Safa Khulusi

Safa Abdul-Aziz Khulusi (صفاء عبد العزيز خلوصي; 1917–1995) was an Iraqi historian, novelist, poet, journalist and broadcaster.

He is known for mediating between Arabic- and English-language cultures, and for his scholarship of modern Iraqi literature.

He is also remembered for his theories on Arabic grammar, on Shakespeare, as well as his role in Islamic education and his work on the poetry of al-Mutanabbi.

Khulusi was born in Baghdad, the son of a lawyer.

His mother died when he was four years old.

His family originates from Khanaqin.

His grandfather resettled the family in Baghdad where he served as an officer in the Ottoman army, but was killed during the military withdrawal from Mesopotamia at the end of World War I. Khulusi was inspired to pursue a literary career from an early age by his uncle, the novelist and poet Abdul-Majid Lutfi.

Khulusi travelled to London in 1935 on an academic scholarship, living there until the latter stages of World War II and insisting on staying in the city during The Blitz.

He returned to Iraq late in the war.

An Arab nationalist, Khulusi turned down an offer of a ministerial position in the post-war British administration of Iraq.

Instead, he divided his time between Britain and Iraq, establishing an academic career in both countries.

His first novel Nifous Maridha (Sick Souls) was published in 1941, when he was 24 years old.

His first academic post was as a lecturer in Arabic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University.

During his tenure (1945–50) he completed a PhD in Arabic literature in 1947.

In 1951 he was appointed as Professor of Arabic at the University of Baghdad.

He also served as head of the Arabic Department at Al-Mustansiriya University.

He extended the academic tradition of comparative literature, publishing Dirasat fi al-Adab al-Muqarin wa al-Mathahib al-Adabia (Studies in Comparative Literature and Western Literary Schools) in 1957, and al-Tarjama al-Tahlilia (Analytical Translation) in the same year.

Although concentrating on literary and historical scholarship, Khulusi also published novels, short stories and poetry during this period.

In addition, he translated modern Iraqi literature into English, publishing a number of translations of the work of Atika Wahbi Al-Khazraji.

In 1958 the king Faisal II of Iraq and his family were overthrown in a violent revolution.

One of their executioners was an army officer who had been one of Khulusi's students.

Many years later, when Khulusi met the man again and questioned him on his role in the king's death, the former student answered "all I did was remember Palestine, and the trigger on the machine-gun just set itself off".

During Saddam Hussein's regime Khulusi spent most of his time in England where he enjoyed a greater freedom of expression in his writing, returning to Iraq for a couple of months a year to avoid the English winter.

On one such visit, he explained to a friend who asked why he didn't remain in Baghdad permanently, "Our roots are here, but it's there that we flower best."

Khulusi was a devout Muslim.

He was one of a group of scholars who assisted in the academic and religious reformation of the madrasas in Najaf.

Khulusi was elected Chairman of the National Muslim Education Council of the UK.

He sought to improve Islamic education, while also supporting co-operation between faiths.

He also defended traditions of tolerance within Islam.

He wrote widely for Muslim publications.

In 1959, Khulusi married Sabiha Al-Dabbagh (1922–1998), one of the first women to graduate as a medical doctor in Iraq.

Following postgraduate training in the United States she returned to practice in Baghdad, where she was introduced to Khulusi.

She later became a regular contributor to health programmes on the Arabic section of the BBC World Service and a campaigner for women's health in the Middle East.

The couple had two children, a son and a daughter.

Khulusi's work mediated modern European and American developments in scholarship.

In his book Islam Our Choice, first published in 1961, Khulusi set out a collection of personal accounts from individuals who converted to Islam from other religions.

In Oxford in 1972, he became one of the editors of the Concise Oxford English-Arabic Dictionary of Current Usage which sought to match new developments in both languages.

He later published A Dictionary of Contemporary Idiomatic Usage. His books Fann al-Tarjama (The Art of Translation) and Fann al-Taqti' al-Shi'ri wa al-Qafia (The Art of Poetry: Composition and Prosody) were widely read and went through many editions.

He was also a regular broadcaster on the BBC's Arabic service and a presenter of cultural programmes on Iraqi television.

While participating in the Arabic literary revival Khulusi attempted to remain ‘neutral’ in the unstable politics of the era.