![]() ![]() When I came back to live in Beirut nine years later in 1967, Kamal Salibi had published his book on the modern history of Lebanon, which I made a point of reading, only to conclude that it still reflected an outlook not consistent with my Arab nationalist sentiments. My acquaintance with Kamal Salibi goes back to my student days at the AUB in the late 1950s. He was perceived in my circuit of Arab nationalists as the intellectual guide of Lebanese nationalists. To me, however, he was an adversary to keep at a distance. He joined AUB as a young and handsome professor of history with a great academic reputation. On this occasion, I would like to pay tribute to his original contribution to our understanding of the ancient and modern history of the Arab region, its peoples, languages, cultures and religions. Today, Saturday 2 May, would have been his 86 th birthday. Sadly, Salibi passed away on 1 September 2011. His work on Lebanese and Arab history won him respect in academic circles and wide popular recognition. ![]() Kamal Salibi was one of the great Arab historians of the last half century. ![]() This is the first part of a series on the life and works of the late Kamal Salibi. ![]()
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