Saeed Al Samman
Saeed Al Samman (1706–1759) was a Damascus-born writer and poet. He is also known as Ashraf Saeed Al-Samman, Mohammed bin Ahmed Al-Samman, and Mohammed Saeed.
He was born in Damascus in 1706 and died there in 1759 at about 53 years old. He memorized the Qur’an and studied with many scholars, learning grammar, literature, and other subjects. He studied under several teachers, including Saadi bin Abd al-Qadir al-Omari al-Dimashqi for literature, and he studied grammar with scholars such as Ibn Ahmad Ibn Qolaqsuz Ibn Aqil, among others.
Saeed Al Samman traveled widely, visiting Rome, Aleppo, Egypt, Tripoli, the Levant, and Baalbek. He wrote about a thousand poems praising leaders, presidents, and ministers in Damascus and elsewhere. In Damascus he was connected with President Fathallah bin Muhammad Al-Daftari Al-Ghaqalansi, who made him an imam and preacher at a school the president established in 1156 AH (in the Damascus district of Al-Qaymariya). The president praised Damascus writers in a book called Al-Rawd Al-Nafeh.
Al Samman hoped to write a book that would translate the poets of his time and collect their works. He traveled for this purpose, but died before finishing it. A piece in the Berlin Library contains translations of 69 poets who are thought to be drafts of that project.
He wrote literary letters and a poetry collection called Mana’ih al-Afkar fi Madayih Al akhiar. His book Al-Rawd al-Nafeh, about the praises of the Fallancan conquest, is also found in Berlin.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 00:17 (CET).