Palestinian-Syrian translator Saleh al-secani died today in Spain at the age of 70.

Secularist is one of the most famous Arab translators, and was specialized in Latin literature, translated dozens of literary works of the most important writers in Spanish, through which many Arab readers identified Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Bargas Llosa, Erzabel Allende, Jose Saramago, Miguel Angel Asturias, and others.

Born in the Syrian city of Homs in 1949 and holds a degree in Spanish literature, he worked as a translator at the Embassy of Cuba in Damascus. He was a member of the Translation Association of the Arab Writers Union in Syria.

Secularist translated dozens of literary works of the most important book in Spanish, through which many Arab readers identified Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Bargas Llosa, Erzabel Allende, José Saramago, Miguel Angel Asturias, and others.
Supervised practical workshops in literary translation at the Cervantes Institute in Damascus. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas awarded him the Medal of Culture, Science and the Arts in 2014. He received the Gerardo de Cremona International Translation Award in 2015. He received the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Translation Award in 2016.

Saleh's secular translations of Spanish and Latin American literature have been instrumental in introducing Arab writers and readers to the “magical realism” stream that characterized the Latin American narrative movement.