Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani dies in London at 73

Famed Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani died today in London after suffering a stroke. Syrian President Hafez al-Assad sent a special plane to bring Qabbani's body from London to be buried in his birthplace, Damascus.

Nizar Qabbani was born in 1925 in Damascus. He studied law and joined the diplomatic service, working in China, Europe and the Middle East. He resigned in order to found his own publishing house in Beirut-Lebanon.

Qabbani's romantic poems and style made for easy reading that flowed in the language of the common man. He was loved by the young and old alike. Teenagers loved the rhythm of his style that broke away from traditional Arabic formal structure of poetry, and the adults loved the sophistication and experience he portrayed on romantic subjects of love that were considered taboo.

Qabbani has enjoyed widespread popularity in the Arab world through his love of poetry in which he gives expression to his feelings for women and his love for his homeland Syria, in particular Damascus, and for the Arab lands in general.