1919 -
Moroccan novelist, short-story writer, and journalist.
Abd al-Karim Ghallab was born in Fez. He studied at the mosque college of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, then obtained his B.A. in Arabic literature from Cairo University. He is editor in chief and director of the daily Al-Alam.
Ghallab is a prolific writer whose publications cover a wide range of topics and interests, some purely literary and others dealing with political and cultural issues. Through his writings he seeks to promote nationalist feelings and a deep attachment to Arabic-Islamic culture, counteracting the French education that was particularly threatening to Moroccans during the years of French colonialism.
Some of Ghallab's short stories in the collection Wa Akhrajaha min al-Janna (1977; He led her out of paradise) criticize the tendency of the upper middle class to communicate in French. Similar concerns are expressed in his novel Sabahun wa Yazhafu al-Layl (1984; Morning, then the night creeps in). Ghallab's fiction works illustrate and defend his beliefs and values. An active nationalist, he was often at odds with the French colonial power and was imprisoned, an experience depicted in his novel Sabʿat Abwab (1965; Seven gates). Some of his other fiction works, such as Dafanna al-Madi (1966; We buried the past), reveal his patriotic feelings. Ghallab fervently preaches attachment to the land and its safeguard by Moroccan farmers, as illustrated in his collection of short stories Al-Ard Habibati (1971; The land, my beloved), his novel Al-Muʿallim Ali (1971; Master Ali), and his essay "Fi al-Islah al-Qarawi" (1961; Of rural reform).
Ghallab's nationalist positions date back to his student years in Egypt, where he agitated for the independence of the three Maghribi countries, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. Back in Morocco, he joined the Istiqlal Party and became deeply involved in politics. He was appointed a minister plenipotentiary for the Middle East (1956 - 1959) and a minister in the Moroccan government (1983 - 1985). His nonfiction writings also reflect his political views, ranging from his preoccupation with political governance to Arab unity. These works include Hadha Huwa al-Dustur (1962; This is the constitution), Al-Tatawwur al-Dusturi wa al-Niyabi bi al-Maghrib min sanat 1908 ila sanat 1978 (1988; The Constitutional and the legal development in the Maghrib from 1908 to 1978, 2 vols.), Maʿrakatuna al-Arabiyya fi Muwajahat al-Istiʿmar wa al-Sahyuniyya (coauthor, 1967; Our Arab battle with colonialism and Zionism), Nabadat Fikr (1961; The beat of a thinking mind), Thaqafa wa al-Fikr fi Muwajahat al-Tahaddi (1976; Culture and thought in the face of challenge), and Risalatu Fikr (1968; The message of a thinking mind).
Religious feelings and a pious way of life are also of concern to Ghallab; they are implicit in his fiction and explicitly expressed in his book Sira alMadhhab wa al-Aqida fi al-Qurʾan (1973; The struggle of ideology and faith in the Qurʾan). In his collection of short stories, Hadha al-Wajh Aʿrafuhu! (1997; I know this face) he sheds some of the didactic tone of his fiction writings.
Bibliography
Allen, Roger. Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, edited by Julie Meisami and Paul Starkey. London and New York: Routledge, 1998.
Bamia, Aida A. "Ghallab, Abd al-Karim." In Encyclopedia of World Literature in the Twentieth Century, vol. 5, edited by Leonard S. Klein. New York: Ungar, 1993.
— AIDA A. BAMIA
