A taste of Arab Poetry by Mahmoud Darwish

Here is a sip of Arab poetry... I'm not sure whether anyone would be interested. Anyways, hope you enjoy!

"I thought poetry could change everything, could change history and could humanise ... but now I think that poetry changes only the poet," Mahmoud Darwish.


The Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish was born to a land-owning family in the village of Birwah, Galilee, in 1941. Following the 1948 war, the Israelis demolished the village and the family became refugees... Darwish is one of the most well-known Arab poets who has won several awards for his work including the 1969 Lotus Prize by the Union of Afro-Asian Writers, the Lenin Peace Prize in 1983, and France's Knighthood of Arts and Belles Lettres in 1997. His work was translated into many languages.


Under Siege

Here on the slopes of hills, facing the dusk and the cannon of time
Close to the gardens of broken shadows,
We do what prisoners do, And what the jobless do:
We cultivate hope.

***
A country preparing for dawn.
We grow less intelligent
For we closely watch the hour of victory
No night in our night lit up by the shelling
Our enemies are watchful and light the light for us In the darkness of cellars.

***
Here there is no "I".
Here Adam remembers the dust of his clay.

***
On the verge of death, he says:
I have no trace left to lose:
Free I am so close to my liberty.
My future lies in my own hand.
Soon I shall penetrate my life,
I shall be born free and parentless,
And as my name I shall choose azure letters...

***

You who stand in the doorway, come in,
Drink Arabic coffee with us
And you will sense that you are men like us
You who stand in the doorways of houses
Come out of our morningtimes,
We shall feel reassured to be Men like you!



Identity Card


Record!
I am an Arab
And my identity card is number fifty thousand
I have eight childrenAnd the nineth is coming after a summer
Will you be angry?

Record!
I am an Arab
I have a name without a title
Patient in a country
Where people are enraged
My rootsWere entrenched before the birth of time
And before the opening of the eras
Before the pines, and the olive trees
And before the grass grew

Record!
I am an Arab
You have stolen the orchards of my ancestors
And the land which I cultivated
Along with my children
And you left nothing for us
Except for these rocks..
So will the State take them
As it has been said?

!Therefore!
Record on the top of the first page:
I do not hate poeple
Nor do I encroach
But if I become hungry
The usurper's flesh will be my food
Beware..Beware..Of my hunger
And my anger!