Mikhail Naimy: some aspects of his thought as revealed in his writings.

Abstract

In more than one respect, Mikhail Naimy is a unique Arab writer: through his education in Russian schools in the Lebanon and Palestine and later in Tzarist Russia, he became so familiar with Russian language and literature that he came to write poetry in that language. Later on he emigrated to the United States where he graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Arts and another in Law. Naimy lived in the United States for over twenty years. There he became very familiar with Anglo-Saxon literature. His poems in English were published in several American periodicals and newspapers including The New York Times. Mikhail Naimy is a man of innate religious feeling: born as Orthodox Christian in 1889 in the Lebanon, his wide interest in Buddhism, Hinduism, and the Muslim Sufis widened his outlook on matters concerning religion that he almost came to preach a "faith" of his own, which although broadly based on Christian teachings, came to embrace elements from almost every faith that humanity has known. It is no exaggeration to say that Naimy is one of the most influential thinkers in the Arab World, whose ideas on the question of what attitude the East should take towards Western civilization are of great importance. Naimy propagates the idea that Western civilization is corrupting to the human soul, that its materialistic attitude towards life is to be denounced and that the East should avoid adopting such a civilization. This coming from a thinker who is equally familiar with Western and Eastern cultures adds to the importance of his views, as they seem to influence a large number of younger people in the Arab World. In addition to his views regarding religion, Naimy is one of the earliest pioneers who introduced new concepts regarding literature. His views on the meaning and aims of literature constituted a revolution in literary thinking in the Arab World, a fact which is recognized by scholars interested in the development of Modern Arabic literature.