Mahmud Abd al-Khayr Al Arif (; 1909 –  1 March 2001), commonly known as Mahmud Arif,  was a Saudi Arabian poet. He was born in Old Jedda, Hejaz. After studying in Kuttab for three years, he joined  Al Falah School and graduated. He worked as a teacher there for seven years, then moved to government jobs and worked in various office and administrative support occupations, such as: editor, copy typist and lawyer in the Civil Endowments Department of the Sharia judiciary, director of passports and government residency and finally moved to the accounting department. He was chosen a member of the Consultative Assembly until his retirement in 1978. In 1963, appointed as editor-in-chief of Okaz newspaper for a year at the beginning of the new system for journalistic institutions in Saudi Arabia. He is one of the founding members of the Jeddah Society of Culture and Arts in 1975. As a poet, he published many collections of poetry and several other prose books.

Biography 
Mahmud Abd al-Khayr Āl Arif  was born in Jeddah in 1909.  An Afro-Saudi, as a child, he joined the Al-Azim kuttab, then Al Falah School, where he studied under several famous teachers, including: Muhammad Husayn Awwad, Hussain Qattar, Mustafa Nilawi, Muhammad al-Mazruqi and Abd al-Wahhab Nashar. Among his colleagues at the school were: Ahmad Qandil, Salem Ashraf, Abbas Halawani and others.

Occupations 
After graduating he worked as a teacher in Al-Falah School for seven years, then moved to government jobs and worked in various office and administrative support occupations. He worked in as editor, copy typist and lawyer in the Civil Endowments Department of the Sharia judiciary, director of passports and government residency and finally moved to the accounting department in Al-Kandasah, the agency specialized in desalinating sea water in Jeddah. A member of the Jeddah Municipality, he was also chosen a member of the Consultative Assembly until his retirement in 1978.

In 1963, appointed as editor-in-chief of Okaz newspaper for a year at the beginning of the new system for journalistic institutions in Saudi Arabia. He is one of the founding members of the Jeddah Society of Culture and Arts in 1975. He also entered the sport as he co-founded Al Ahli Saudi FC in Jeddah with Omar Shams and Hassan Shams, and later left them to devote himself to his favorite team Al-Ittihad Club.

Poetry 
He is best known as a sentimental poet and "a lover of beauty", he also wrote political poetry. Mahmud Arif belongs to the second generation of 20th-century Saudi Arabian poets. In some respects, his experience was romantic. He did not deviate in his poetry from the traditional Al-Khalili Arabic prosody; classic in terms of form, but its language is modern, dominated by his vision of public issues, occasions, social and historical transformations. According to Hasan al-Ni'mi, "He is one of the romantic poets who delve into the ego and his past, convinced of the badness of the outside world and its inadequacy for life... He is one of the romantic poets who dive into the pain and misery of the ego, convinced of the badness of the outside world and its inadequacy for life...who makes his poetry a permanent nostalgia for the world of salvation from evils and sins." He published many collections from 1978, most of them were collected in a two-volume book entitled  The Night Hymns  () in 1984. He also wrote several prose books.

Personal life 
Mahmud Arif parents died when he was young, a maternal aunt became his legal guardian. He married at a late age and had three daughters and three sons. His wife died before him.

Death 
He died on 22 February 2001 or 1 March in Jeddah at the age of 92.

Awards 
 1978: Honored by the Jeddah Literary Club 
 1983: Literary Creativity Award, from the Modern Literature Association in Cairo

Works 
Poetry collections:
 , 1978
 , 1979
 , 1980
 , 1980
 , 1980
 , 1980
 , 1981
 , 1984
 , 1984
 
 , 1984
 , 1984
 , 1989
 , 1993
Books: 
 , autobiography, 1982
 , essays, 1987

References

Citations

Sources 
 
 
 

1909 births
2001 deaths
People from Jeddah
20th-century Saudi Arabian poets
Saudi Arabian essayists
Members of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabian schoolteachers
Saudi Arabian people of African descent