Ali Ahmed Baktheir

He was born on December 21, 1910 AD, in the city of Surabaya, Indonesia, to Yemeni parents from the Hadhramaut region. When he was ten years old, his father traveled with him to Hadramaut to raise him in an Arab-Islamic upbringing with his paternal brothers. He arrived in the city of Sayun in Hadhramaut on April 5, 1920 AD. There he received his education at the Al-Nahda Scientific School and studied Arabic and Sharia sciences at the hands of distinguished sheikhs, including his uncle, the poet, linguist and grammarian Judge Muhammad bin Muhammad Bakathir. He also received religious sciences at the hands of the jurist Muhammad bin Hadi Al-Saqqaf. One of Ali Bakathir’s peers at the time was the jurist and linguist Muhammad bin Abdullah Al-Saqqaf. Bakathir's talents appeared early, and he composed poetry when he was thirteen years old. He taught at the Al-Nahda Scientific School and took over its management when he was under twenty years old.