Culture & Education | Monday 21 March, 2016 12:25 pm |

Google celebrated iconic Arab poet Nizar Qabbani’s 93rd birthday on Tuesday with a series of doodles which millions of Internet users in the region will see. 

 

Four different doodles illustrate important periods in the poet’s lifetime during which he wrote some of his most celebrated works. The doodles also draw from key imagery that often translated into Nizar Qabbani’s poems; such as the jasmine flowers that dotted his garden in his Damascene childhood home and and the palm trees that lined Baghdad during his time there. 

 

The drawings also pay tribute to the different cities the Syrian poet spent periods of his life in, such as Beirut, Baghdad, and his hometown of Damascus. 

 

Nizar Qabbani was born in the Syrian capital in 1923 and went on to become an acclaimed poet revered across the Arab world. He is often lauded as the poet who revolutionized Arab poetry with his simpler verses that were accessible to a wider audience. His works often handled themes of love, politics, patriotism, and gender equality. 

 

“Through our doodles, we try to get closer to our users by highlighting key events close to their hearts. Nizar Qabbani is a titan of Arabic poetry and we’re happy to remember him on his 93rd birthday. We hope that this Doodle reminds his fans of his celebrated work and also act as an introduction to the younger generations,” Zain Masri,  Google’s Product Marketing Manager for the Middle East and North Africa, said. 

 

Google has celebrated the lasting impact of key Arab figures with special doodles throughout the years such as the ones developed for Umm Kulthum, Farid Shawki, Abdel Halim Hafez, and Asmahan.