A Syrian poet and diplomat. Nizar Qabbani's verses on love and life inspired generations of Arabs. 'His poetry was more powerful than all the Arab regimes put together, although it entailed only moral power'. Nizar authored Childhood of a Breast (1954), a collection of poems that broke with conservative Arab traditions and 'When will they announce the death of the Arabs?' (1994) a poem that provoked controversy in the Arab world. He expressed in simple but searing language the aspirations, frustrations, anger and visions of millions of Arabs and had a direct appeal to literate and unlettered alike. He wrote more than two dozens Books of poems and contributed to the London-based Al-Hayat. Nizar quit the Syrian diplomatic service in 1966 after serving in several embassies abroad. President Assad of Syria sent his personal aircraft to London, where Nizar Qabbani lived and died, to collect the body for a state burial in Damascus.