Makārim, Sāmī Nasīb

Sami Makarem (Arabic: سامي مكارم) (April 14, 1931 – August 21, 2012) was a Druze Lebanese scholar, writer, poet and artist; he was born in the village of Aitat in Aley district and is best known for his academic contributions in the fields of Islamic studies, Sufism, and Islamic history. He obtained his bachelor's degree in literature and philosophy in 1954 and his master's degree in Arabic literature in 1957 from the American University of Beirut. In 1963, he achieved his PhD in Middle Eastern studies from the University of Michigan, where he taught the Arabic language and specialized in Islamic Batini studies.