Dubai: Prominent Syrian poet Omar Al Farra died after suffering a heart attack late on Sunday. He was 66.
Born in the ancient city of Tadamur (Palmyra) in central Syria in 1949, he moved with his family to Homs and started writing poetry in the local dialect when he was 13. He quickly gained fame for his strong repertoire, and his reading of vernacular poems.
Al Farra worked as a teacher in Homs for 17 years before opting to become a full-time poet and literary figure.
Although most of his poems were in the Syrian dialect, he also composed powerful verses in classical Arabic.
His poetry covered numerous subjects but his main themes of patriotism and resistance to any form of occupation were what won him hearts and minds in the Arab world. He also excelled in love poems.
His poem Hamda about a young Bedouin woman who preferred to commit suicide after she was forced to marry her cousin gave him exalted status and has become the most potent symbol of his work.
According to Syrian reports, Al Farra’s death came as a shock to his family and friends as he was apparently in good health.
However, his son was quoted as saying that his father “was grief-stricken over the sad situation in Syria.”
Literary figures said Al Farra’s death was a huge loss for the Syrian and Arab literature.
Al Farra is to be buried in Damascus.
