Jibran Masud

Before it was published in 1992, Masud dedicated 15 years of his life composing "Al-Ra’id," an extensive, linguistic lexicon . However, it was in 2016 when he broke new ground in the field of lexicography, which is by publishing "The Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature: its Eras, Arts and Most Renowned Figures,” and issued it in eight volumes. For 7 years, Masud compiled all the artistic characteristics of Arabic literature and its most renowned figures over the centuries; that is, starting from pre-Islamic period, the early years of Islam, up until the Umayyad era, the Abbasid era, and the Andalusian era. The encyclopedia also covers different poetry movements including Sufi and Chivalric poetry. In addition, Masud specialized a section of the encyclopedia for literary criticism, which adopted the methodology of discussing, analyzing and explaining literary texts from a literary, linguistic and graphical perspective, in attempt to draw out the beauty of the texts.

In 1950, Masud graduated from American University of Beirut with a Bachelor of Science degree in Arabic Language and Literature and History with honors, and a Master's degree in Arabic literature, three years later.

Masud is considered to be one of the building blocks of Arabic literature of his time. In 1947, and in response to the Arab issues occurring at the international level, 17-year-old Masud composed his first poem titled "Palestine". A year later, he published "Red Ashes," which is a book that sparked controversy among religious communities for rebelling against obsolete traditions, such as interfaith marriages that allows Muslim women to be married to men who are People of the Book, namely Christians. As a result, one of the religious schools in Lebanon prohibited its students from reading the book. Despite that, the book gained a wide recognition and was even featured by Maroon Abood on Radio Lebanon.

Jibran Masud (Arabic: جبران مسعود; born 1930) is a Lebanese writer, scholar and researcher. He first started writing at the age of 17, and managed to publish around 30 books by the age of 80. He wrote in different genres including stories and novels, and conducted linguistic and literary researches, and was nominated for a number of national and Arab literary awards for helping enrich the Arabic language.