Ali Ahmad Baktsir sastrawan Arab Indonesia

This study describes the history of Ali Ahmad Baktsir, his literacy works, views on play, and the relation of his play with Indonesian Independence. Data were collected from library resource, interview, and questionnaire, and they were analyzed and presented with the descriptive and historical methods. Born in Surabaya Indonesia, Baktsir spent most of his times in Egypt for advancing his knowledge, composing plays, and developing his literacy career. At least 22 literacy works were identifiable and found in Indonesia, containing different aspects of life; personal, social, and political. His excellence and experience in literacy work led to his conclusion that play can be composed using syair mursal and this must comply at least 5 characteristics, i.e. unity, imagination, movement, purpose, and dialog. Awdatu al-Firdaws was one of his literacy works composed and dedicated especially to Indonesian Independence Day. Through out his life, Baktsir dedicated his life in literacy works and promoted them around the world, until finally ended his career as Arabic literacy lecturer at Cambridge University in London, where he died.