Description
Hasan al-Nifi (1963–2025) A Syrian poet and writer, born in the city of Manbij in the Aleppo countryside. He is considered one of the cultural voices that combined poetic creativity with national commitment. He was arrested in 1986 while a fourth-year student in the Arabic Language Department at the University of Aleppo and spent fifteen years in the prisons of the Assad regime, being transferred between several detention centers, including Tadmor Military Prison. He was released in 2001 at the age of thirty-eight. He published his first collection of poems, "Obsessions and Longings," in 1985, followed by "Ashes of the Years" in 2004, in which he revisited poems he had memorized during his years of imprisonment, and then "Ports of the Soul" in 2010. His poetry is distinguished by its adherence to classical Arabic poetry, its inspiration from Arab heritage, and its profound emotional charge that reflects the experience of imprisonment, exile, and national concerns. After 2011, he became involved in the civil movement, working in local councils and holding political positions in the Aleppo Free Provincial Council during 2014–2015. He left Syria and resided in Turkey for several years, continuing his work in journalism and media, before moving to France as a political refugee at the end of 2022. For Hassan Al-Nifi, poetry remained an act of resistance and a space to express the values of freedom and dignity until his death in France on December 18, 2025.