. Qabbani began writing poetry at the age of sixteen, and his first complete collection was published in 1956. Highly prolific and with more than forty publications, he is famous for both his erotic love poetry as well as his political poetry. Much of his more famous work has been translated into English, and these translations include Republic of Love (2003) and On Entering the Sea (1996). Qabbani died in London in 1998.