Biography of Najib Khalaf provided by Ibrahim Khalaf

BISKINTAN CELEBRITIES SERIES. NAJEEB I. KHALAF ( 1882- 1944 ). Was born in Baskinta ( Lebanon) on April 25, 1882. In around 1890 he joined Biskinta’s elementary school then run by a Russian cultural mission. He later moved to the American school of Souq al- Gharb where he obtained his high-school diploma. As a school boy , Najeeb showed signs of brilliance and wrote poetry at 12. Law was the discipline he liked most and read it under the guidance of his brother ( Melhem ), Sheikh Elias Kaspar & Salim Rustum Baz- a famous jurist. Before opening his own independent office, advocate Khalaf established a law firm with Tawfiq al -Natour and Salim Alam ad- Deen. Many had law practice in his office . Among them was Boulos Salameh, cleric Antonios Bachir who , in 1923, translated The Prophet into Arabic. In 1910 he founded , with the collaboration of his brother Melhem, al Huquq monthly, the first revue juridique in Lebanon. In 1911 he was ordained a Baptist church minister. Between 1915- 1920 he , with the collaboration of Metropolitan Paul abou Adal and cleric Antonios Bashir, translated the New Testament from the Greek language, still unpublished. It is worth mentioning that Najeeb Khalaf was the first Lebanese lawyer to plead in Arabic in mixed tribunals. His major ( unpublished ) work is Ma’alim al Lugha, a 60-vol Arabic- Arabic dictionary reflecting Najeeb’s love of the Arabic language. Lawyer Khalaf died in the courtroom while pleading. That was on Tuesday , July 11, 1944.

Responses from friends below

  • Nicolas Khalaf

    We should make a museum for mr KHALAF

    Fares Assaad

    اختفظ بهذه الثروة ، موءلفات الاجداد وحاول احياءها كي تبصر النور ، تهانينا سلفا .
  • Marcel Geara

    انه منجم غني وافر العطاء واسع البذل يؤكد على عظمة دوحة آل خلف الكرام وكم وكم جادت تاريخا بثمارها الطيبة النادرة الوجود
    والطريف في الأمر انها لا تزال تغدق علينا في أيامنا هذه الرجالات العظام وانتم منهم ….!!!يا صديقي الحبيب !!!
    May Erbel

    The mixed tribunals in Egypt or were there such also in Lebanon?
    I know that Emile Eddé and later his son Raymond Eddé both pleaded in mixed tribunals in Egypt.

    Tony Shibly

    Many great minds came from Lebanon to bring light to the world, unfortunately their success benefited mostly the rest of the world not their home country. In this case his legacy remains in Lebanon as it should and history recognized his accomplishments.
  • Iman Ousseyran

    Those are the people who built our civilisation and moved Lebanon to a very high level. Great achievements that no one can do in our modern days even with the help of technology and abundance of information. God bless his soul
  • Francois Tanios Hobeika

    هذه ثروة وجب الحفاظ عليها والتعاون.مع الحركة الثقافية بسكنتا والجوار لأظهار هذا الأرث والمحافظة عليه .صديقنا أ.ابراهيم.دمت بخير وعافية وبسبب تواجدي خارج لبنان ارجو التواصل مع امين الأنشطة والنشر د.منير معلوف..
    Mounir Maalouf

    مساء الخير أيها الصديق الكبير أستاذ ابراهيم. هذه الكنوز الخفيّة ينبغي أن تنشر ويفيد منها الحقوقيون واللغويون والمؤرّخون. أرجو أن نلتقي إذا أردتم حالما تسنح الظروف لكي نعمل على نشرها في الحركة الثقافيّة في بسكنتا والجوار.
    Ibrahim Khalaf

    The work needs too much editing; the introduction, a linguistic study of around 4000 pages , is missing. Send me your email to send you a sample of some entries and more information about this dictionary. Thank you so much, sir.
  • John Leslie

    It is wonderful to see all the kind comments regarding my grandfather. Thank you to Ibrihim for keeping his memory alive.