Nasir al-Din al-Asad

Nasir al-Din Muhammad Ahmad Jamil al-Asad (Arabic: ناصر الدين محمد أحمد جميل الأسد; born on December 13, 1922 – died on May 15, 2015) was a Jordanian writer, researcher, and literary critic, regarded as one of the most prominent figures in modern Arabic literature in Jordan and the Arab world. He contributed to the founding of the University of Jordan in 1962 and served as its first president, and served as Jordan's first Minister of Higher Education (1985–1989). Al-Asad was known for his seminal studies on pre-Islamic Arabic literature, particularly his renowned book "Sources of Pre-Islamic Poetry and Their Historical Value", in which he refuted the doubts surrounding the authenticity of pre-Islamic literature.

He was born in the city of Aqaba, Jordan in 1922 to a Jordanian father and a Lebanese mother. He pursued his university education and earned his Ph.D. with distinction from Cairo University in 1955. Al-Asad lectured at several universities and research institutes across Jordan, Libya, and Egypt. In addition to his academic career, he held high-ranking cultural and political positions, serving as a member of various Arabic language academies across several countries, as well as a diplomat and a member of the Jordanian Senate. His life spanned 93 years, marked by extensive scientific and cultural achievements, before passing away in 2015, leaving behind a distinguished intellectual legacy in literary and critical studies.

In his doctoral dissertation, al-Asad was the first to direct a systematic critique against Taha Hussein and the school that adopted Hussein's methodology in the study of pre-Islamic literature. This came amidst the intellectual debates of the time, especially after Taha Hussein published his controversial book On Pre-Islamic Poetry, where he questioned the authenticity of many sources of pre-Islamic poetry. Under the supervision of Professor Shawqi Daif, al-Asad’s dissertation firmly established the authenticity and antiquity of pre-Islamic poetry. His dissertation culminated in a comprehensive and authoritative book in which he meticulously explored the subject, addressing every relevant aspect and framing each part within its appropriate research context. Al-Asad reviewed and objectively discussed various opinions regarding pre-Islamic poetry before articulating his own viewpoint. Although al-Asad relied on external evidence, contrasting with Taha Hussein's focus on internal evidence in textual analysis, his work was considered one of the most powerful and comprehensive rebuttals to Hussein’s arguments. This intellectual divergence ultimately led to academic and literary disputes between the two figures, but these disagreements eventually gave way to a strong friendship that lasted until Taha Hussein’s death.