Zouheir Shalabi (born 1943) is a Syrian novelist born in al-Tall, a suburb of Damascus. He was a soldier, a diplomat, and a businessman. He settled in Cyprus. He was active in social and cultural activities in his region and a member of the Arab Writers Union. Zouheir Shalabi has published eleven works, including epic novels, short stories, reflections, and his own free verse poetry, in addition to several distinctive and humanistic screenplays.
His Life
He was born during the Nakba (the Palestinian catastrophe) and grew up amidst the defeat of June 1967. He served as a soldier in the 1973 war and witnessed the political upheavals in the Arab world and beyond for at least fifty years. His teachers instilled in him, from elementary through high school, the importance of questioning. This question, posed at the age of sixteen by his most influential teacher, Adnan Baghati, "Why do we live?", particularly surprised him.
Biography
He harbored hopes for Arab unity and dedicated his life to this cause, actively engaging with it. He experienced the period of the union between Syria and Egypt firsthand, experiencing its full spectrum of events and sharing in the fervor of the nationalist movement of that era.
From a young age, beginning in the traditional Quranic schools under Sheikh Nabih and others, he was always passionate about freedom, which he saw as embodying human dignity, love for others, and acceptance of differing viewpoints based on mutual respect. He abhorred violence and sought fraternity among peoples and dialogue between civilizations. He read extensively on humanistic themes, particularly the works of Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Hemingway, and Hugo, as well as the writings of Gandhi, Tagore, Arab poets of the diaspora, English Romantic poets, Khalil Gibran, Tawfiq al-Hakim, and other great intellectual and humanitarian figures. He studied meditation and possessed a broad understanding of different peoples and their ways of life.
He faced immense pressure, particularly witnessing the hardship in his father's eyes, his mother's ambitions, and the presence of his seven younger siblings. This led him to waver in his choice of field of study, considering medicine, engineering, literature, and law.
He was initially selected for a scholarship to study nuclear physics, but he did not complete his studies. Instead, he studied English literature at Damascus University, obtained his teaching qualification, and worked as a teacher in schools across several Syrian cities for ten consecutive years.
In the early 1970s, after the war, he joined the staff of the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was registered as a young member of the Arab Writers Union, nominated by Dr. Iskandar Luqa and supported by Professor Adnan Baghjati, the Union's later president.
In the following years, he represented Syria in Cyprus for over six years, initially as the second-in-command and later as the first-in-command. He returned to Syria in 1982 but resigned after his request for a one-year leave of absence was denied. He disagreed with the Minister on whether this was his right.
He started a small business operating between Syria and Cyprus with limited resources, and he had to prove himself in his new world. He didn't succeed in business, and his criticism of the role and methods of religious figures put him in a difficult position. During this period, he reconnected with some old friends, and over a period of fifteen years, he found himself back in Cyprus with his four children and their mother.
His Literary Activity
Zouheir Shalabi has 48 publications, both print and digital, including novels, short story collections, and poetry in both Arabic and English. He has also produced hundreds of short films, all of which he created from start to finish.
The First Stage
His literary activity began in 1969. Driven by his love of words, he produced a number of stories that were repeatedly published in Al-Tali'ah magazine, Sawt Al-Mu'allimin magazine, and the Radio and Television magazine under the title "Youth Literature." In 1973, he met several well-known artists and writers, such as Muhammad Al-Fayturi, Duraid Lahham, Yassin Baqoush, and Muhammad Al-Maghout. One of the most important of these meetings was with the Sudanese, African, Arab, and revolutionary poet Muhammad al-Fayturi, who gifted him one of his poetry collections. During that meeting, the poet read several of the writer's stories, forgetting his appointment with his Lebanese fiancée at the time.
One of the most impactful moments in his life during that period was when he carried a magazine containing one of his published stories and went excitedly to show it to his family. A wealthy relative was visiting his mother at that moment. She flipped through the magazine without paying attention to the content, then looked at him and asked, "How much do they pay you for publishing?!" Her question was devastating, and from that moment on, he began to realize that the journey of writing is the most difficult journey in life. He vowed to himself that he would not monetize his writing for the next forty years because he understood that writing for money would never produce quality work. It was during this period that he joined the Arab Writers Union.
The Second Stage
The following ten years are considered a period of dormancy. During this time, he worked as a diplomat in Cyprus and was appointed a correspondent for an official Syrian newspaper. His literary writings were limited, consisting mainly of reflections, but many questions about the fate of the Arab nation and humanity as a whole troubled him deeply.
The Third Stage
This stage began after his resignation from his post in 1983, following the hardships he had endured. It was as if literature was born from the womb of suffering. He made it a habit to publish a book every year, returning it to his friend, Dr. Iskandar Luqa, for publication.
The Fourth Stage
In Cyprus, he lived in his second home and conducted business between his homeland and other countries, including Egypt, China, and India. His financial situation began to stabilize somewhat, but the specter of financial pressure never left him, both in his adopted country and the land of his childhood and youth. He was not born a merchant. His deep love for his homeland remained undiminished, and his memories of it never faded. It was during this period that he produced several short story collections, a novel, and a volume of poetry.
The Fifth Stage
The fifth stage is considered the most important in Zouheir Shalabi's life as a writer, artist, and human being. The Arab Spring, or what some call the "Arab earthquake," began in 2011. In difficult, pivotal moments of life, it is hard for a person to see everything clearly, as the world may be shrouded in fog. During this period, up to 2025, he published 48 books, both digital and print, in Arabic and English, including numerous short stories and poems. All his works focused on suffering and love, the two contradictory faces of life. He championed the slogans of justice, love, and freedom. He believed in peaceful, humane interaction and forbade the use of abusive language. The many and profound pains he experienced awakened within him a multitude of human emotions that weakened his hopes for salvation through the higher goals of Arabs and Islam. He came to believe that there was much talk and a deadly legacy compared to little hope. Therefore, he believed that this legacy was one of the causes of the catastrophe that claimed millions of victims.
The injustices he witnessed during this historical period made him a writer of icons of justice, freedom, and love.
Among his works are:
The Firebird: A collection of stories and reflections written between 1969 and 1990, some of which are still being quoted on various websites.
The Cleaver: A collection of twenty short stories that use real events as a bridge.
Why Do People Wear Their Clothes?: A collection of short stories that delve deeply into the human psyche.
Birds Regain Their Colors: A narrative extension of his emotional and humanistic themes.
A Letter for Oblivion: Considered among Shalabi's best works.
Thorns in the Chest: An important social study of social anxiety and ways to confront it through the conscious and subconscious mind.
Tales Under the Handkerchief: A collection of poetic and narrative reflections, all of which address humanity's timeless and existential questions.
The Land of Daisies: An epic novel about humanity's perpetual search for happiness.
The Queen's Diwan: Poetic letters to the Queen of Love.
Scenarios: The Cave. A Tribute Ceremony. A Cry in Al-Hamidiyah. My Grandfather's Tragedy. The Dance of the Beauties. Abel's Dreams (Stories)
The Queen's Eyes (Free Verse)
Days of Joy (Memoirs)[1]
Half a Soul is Love (Novel)
Emerging from the Grave (Stories)[2]
The Andalusian Dream
The Flamenco Dance
The Grandson of the Migrating Swallow
Grandparents and Grandchildren.