[2] Born in Damascus (then a city of the Ottoman Empire, and the present-day capital of Syria), he was enrolled at a Lazarists' school, where he studied Arabic and French.

[3] He left school before he was even twelve years old to meet his family's needs by working at the customs house.

[4] At the age of fifteen, Ishaq joined his father in Beirut to work for the postal office.

[4] He later found work in the Beirut customs house, but his passion for writing pushed him towards journalism; he contributed to Al-Taqaddum (Progress).

[4] In 1879, he founded the Parisian journal Misr al-Qahira (Egypt the Victorious) with the help of Abdallah Marrash.