصول: 14 فبراير 2010]] Archived 16 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "علماء المغرب.. من رابطة العلماء إلى الرابطة المحمدية". Hespress (in Arabic). Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  5. ^ a b c Simour, Lhoussain (2016-10-21). Larbi Batma, Nass el-Ghiwane and Postcolonial Music in Morocco. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-2581-2.
  6. ^ a b "دعوة الحق - [كتاب] النبوغ المغربي في الأدب العربي (لـ ع.ل.كنون)". www.habous.gov.ma. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  7. ^ a b c "النبوغ المغربي لعبد الله كنون.. موسوعة الأدب المغربي في خصوصيته وتعدده". مغرس. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  8. ^ a b c d "عبد الله كنون". www.aljazeera.net. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  9. ^ a b c d e "عبد الله كنـون". uemnet.free.fr. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h "عبد الله كنون". www.aljazeera.net. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  11. ^ a b c d e "عبد الله كنون 1 - المغرب". الجزيرة الوثائقية (in Arabic). Aug 24, 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  12. ^ "مجلة الرسالة/العدد 86/البريد الأدبي - ويكي مصدر". ar.wikisource.org (in Arabic). Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  13. ^ "مجلة الرسالة/العدد 129/المتنبي في ديوانه بمناسبة ذاكره الألفية - ويكي مصدر". ar.wikisource.org (in Arabic). Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  14. ^ "مجلة الرسالة/العدد 130/المتنبي في ديوانه - ويكي مصدر". ar.wikisource.org (in Arabic). Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  15. ^ "مجلة الرسالة/العدد 269/ماضي القرويين وحاضرها - ويكي مصدر". ar.wikisource.org (in Arabic). Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  16. ^ "مجلة الرسالة/العدد 270/ماضي القرويين وحاضرها - ويكي مصدر". ar.wikisource.org (in Arabic). Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  17. ^ "دعوة الحق - مجلة السلام أول صحيفة وطنية مغربية". www.habous.gov.ma. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  18. ^ a b "دعوة الحق - عبد الله كنون وأثره في الثقافة المغربية -2-". www.habous.gov.ma. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  19. ^ Yabiladi.com. "Ahmed Boukmakh, the teacher behind Morocco's first Arabic-language textbooks". en.yabiladi.com. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  20. ^ "أحمد بوكماخ .. من المسرح والسياسة إلى تأليف سلسلة "اقرأ"". Hespress (in Arabic). Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  21. ^ "الذكرى المئوية لميلاد صاحب 'النبوغ المغربي'". Belpresse | بلبريس (in Arabic). 2019-09-20. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  22. ^ a b الهاني, كريم (2019-09-17). "في ذكرى ميلاده: عبد الله كنون… العلامة الذي أعاد الاعتبار للفكر والأدب المغربي". Marayana - مرايانا (in Arabic). Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  23. ^ "نبذة تعريفية عن مجلة الإحياء". بوابة الرابطة المحمدية للعلماء (in Arabic). 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
  24. ^ Khouloud Haskouri (2021-08-22). "Abdallah Guennoun Library in Tangier Goes Digital". Morocco World News.

References

  • Memoirs of important Men of Morocco: Ibn Battuta, Rabat:Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, 1996
  • Dhikrayat Mashahir Rijal al-Maghrib: Ahmad Zarruq, 1954
  • Mohammed Tozy, Zakya Daoud, Abdallah Guennoun ou le dernier des Lettrés. LAMALIF (188), 1987:05, 13-16
  • Rom Landau, Portrait of Tangier, ed. Hale, 1952, chapter 30: "Guennoun"
  • CHAYBI, Ahmed. Al-Dirâsa al `adabiyya fî al-Magrib: Al-ustâdh `Abd`allâh Kanűn numudhadj, Tánger: Madrasa al-Malik Fahd al-Uliyâ li-l-Tardjuma, 1991.
  • HABABI, Fatima al-Djamiya al. Abd allâh Kanűn, Mohammedia: Mat:ba`a Fadhâla, 1991.
  • HABABI, Fatima al-Djamiya al. Abd allâh Kanűn, Casablanca: Mu`asasas Űnâ, 1997.
  • Afrique info (in French) [2] Archived 2012-02-20 at the Wayback Machine (retrieved Feb. 13, 2009)
  • Tangier.free.fr (in French) [3] (retrieved Feb. 13, 2009)
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