Mahmoud Darwish
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Mahmoud Darwish ( ar, محمود درويش, Maḥmūd Darwīsh, 13 March 1941 – 9 August 2008) was a Palestinian poet and author who was regarded as the Palestinian national poet. He won numerous awards for his works. Darwish used Palestine as a metaphor for the loss of Eden, birth and resurrection, and the anguish of dispossession and exile. Maya Jaggi
"Profile: Mahmoud Darwish – Poet of the Arab world"
''The Guardian'', 8 June 2002.
He has been described as incarnating and reflecting "the tradition of the political poet in Islam, the man of action whose action is poetry.""Prince of Poets"
''The American Scholar''.
He also served as an editor for several literary magazines in Palestine.


Biography

Mahmoud Darwish was born in 1941 in al-Birwa in the Western
Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Gali ...
,"Death defeats Darwish"
, ''Saudi Gazette,'' 10 August 2008.
the second child of Salim and Houreyyah Darwish. His family were landowners. His mother was illiterate, but his grandfather taught him to read. During the
1948 Arab-Israeli war Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form Britis ...
, his village was captured by Israeli forces and the family fled to
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...
, first to
Jezzin Jezzine ( ''Jizzīn'') is a town in Lebanon, located from Sidon and south of Beirut. It is the capital of Jezzine District. Surrounded by mountain peaks, pine forests (like the Bkassine Pine Forest), and at an average altitude of 950 m ...
and then
Damour Damour ( ar, الدامور) is a Lebanese Christian town that is south of Beirut. The name of the town is derived from the name of the Phoenician god Damoros who symbolized immortality ( in Arabic). Damour also remained the capital of Mount ...
. Their home village was razed and destroyed by the IDF to prevent its inhabitants from returning to their homes inside the new Jewish state. A year later, Darwish's family returned to the
Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...
area, which was part of
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, and settled in
Deir al-Asad Deir al-Asad ( ar, دير الأسد; he, דֵיר אֶל-אַסַד) is an Arab town in the Galilee region of Israel, near Karmiel.
. Darwish attended high school in
Kafr Yasif Kafr Yasif ( ar, كفر ياسيف, ''Kufr Yaseef''; he, כַּפְר יָסִיף) is an Arab town in the Northern District of Israel. It is located northeast of the city of Acre and adjacent to Abu Sinan and Yarka. The population of Kafr Yas ...
, two kilometers north of Jadeidi. He eventually moved to
Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
. He published his first book of poetry, ''Asafir bila ajniha,'' or "Wingless Birds," at the age of 19. He initially published his poems in '' Al Jadid,'' the literary periodical of the
Israeli Communist Party The Israeli Communist Party, commonly known by its Hebrew acronym Maki (), is a communist political party in Israel and forms part of the political alliance known as Hadash. It was originally known as Rakah, an acronym for ''Reshima Komunistit ...
, eventually becoming its editor. Later, he was assistant editor of ''
Al Fajr ''Al Fajr'' (Arabic الفجر; ''The Dawn'') is an independent Arabic-language daily newspaper published in Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emir ...
,'' a literary periodical published by the Israeli Workers Party (Mapam). Darwish left Israel in 1970 to study in the Soviet Union (
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...
).Salman Masalha. (September 2008)
He made a homeland of words
''Haaretz''.
He attended the
Lomonosov Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
for one year, before moving to Egypt and Lebanon.Diaa Hadid, "Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish dead at 67"
''Seattle Times'', 9 August 2008.
When he joined the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) in 1973, he was banned from reentering Israel. In 1995, he returned to attend the funeral of his colleague,
Emile Habibi Emile Shukri Habibi ( ar, إميل حبيبي, he, אמיל חביבי, 28 January 1922 – 2 May 1996) was a Palestinian-Israeli
, receiving a permit to remain in Haifa for four days.Joel Greenberg
"Ramallah Journal; Suitcase No Longer His Homeland, a Poet Returns"
''New York Times'', 10 May 1996.
That year Darwish was allowed to settle in
Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerus ...
, but he said he felt he was living in exile there, and did not consider the West Bank his "private homeland." Darwish was twice married and divorced. His first wife was the writer Rana Kabbani. After they divorced, in the mid-1980s, he married an Egyptian translator, Hayat Heeni. He had no children. The "Rita" of Darwish's poems was a Jewish woman whom he loved when he was living in Haifa. The relationship was the subject of the film '' Write Down, I Am an Arab'' by filmmaker Ibtisam Mara'ana Menuhin, an Arab Muslim woman married to a Jewish man. (While such relationships are rare today, they were more common during the Palestinian Mandate period, and among communists, who were united by class struggle.) Darwish had a history of heart disease, suffering a heart attack in 1984. He had two heart operations, in 1984 and 1998. His final visit to Israel was on 15 July 2007, to attend a poetry recital at Mt. Carmel Auditorium in Haifa. There he criticized the factional violence between
Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and s ...
and
Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni- Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qas ...
as a "suicide attempt in the streets."


