BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai led the funeral services Friday for Lebanese poet and author Said Akl at the Saint George Maronite Cathedral in Downtown Beirut.
Akl passed away at the age of 102 last Friday, two days after the other prominent icon in Lebanon’s art history, Sabah, had died at 87.
Many of Lebanon’s top Christian figures attended the funeral mass, including former President Michel Sleiman, Kataeb leader Amine Gemayel, and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun.
Many of Akl’s black-and-white portraits were hung outside the church hall, while a painted portrait of him was attached to the main gate.
Notre Dame University had hosted prayers over Akl’s body Monday at its campus in Louaize, where students, officials and artists took turns taking snapshots of his corpse with their smart phones.
Designed and built by Lebanon’s famous painter and sculptor Rudy Rahme, Akl’s coffin was made of Lebanese rock and wood from a 3,000 year-old cedar tree that had died 30 years ago, media reports said.
Akl’s name and the titles of many of his poets were carved into the casket.
Akl, considered one of the most important modern Lebanese poets, was born in 1912 to a Maronite Catholic family in the city of Zahle.
Akl's wrote poetry in both Lebanese dialect and classical Arabic.
Advertisement
No comments:
Post a Comment