Khair al-Din al-Zirikli

His full name is Khair ad-Din ibn Mahmoud ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Faris az-Zirikli ad-Dimashki ( Arabic: خير الدين بن محمود بن محمد بن علي بن فارس الزركلي Due to an erroneous reading of the Arabic vowels , it is sometimes called as az-Zarkali in Russian-language literature ^[1] , although the name of the astronomer and mathematician who lived in the 11th century sounds like this in Russian. Other erroneous reading options are possible: az-Zarakli , -Zarikli , -Zerekli , -Zurukli ^[2] .

Born on the night of the 9th Hulj Hijj 1310 Hijri (June 25, 1893) in Beirut . His father was engaged in trade, both of his parents were from Damascus .

Al-Zirikli began to study at one of the madrassas of Damascus, was fond of reading books on adab . Then he successfully passed the entrance exams and went to study at Al-Hashimiyah Madrasah. At this time, al-Zirikli began publishing the weekly al-Asmai magazine ( Arabic. الأصمعي ), owned by the Ottoman government. Then he moved to Beirut and entered the secular faculty in the French language department , and after that he became a teacher of history and literature.

After the outbreak of World War I he returned to Damascus. After the war ended in 1918, together with a friend, he began to publish the daily newspaper The Language of the Arabs. Then, al-Zirikli himself closed the newspaper and took part in the creation of another daily newspaper - al-Mufid. Al-Zirikli began to prepare for publication his first collection of poems entitled “Abs al-Shabab” ( Arabic: عبث الشباب - Youthful Fun ), but the manuscript of the book was lost during the fire.

After the capture of Damascus by the French in 1920, az-Zirkili went first to Palestine , then to Egypt , and then to Hijaz (modern Saudi Arabia). The French authorities sentenced him to death in absentia and confiscated all his property. Hijaz King Hussein ibn Ali authorized al-Zirikli to help his son, Prince Abdullah , who was heading to Transjordan . He went to Egypt and then to Jerusalem and escorted the detachment of Abdullah to Amman , where he became emir of Transjordan.

In the years 1921-1923, az-Zirikli served as inspector of general education and the head of the couch of the chairmen of the Government of Transjordan. After the end of the persecution by the French, he had the opportunity to return to Damascus or stay in Amman. But al-Zirikli went to Cairo, where he opened the printing house "al-Arabia" and published several of his books. When Syria again came under French rule, they again sentenced az-Zirikli to death in absentia. Due to poor health, in 1927 he was forced to sell his printing house.

Al-Zirikli spent about three years on vacation, during which he visited the Hijaz, which by that time belonged to the Saudis . In 1930, he went to Jerusalem, where, together with two friends, he opened the daily al-Hayat, which was soon closed by the British government. After that, he went to Jaffa , where the publication of another such newspaper was started.

At this time, al-Zirikli received an offer to take a post in the government of Saudi Arabia, but he refused. In 1934, the Saudis invited him to head the Saudi office in Egypt and al-Zirikli stopped working on the newspaper and went to Cairo. After the founding of the League of Arab States, al-Zirkili became one of two authorized representatives of Saudi Arabia in this organization. In 1947 he was appointed representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia in Jeddah , in 1951 he was appointed permanent representative to the League of Arab States, in 1957 he was appointed ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Morocco . Al-Zirikli was ambassador for 3 years, after which his health condition worsened. He was called to Riyadh , where he received indefinite leave. After that, he moved to Beirut, where by 1970 he had prepared for publication his book on the life of King Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud .

Khair ad-Din al-Zirikli died on the 3rd of the month of the Suhl-Hijj 1397 Hijra ( November 25, 1976 ) in the city of Cairo .

In 1930, al-Zirikli became a member of the Arabic Language Academy in Damascus , in 1946 - a member of the Arabic Language Academy in Cairo, and in 1960 - a member of the Iraqi Academy of Sciences in Baghdad.

Al-Zirikli made his first trip outside the Arab world in 1946 to England and France . In 1947 he visited the United States , for 7 months he visited California , Washington , New York and other places. In 1954 he visited Athens , the capital of Greece , as a vizier , from where he returned through Istanbul , Aleppo and Beirut to Cairo. 1955, Al-Zirkili visited Tunisia . In addition to the above, he visited Italy , Switzerland and Turkey .

• Az Zirikli. Al-Alam = الأعلام. - Beirut: Dar al-ilm li-l-malain, 2002. - T. 8. - S. 267-270.