Taher Abdul Rahman Zamakhshari () is a contemporary Saudi poet and writer. He was born in Makkah Al-Mukarramah on Rajab 27, 1332 AH - June 22, 1914 AD and died in 1407 AH - 1987 AD. He is one of the prominent figures in the field of literature, especially in poetry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Hejaz region in particular. He is considered one of the first generation that established a creative movement in Saudi Arabia, whether in the literary or media fields. He was an Afro-Saudi.
He began his educational life in the "Kitab al-Nuri" of Sheikh Suleiman Nuri and his father, Sheikh Abdul Muti Ibrahim al-Nuri in al-Bab district then joined the Al-Falah School in Makkah, where he completed his education in 1929. He worked since 1931 in government jobs until he settled in the Radio House, during which he accomplished many works, the most important of which was contributing to the establishment of the first municipality in Riyadh and the Saudi Radio.
He was known by the title (Baba Taher) for his interest in children's literature. He presented a radio program called (Children's Corner) and founded the first Saudi children's magazine, Al-Rawda magazine. Its first issue was on September 17, 1959, AD, but it did not last long and stopped after 27 issues on May 12, 1960, AD. He was the owner of the first published poetry book in the history of modern Saudi poetry, which is the Diwan of Dreams of Spring, issued in 1946 AD.
Al-Zamakhshari lived a life of exile and lived for a long time in Egypt, then moved to Tunisia, where the Tunisian government honored him and awarded him two medals in 1963 AD and 1973 AD. He was also awarded the Saudi State Appreciation Prize in Literature for the year 1404 AH - 1984 AD, which was received in a ceremony held on 08/08/140 AH - 04/28/1985 AD in the King Faisal Conference Hall in Riyadh under the patronage of King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
He issued 30 poetry books, including the Diwan of Music of Al Ashjan (1976) and The Green Horizon (1970 AD) and the Rubaiyat of Saba Najd (1973 AD). He married from his social circle in Makkah, Amna Bana, and they had four children (three daughters and one son). His wife died while they were in their prime, and he never married after that.
He had a friendship relationship with many Arab writers, poets and artists, most notably the poet Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal, Muhammad Saeed Khoja, Mohammed Suroor Sabban, Abbas Youssef Qattan, Mahmoud Saleh Qattan, Abdullah bin Omar Belkhair, Ahmed bin Abdul Ghafour Attar, Abdul Maqsoud Muhammad Saeed Khoja. , Abbas Faeq Ghazzawi, Ahmed Rami, Farouk Jweida, Tunisian TV director Moncef Makshar, musician Tariq Abdel Hakim, Omar Kadres, artist Talal Maddah and Muhammad Abdo and journalist writer Abdullah Omar Khayat, who said about Zamakhshari, "One of the famous poets who believed and did good deeds when he was known. He was known for his widows, intelligence and circumstance until the great professor Muhammad Hussein Zaidan - may God have mercy on them - said about him: "Al-Zamakhshari is the poet of the writers, and the gentle of poets". He died on Shawwal 02, 1407 AH - May 29, 1987 AD in the city of Jeddah and was buried in his hometown of Makkah Al-Mukarramah in the Ma'ala Cemetery.
He began his working life at the age of eighteen by moving between several governmental and non-governmental jobs in the period from 1349 AH to 1389 AH, starting with:
The curtain came down on his career in the year 1389 AH / 1969 AD by referring him to early retirement, following an absence that lasted for three years for treatment in Egypt. Then he stopped working permanently and devoted himself to literature and poetry until the end of his life.
He contributed to the establishment of the Saudi Radio since its first inception in Jeddah by Royal Decree No. 7/3/16/3996 dated 09/23/1368 AH, and worked for it as a broadcaster, preparer and observer, and presented more than (18) radio and television programmes, the most famous of which was his program (Children's Corner) which gave him the nickname (Baba Taher), and one of his brightest stars was the child Jamil Mahmoud, who later became one of the most prominent Saudi musicians and artists. He also founded the first musical group in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that contributed to presenting national anthems and music on the radio, consisting of Muhammad Ali Bostaji, Dr. Suleiman Shabana, Said Shawli, Hamza Maghribi, Al-Harasani and Abdul Majeed Al-Hindi, and with the encouragement of King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, issued the first specialized color magazine for children in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, , which was issued in 1959 AD. Al-Zamakhshari headed the Saudi newspaper Al-Bilad for one year.
From his radio programs:
From his TV shows:
He inclined to literature and poetry since his childhood, influenced by the poet Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Ghazawi, head of the Sharia court in which his father worked, and by the judge Sheikh Orabi bin Muhammad bin Saleh Sijini, who encouraged him to public readings, which opened a wider field for science and knowledge. His poetic brilliance appeared at the age of fifteen when he was in the seventh grade at Al-Falah School. Then he imitated Al-Rafi'i, as well as Al-Mutanabi, Shawqi and others, and collected all these oppositions in a group under the title "Inspired by the Night", which is his first poetic experiences. In 1350 AH / 1931 AD, his literary production began with the "Festival Bulletin" in 1366 AH / 1946 AD and was published through the Culture Library in Makkah Al-Mukarramah. Diwan of poetry printed in the history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Diwan Dreams of Spring.
His poetic purposes varied between religious, national, social, romantic and political. He composed some poetic plays, and some of his poems were translated by UNESCO into English, French, and German languages. He was one of the first to write vertical poetry in the Saudi press, starting with a poem published by him in Al-Bilad newspaper on the eighth of Ramadan 1365 AH, the fifth of August 1946 AD.
His poetry has become the subject of many studies, including academic and non-academic, in Saudi universities, and some Arab universities, including King Abdul Aziz University, Umm Al-Qura University, Cairo University, University of Khartoum, and UNESCO institutes. One of the first students of his literature and poetry was Dr. Abd al-Rahman al-Tayyib al-Ansari, who prepared a master's thesis at Cairo University entitled "The Phenomenon of Escape in the Songs of the Desert by the poet Taher Zamakhshari" in 1960 AD 1380 AH.
Taher Zamakhshari is one of the pioneers in writing the lyric text in Saudi Arabia, and the number of his songs has reached nearly 200 songs, ranging from religious, patriotic, emotional and monologues.
His beginning was with writing the lyrical text in Al-Majsat poetry (a kind of money art in Makkah Al-Mukarramah that sings at weddings and occasions).
Among his most famous songs:
Taher Zamakhshari received a number of awards and honors, including:
Divans
He also has:
Other literary works
Research and studies
Books
Articles