Mohammad al-Maghout, 72; Syrian Poet, Playwright Satirized Arab Regimes

Mohammad al-Maghout, 72, a Syrian poet and playwright known for his satirical depictions of authoritarian Arab regimes, died Monday of a stroke at his home in Damascus.

“Literary and cultural circles in Syria and the Arab world today lost a giant among Arab men of letters and poets,” Syria’s official SANA news agency said in reporting his death. Al-Maghout’s poems, plays and television and film scripts criticized corruption in the region’s governments and the restrictions they imposed on their citizens.

One of his better known screenplays became the 1978 movie “Al-Hudoud,” or “The Borders,” about a man who loses his passport and becomes trapped between countries.

The film, which starred Dureid Lahham, one of Syria’s better known actors, was a satire on Arab disunity.

Despite his sharp wit, Al-Maghout was allowed to continue writing by Syria’s authoritarian regimes, which granted him latitude to voice criticism as long as the Damascus regime wasn’t the target. Al-Maghout was born in the town of Salamieh, studied agriculture in college and first worked as a journalist.