Mahmoud Darwish, the name that has resurfaced in the minds of people since the ongoing Israel-Palestine situation, was a poet and a cultural icon who was born in 1941 in a village in Palestine – which was later occupied by the Israeli occupation.
His family fled the country and became refugees in the year 1948 – and after living in multiple arab countries – they finally settled in West Bank, the area which is divided in its political position by Israel and Palestine.
Mahmoud Darwish is often referred to as “The National Poet of Palestine” – for raising his voice for the Palestinian people, and giving a voice to those supressed by the regime.
Reading his work, even if you belong to a stable nation, your heart will ache for the homeland that you never had. The sense of longing emanates from within.
Let’s delve into this curated list of some poignant and profound excerpts from his work –
“And I, a poet in my exile, saw that all were humans, so I stood up.”
– Poem “A State of Siege”, Collection: “Unfortunately, It Was Paradise” (2003)
“I am from there. I am from here.
I am not there and I am not here.
I have two names, which meet and part,
and I have two languages.
I forget which of them I dream in.”
– Poem: “I’m from There”, Collection: “Unfortunately, It Was Paradise” (2003)
“Exile is more than a geographical concept. You can be an exile in your homeland, in your own house, in a room.”
– Essay “In the Presence of Absence”, Book: “In the Presence of Absence” (2006)
“We suffer from an incurable malady: Hope.”
– Poem “In Jerusalem”, Collection: “Unfortunately, It Was Paradise” (2003)
“The days have taught you not to trust happiness because it hurts when it deceives.”
– Poem “Diary of a Palestinian Wound”, Collection: Why Did You Leave the Horse Alone?” (1995)
I have learned and dismantled all the words in order to draw from them a single word: Home.
– Poem “The Earth is Closing on Us”, Collection: “Unfortunately, It Was Paradise” (2003)
“I am the lover’s gift; I am the wedding wreath; I am the memory of a moment of happiness; I am a part of joy and a part of sorrow.”
– Poem “In Her Absence”, Collection “The Butterfly’s Burden” (2007)
“I come from there and I have memories.”
– “I Come from There”, Collection: “Unfortunately, It Was Paradise” (2003)
“Where should I go after the last frontiers, where should the birds fly after the last sky?”
– Poem: “The Story of the Land of Figs”, Collection “Unfortunately, It Was Paradise” (2003)
“The only thing left for me was to keep walking toward an unknown destiny.”
– Essay “The Rain Has a Date with Me”, Book: “Victims of a Map” (1984)
“Do not call on God; He may not answer.”
– Essay “The Siege”, Book: “Unfortunately, It Was Paradise” (2003)
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