Al-Jinan (magazine)
| Categories |
|
|---|---|
| Frequency | Bi-weekly |
| Founder | Butrus al-Bustani |
| First issue | January 1870 |
| Final issue | 1886 |
| Country | Ottoman Empire |
| Based in | Beirut |
| Language | Arabic |
Al-Jinan (Arabic: الجنان, romanized: al-jinān; "The Gardens") was an Arabic-language political and literary bi-weekly magazine established in Beirut by Butrus al-Bustani and active between 1870 and 1886. Its first issue appeared in January 1870. Written largely by Butrus' son Salim who became its editor-in-chief in 1871, the magazine finally ceased to appear because of the growing difficulties of writing freely under the rule of Abdülhamid.
Profile
Al-Jinan had a pan-Arab political stance. It was the first important example of the kind of literary and scientific periodicals which began to appear in the 1870s in Arabic alongside the independent political newspapers. The magazine was also one of the earliest Arabic magazines which covered narrative fiction such as novels, novellas and short stories. One of the novels serialized in the magazine was Salim Butrus's historical novel Al Hayam fi Futuh al Sham (1884; Arabic: Passion during the Conquests of Syria) which is about the conquest of Syria by Muslims in the 7th century.
The magazine was issued by subscription only, and was not sold in bookstores. In the initial phase the readers sent their subscriptions by post to Beirut. Following its success local agents were employed to collect subscriptions in the cities, including Baghdad, Basra, Cairo, Alexandria, Aleppo, Assiut, Casablanca, Tangier, London, Paris and Berlin. Three years after its start Al-Jinan had nearly 1500 subscribers. The readers of the magazine included the leading Muslim merchant families in Beirut. It also had readers in Palestine.