Nizar Qabbani; Widely Admired Syrian Poet

Nizar Qabbani, 75, a Syrian poet admired in the Arab world for his love verses. Egyptian novelist Gamal el-Ghitanti called him “a great Arab poet who made a big effort to make his poetry understandable to all,” while Syrian poet Youssef Karkoutly said Qabbani was “as necessary to our lives as air.” Qabbani first became popular in 1954 with “Childhood of a Breast,” a departure from traditional Arab literature. He also addressed social and political issues and lamented in verse the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, which he viewed as a bitter defeat of the Arab world. Syrian President Hafez Assad was to bring Qabbani’s body home to Syria for burial. In London on Thursday of a heart attack.