comparative account of western symbolism and eastern symbolism, with the latter embodied in the writings of al-Sharif al-Radi. It was one of the first books to discuss symbolism in Arabic literature. The family home in Marjayoun hosted many poets and critics, including Ahmad al-Safi al Najafi, Bchara Al-Khoury, Amin Nakhle, Ameen Rihani, Sheikh Abdul-Hussein Sadek, Sheikh Abdul-Hussein Sharafeddine, Bulus Salameh, Ahmed Aref el-Zein, Suleiman Daher, al-Sayyed Mohsen al-Amin, and many others. Abdel-Masiḥ himself wrote classical Arabic poetry and was known as the "Nightingale of the South" (Bulbul al-Januub.) Childhood Mahfouz spent most of his childhood in his hometown, Marjayoun. However, the period was marked by several displacements of his family to different regions in Lebanon as conflicts, including World War II and the Israel-Palestine war, affected Marjayoun significantly. Mahfouz's childhood was also affected by the death of close family members, including his mother at the age of two. Mahfouz finished school in Marjayoun. He showed an early inclination for theater by writing and producing plays in the attic of the family home, using accessories from the Haramoun Cinema and Theater. Friends and neighbors were invited to play different roles in his productions but he reserved the main character for himself. His childhood plays, with titles like “The Prisoner” and “The Wheat Seller”, revolved around the same issues he went on to develop in his adult productions: love, justice, and freedom. Early beginnings In 1957 Mahfouz moved to Beirut to continue his education and fulfill his ambitions. He had already written his first collection of poetry, “Ashya’a Mayta” (Dead Things) which he published privately in 1959 and from which selected poems were modified and published in a 1961 collection of poetry, “'Ashab Al-Ṣayf” (Summer Weeds). In 1958, Mahfouz met the poet Shawki Abu Shaqra, who in turn introduced him to Yussuf Al-Khal, the founder of “Majallat Shi’ir” (Poetry Magazine), a publication about modern poetry in the Arab world in which Mahfouz published some of his poems and was a member of its editorial board from 1958 to 1964 when the magazine temporarily ceased publication and from 1967 to 1970 when it was revived. He produced two further poetry collections, “Al-Sayf Wa-Burj al-Adhra” (“The Sword and the Sign of Virgo”) and “al-Mawt al-Awwal” (“The First Death”) in 1963 and 1967 respectively. His poems were written in the modern free verse that was being introduced into the Arabic literary scene at the time.