Literary career

Over his lifetime, Darwish published more than 30 volumes of poetry and eight books of prose. At one time or another, he was editor of the periodicals ''Al-Jadid,'' ''
Al Fajr ''Al Fajr'' (Arabic الفجر; ''The Dawn'') is an independent Arabic-language daily newspaper published in Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emir ...
,'' ''Shu'un Filistiniyya,'' and ''Al-Karmel''. He was also one of the contributors of '' Lotus'', a literary magazine financed by Egypt and the Soviet Union. By the age of seventeen, Darwish was writing poetry about the suffering of the refugees in the
Nakba Clickable map of Mandatory Palestine with the depopulated locations during the 1947–1949 Palestine war. The Nakba ( ar, النكبة, translit=an-Nakbah, lit=the "disaster", "catastrophe", or "cataclysm"), also known as the Palestinian Ca ...
and the inevitability of their return, and had begun reciting his poems at poetry festivals. Seven years later, on 1 May 1965, when the young Darwish read his poem "Bitaqat huwiyya" Identity Card"to a crowd in a Nazareth movie house, there was a tumultuous reaction. Within days the poem had spread throughout the country and the Arab world. Published in his second volume "Leaves of Olives" (Haifa, 1964), the six stanzas of the poem repeat the cry "Write down: I am an Arab." In the 1970s, "Darwish, as a Palestinian poet of the Resistance committed himself to the ... objective of nurturing the vision of defeat and disaster (after the June War of 1967), so much so that it would 'gnaw at the hearts' of the forthcoming generations." Darwish addressed the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in ''Ward aqall''
ewer Roses In American English, a pitcher is a container with a spout used for storing and pouring liquids. In English-speaking countries outside North America, a jug is any container with a handle and a mouth and spout for liquid – American "pitchers" wil ...
(1986) and ''"Sa-ya'ti barabira akharun"'' ("Other Barbarians Will Come"). Darwish's work has won numerous awards and been published in 20 languages. A central theme in Darwish's poetry is the concept of ''watan'' or
homeland A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethn ...
. The poet
Naomi Shihab Nye Naomi Shihab Nye ( ar, نعومي شهاب ناي; born March 12, 1952) is an American poet, editor, songwriter, and novelist. Born to a Palestinian father and an American mother, she began composing her first poetry at the age of six. In tot ...
wrote that Darwish "is the essential breath of the Palestinian people, the eloquent witness of exile and belonging..." Among his awards was the "Cultural Freedom Prize" by the United States
Lannan Foundation The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...
, for the stated purpose of recognizing "people whose extraordinary and courageous work celebrates the human right to freedom of imagination, inquiry, and expression."


Writing style

Darwish's early writings are in the classical Arabic style. He wrote monorhymed poems adhering to the metrics of traditional
Arabic poetry Arabic poetry ( ar, الشعر العربي ''ash-shi‘ru al-‘Arabīyyu'') is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that. Arabic poetry ...
. In the 1970s he began to stray from these precepts and adopted a "free-verse" technique that did not abide strictly by classical poetic norms. The quasi-Romantic diction of his early works gave way to a more personal, flexible language, and the slogans and declarative language that characterized his early poetry were replaced by indirect and ostensibly apolitical statements, although politics was never far away.


