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Nizar Qabbani
(1923-1998)
Qabbani was a Syrian poet and diplomat, born to a merchant family in
Damascus. He was the grand-nephew of the pioneering Arab playwright
Abu Khalil Qabbani. He studied law at the University of Damascus
graduating in 1945, and then entered the diplomatic corps. He
represented his country in
Egypt, Turkey,
Lebanon, Britain, China and Spain before retiring in 1966
and moving to Beirut, Lebanon, where he founded a publishing house,
Manshurat Nizar Qabbani.
His first collection of poetry is called Qalat li al samra’
(The Brunette Told Me, 1942), and was published when he was just 19
years old. It was an instant success, and grew in popularity as time
went on. The themes of his poems were at first strictly romantic,
then grew to be outspoken criticism of Arab political and social
life and the oppression to human freedom and dignity. His poetic
language is simple but eloquent and noted for capturing the rhythms
of everyday Syrian speech.
The suicide of his sister, who was unwilling to marry a man she did
not love, had a profound effect on Qabbani and much of his poetry
expresses the experiences of women in traditional society. Verses on
the beauty and desirability of women filled his first four
collections. Later, he often wrote from a woman's viewpoint and
advocated social freedoms for women. His 'Ala hamish daftar al-naksa
(Marginal Notes on the Book of Defeat, 1967) was a critique of poor
Arab leadership during the 1967 war with Israel. Among his more than
20 poetry collections, the most noted volumes are Habibati
(My Beloved, 1961) and Al-rasm bi-al-kalimat (Drawing with
Word, 1966). Qasa'id hubb ‘Arabiyah (Arabian Love Poems) was
published in 1993.
References:
http://www.al-hakawati.net/arabic/arabpers/ ; Modern Arabic
Poetry, An Anthology, ed. Salma Khadra Jayyusi. Columbia University
Press, New York 1987.
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