The passing of Mariyam Saeed, the second wife of late former President Ibrahim Nasir, is a tragic loss for Maldivian poetry, women, and the country, said former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Mariyam Saeed passed away at 85 in Sri Lanka on Thursday after suffering a stroke over a month ago.

On Friday, she was buried at Kuppiyawatte Muslim Burial Ground, Sri Lanka, next to her brother Ibrahim Shihab and father Hussain Salahuddeen, who was a prolific writer of early Maldivian literature. Like her father, Mariyam Saeed was a celebrated writer and poet and was conferred the National Award of Honour in the field of Dhivehi poetry in 1983.

Nasheed, the first democratically elected Maldives president, said that she had brought new hope for Maldivian poetry and women, and said that Mariyam, who came from a family of poets, wrote poetry filled with 'meaning and emotion'.

Furthermore, noting that Mariyam Saeed and President Nasir’s two children Ali Nasir and Mohamed Nasir were 'killed due to business rivalries during a time of political turmoil', Nasheed said that that Maryam Saeed shown 'patience and calm in her entire life'.