Literary influences

Darwish was impressed by the Iraqi poets Abd al-Wahhab Al-Bayati and
Badr Shakir al-Sayyab Badr Shakir al Sayyab ( ar, بدر شاكر السياب) (December 24, 1926 in Jaykur, near Basra – December 24, 1964 in Kuwait) was a leading Iraqi poet, well known throughout the Arab world and one of the most influential Arab poets of all ti ...
.Peter Clark
"Mahmoud Darwish"
''The Guardian''. 11 August 2008.
He cited
Arthur Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he start ...
and
Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...
as literary influences. Darwish admired the Hebrew poet Yehuda Amichai, but described his poetry as a "challenge to me, because we write about the same place. He wants to use the landscape and history for his own benefit, based on my destroyed identity. So we have a competition: who is the owner of the language of this land? Who loves it more? Who writes it better?"


Political views towards Israel

Darwish is widely perceived as a Palestinian symbol and a spokesman for Arab opposition to Israel. He rejected accusations of antisemitism: "The accusation is that I hate Jews. It's not comfortable that they show me as a devil and an enemy of Israel. I am not a lover of Israel, of course. I have no reason to be. But I don't hate Jews." Darwish wrote in Arabic, and also spoke English, French, and
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
. According to the Israeli author
Haim Gouri Haim Gouri ( he, חיים גורי; Gurfinkel; 9 October 1923 – 31 January 2018) was an Israeli poet, novelist, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. Widely regarded as one of the country's greatest poets, he was awarded the Israel Prize f ...
, who knew him personally, Darwish's Hebrew was excellent.Hasen
''Haaretz''.
Four volumes of his poetry were translated into Hebrew by Muhammad Hamza Ghaneim: ''Bed of a Stranger'' (2000), ''Why Did You Leave the Horse Alone?'' (2000), ''State of Siege'' (2003), and ''Mural'' (2006). Salman Masalha, a bilingual Arabic-Hebrew writer, translated his book '' Memory for Forgetfulness'' into Hebrew. In March 2000, Yossi Sarid, the Israeli education minister, proposed that two of Darwish's poems be included in the Israeli high school curriculum. Prime Minister
Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Jan ...
rejected the proposal on the grounds that the time "is not ripe" to teach Darwish in schools. It has been suggested that the incident had more to do with internal Israeli politics in trying to damage Prime Minister
Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Jan ...
's government than with poetry. With the death of Darwish, the debate about including his poetry in the Israeli school curriculum was re-opened in 2008. "Although it is now technically possible for Jewish students to study Darwish, his writing is still banned from Arab schools. The curriculum used in Arab education is one agreed in 1981 by a committee whose sole Jewish member vetoed any works he thought might 'create an ill spirit'." Darwish described Hebrew as a "language of love." He considered himself to be part of the Jewish civilization that existed in Palestine and hoped for a reconciliation between the Palestinians and the Jews. When this happens, "the Jew will not be ashamed to find an Arab element in himself, and the Arab will not be ashamed to declare that he incorporates Jewish elements."


Political activism

Darwish was a member of Rakah, the
Israeli communist party The Israeli Communist Party, commonly known by its Hebrew acronym Maki (), is a communist political party in Israel and forms part of the political alliance known as Hadash. It was originally known as Rakah, an acronym for ''Reshima Komunistit ...
, before joining the Palestine Liberation Organization in Beirut. In 1970 he left for Moscow. Later, he moved to
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...
in 1971 where he worked for
al-Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' ( ar, الأهرام; ''The Pyramids''), founded on 5 August 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after '' al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majori ...
daily newspaper. In
Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, in 1973, he edited the monthly ''Shu'un Filistiniyya'' (''Palestinian Affairs'') and worked as a director in the Palestinian Research Center of the PLO and joined the organisation. In the wake of the Lebanon War, Darwish wrote the political poems ''Qasidat Beirut'' (1982) and ''Madih al-zill al'ali'' (1983). Darwish was elected to the
PLO Executive Committee The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO EC) ( ar, اللجنة التنفيذية لمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية) is the highest executive body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and act ...
in 1987. In 1988 he wrote a manifesto intended as the Palestinian people's declaration of independence. In 1993, after the
Oslo accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993;
, Darwish resigned from the
PLO Executive Committee The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO EC) ( ar, اللجنة التنفيذية لمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية) is the highest executive body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and act ...
.


