Shāhīn, Muḥammad

Mohammad Youssef Shaheen (Arabic: محمّد يوسف شاهين, romanized: Muḥammad Yūsuf Shāhīn; 1938 – 30 June 2025) was a Jordanian scholar, literary critic, translator and professor of English literature. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of literary studies in Jordan. Shaheen taught English literature at the University of Jordan from 1985 onward and published extensively in both Arabic and English. He held several key academic and administrative positions, including Chair of the English Department and editor-in-chief of Al-Majallah Al-Thaqafeyyah, the University of Jordan's cultural journal, as well as Editor-in-Chief of Mu’tah Journal for Research. In addition to his academic work, Shaheen translated selected poetry by Mahmoud Darwish into English. Mohammad Shaheen devoted several of his scholarly works to the analysis of Edward Said’s intellectual legacy, with particular emphasis on the challenges of translating Orientalism (1978) and the resulting misinterpretations that emerged across various levels of understanding. In addition, he paid close attention to the literary contributions on Tayeb Salih, examining Season of Migration to the North (1966) through the lens of postcolonial literature. His analysis highlighted the novel’s significant impact on the development of modern Arabic narrative, both in terms of its construction of a mythologized protagonist and its innovative narrative structure. He received numerous honors in recognition of his academic contributions, including the Order of Independence (First Class) in 2002, the State Appreciation Award in Literature in 2011, and the Philadelphia Award for Translation in 2005. Shaheen was widely known for his interest in translation and modern literary criticism, and some of his works were translated into other languages. He died on 30 June 2025 at the age of 87, after a distinguished academic career spanning over six decades. In his administrative career, Shaheen served as Assistant to the President of the University of Jordan from 1978 to 1980. He later became Vice President of Mutah University, a post he held for four years from 1998 to 2002. Between 1985 and 1989, he also worked as an advisor at the Jordanian Ministry of Higher Education. Shaheen took part in the Fifth Cairo International Forum for the Arabic Novel, where he was honored by Egypt’s Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosny. He also served as a member of the jury for the Third Cairo International Festival for Arabic Poetry in 2013. In a 2017 interview, Shaheen remarked that translation was among the factors contributing to the decline of modern Arabic poetry. Shaheen earned his doctorate in English literature from the University of Cambridge, and was widely recognized for his contributions to postcolonial literary studies. Among his most notable works is the book E.M. Forster and the Politics of Imperialism.