Birth: 17/12/1878 Death:16/12/1947
Born in the village of Aintap, north of Aleppo, on 17 Dec. 1878; son of a Turkish Ottoman soldier who settled in Jenin, then moved to Haifa and Jerusalem; wrote in different political and literary papers like Al-Muqtabas and Al-Nafa’es Al-’Asriyyah; worked in trade in Haifa and for the Hijaz Railway; was also historian and researcher in ancient Islamic ‘manuscripts’ and antiquities; spoke Arabic, Turkish and Persian; served as Director of the Islamic Waqf in Jerusalem during the British Mandate; collected a rare and rich library which was moved to a Convent near the French Hospital in Jerusalem, but stolen in 1947 by Jewish occupiers; member of the Scientific Society in Damascus; wrote on Arab and Islamic history; his publications include the three-volume Ethical Lessons and Religious Information (Arabic, Damascus, 1921-23) and his documentations of the history of selected Palestinian cities and mosques, women’s accessories, and Arab weaponry; advocated the view that colonialism is a class phenomenon, and that artistic production must be militant; provided historical information for the Arab Radio in Jerusalem; died in Jerusalem on 16 Dec. 1947; a book about him was later published by Kamil Assali entitled The Heritage of Palestine in the Writings of Abdullah Mukhlis (Arabic, Amman, 1986).