Views on the peace process

Darwish consistently demanded a "tough and fair" stand in negotiations with Israel. Despite his criticism of both Israel and the Palestinian leadership, Darwish believed that peace was attainable. "I do not despair," he told the Israeli newspaper ''
Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...
''. "I am patient and am waiting for a profound revolution in the consciousness of the Israelis. The Arabs are ready to accept a strong Israel with nuclear arms – all it has to do is open the gates of its fortress and make peace."


1988 poem controversy

In 1988, one of his poems, "Passers Between the Passing Words," was cited in the
Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (wit ...
by
Yitzhak Shamir Yitzhak Shamir ( he, יצחק שמיר, ; born Yitzhak Yezernitsky; October 22, 1915 – June 30, 2012) was an Israeli politician and the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms, 1983–1984 and 1986–1992. Before the establishment ...
. Darwish was accused of demanding that the
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
s leave Israel, although he claimed he meant the
West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
and Gaza: "So leave our land/Our shore, our sea/Our wheat, our salt, our wound." Adel Usta, a specialist on Darwish's poetry, said the poem was misunderstood and mistranslated. Poet and translator
Ammiel Alcalay Ammiel Alcalay (born 1956) is an American poet, scholar, critic, translator, and prose stylist. Born and raised in Boston, he is a first-generation American, son of Sephardic Jews from Serbia. His work often examines how poetry and politics affe ...
wrote that "the hysterical overreaction to the poem simply serves as a remarkably accurate litmus test of the Israeli psyche ... (the poem) is an adamant refusal to accept the language of the occupation and the terms under which the land is defined."


Views on Hamas

In 2005, outdoor music and dance performances in
Qalqiliya Qalqilya or Qalqiliya ( ar, قلقيلية, Qalqīlyaḧ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank which serves as the administrative center of the Qalqilya Governorate of the State of Palestine. In the 2007 census, the city had a population of 41,73 ...
were suddenly banned by the
Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni- Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qas ...
-led municipality, with authorities saying that such events were forbidden by Islam. The municipality also prohibited the playing of music in the Qualqiliya zoo.Zvi Bar'el, "Afghanistan in Palestine"
''Haaretz'', 26 July 2005.
In response, Darwish warned that "There are
Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
-type elements in our society, and this is a very dangerous sign.""Palestinians Debate Whether Future State Will be Theocracy or Democracy," ''Associated Press'', 13 July 2005."Gaza Taliban?"
''The New Humanist'', 121 (1), January/February 2006.
In July 2007, Darwish returned to Ramallah and visited
Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
for a festive event held in his honor; it was sponsored by ''Masharaf'' magazine and the Israeli
Hadash Hadash ( he, חד״ש, lit=New), an acronym for ''HaHazit HaDemokratit LeShalom uLeShivion'' ( he, הַחֲזִית הַדֶּמוֹקְרָטִית לְשָׁלוֹם וּלְשִׁוְיוֹן, lit=The Democratic Front for Peace and Equalit ...
party. To a crowd of some 2,000 people who turned out for the event, he expressed his criticism of the
Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni- Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qas ...
takeover of the Gaza Strip: "We woke up from a coma to see a monocolored flag (of Hamas) do away with the four-color flag (of Palestine).""Famed Palestinian poet Mahmud Darwish dies: hospital"
. ''AFP''. 9 August 2008.


