رحماك يا دمشق

Born in Beirut in 1925 AD, he studied at the Sharia College and graduated from it as a sheikh, a scholar and a man of jurisprudence. After graduating in 1940, he gave up his religious garb and returned to his civil status. After that, he began practicing journalism since 1939, but he resigned to continue his postgraduate studies in Paris in order to prepare a doctorate in Arabic literature under the supervision of Sorbonne professors. He actually obtained a doctorate degree and absorbed well Western thought and its philosophical currents through reading, translation and direct contact. Upon his return, Suhail Idris established the Journal of Arts in 1953 AD in partnership with the late Bahij Othman and Munir al-Baalbaki. The magazine was a mainstay for activism poetry, prose poetry, and modernity in general. In 1956, Suhail Idris founded the Dar al-Adab jointly with Nizar al-Qabbani, who was later forced to separate from the house due to the protest of the Syrian Foreign Ministry. He worked in the education field as a teacher of Arabic language, criticism and translation in several universities and institutes. He founded the Lebanese Writers Union with Constantine Zureik, Moghaizel, Mounir Baalbaki and Adonis, and was elected Secretary General of this union for four consecutive terms. Among his books are longing stories 1947 Fire and Snow 1948 All of them women 1949 First stories 1977 Second stories 1977 Bitter tears 1956 Have mercy on you, Damascus 1965 The Open 1977 Plays of the Martyrs 1965 Flower of Blood 1969 Latin Quarter novels 1953 The Dark Trench 1958 Our Burning Fingers 1962 “Mirage” A novel published serial In the Beirut Al-Massa newspaper in 1948