2016 poem controversy

In July 2016 a controversy erupted over the broadcasting of Darwish's poem "Bitaqat hawiyya" ("Identity Card") on Israeli radio station Galei Tzahal. Written in 1964, it includes the lines:
Write down:
I am an Arab
Robbed of my ancestors' vineyards
And of the land cultivated
By me and all my children.
Nothing is left for us and my grandchildren
Except these rocks...
Will your government take them too, as reported?
Therefore,
Write at the top of page one:
I do not hate people,
I do not assault anyone,
But...if I get hungry,
I eat the flesh of my usurper.
Beware...beware...of my hunger,
And of my anger.
This enraged Israel defence minister
Avigdor Lieberman Avigdor Lieberman (, ; russian: Эве́т Льво́вич Ли́берман, Evet Lvovich Liberman, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician serving as Minister of Finance since 2021, having previously served twice as Deputy ...
, who compared the poem to Hitler's ''Mein Kampf.''


Darwish's poems in music and film

Many of Darwish's poems were set to music by Arab composers, among them
Marcel Khalife Marcel Khalifé ( ar, مرسيل خليفة; born 10 June 1950 in Amchit) is a Palestinian- Lebanese musical composer, singer, and oud player. Biography In 1983, Paredon Records (later acquired by Smithsonian Folkways) released ''Promises ...
,
Reem Kelani Reem Kelani (born 1963) is a British Palestinian musician, born in Manchester, England. Initially influenced by the jazz music her father played on his record player, her interest in Palestinian music was sparked by the music at a family wedd ...
,
Majida El Roumi Majida El Roumi Baradhy ( ar, ماجدة الرومي برادعي; born 13 December 1956) is a Lebanese soprano singer and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. Early life Majida El Roumi Al Baradhy was born on 13 December 1956 in Kfarshi ...
and Ahmad Qa'abour.''Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet, is dead''
, ''New York Times'', 10 August 2008.
The most notable are "Rita and the Rifle," "I lost a beautiful dream," "Birds of Galilee" and "I Yearn for my Mother's Bread." They have become anthems for at least two generations of Arabs. In the 1980s, Sabreen, a Palestinian music group in Israel, recorded an album including versions of Darwish's poems "On Man" and "On Wishes." The composer Marcel Khalife was accused of blasphemy and insulting religious values, because of his song entitled "I am Yusuf, oh my father," which he based on Darwish's lyrics, and which cited a verse from the
Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...
. In this poem, Darwish shared the pain of ''Yusuf'' (
Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...
), who was rejected by his brothers and fear him, because he is too handsome and kind. "Oh my father, I am Yusuf / Oh father, my brothers neither love me nor want me in their midst." Darwish presents the story of Joseph as an allegory for the rejection of the Palestinians by the Israelis. Tamar Muskal, an Israeli-American composer, incorporated Darwish's "I Am From There" into her composition "The Yellow Wind," which combines a full orchestra, Arabic flute, Arabic and Israeli poetry, and themes from
David Grossman David Grossman ( he, דויד גרוסמן; born January 25, 1954) is an Israeli author. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages. In 2018, he was awarded the Israel Prize for literature. Biography David Grossman was born i ...
's book ''The Yellow Wind.'' In 2002, Swiss composer
Klaus Huber Klaus Huber (30 November 1924 – 2 October 2017) was a Swiss composer and academic based in Basel and Freiburg. Among his students were Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Jarrell, Younghi Pagh-Paan, Toshio Hosokawa, Wolfgang Rihm, and Kaija Saariaho ...
completed a large work entitled "Die Seele muss vom Reittier steigen...", a
chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small nu ...
concerto for cello, baritone and countertenor that incorporates Darwish's "The Soul Must Descend from its Mount and Walk on its Silken Feet." In 2008,
Mohammed Fairouz Mohammed Fairouz (born November 1, 1985) is an American composer. He is one of the most frequently performed composers of his generation and has been described by Daniel J. Wakin of ''The New York Times'' as an "important new artistic voice". Fa ...
set selections from ''State of Siege'' to music. In his third symphony ''
Poems and Prayers ''Poems and Prayers'' is Mohammed Fairouz's third symphony. It sets texts in Arabic, Aramaic and Hebrew for choir, solo voices and orchestra and explores the Arab-Israeli Conflict. The symphony was commissioned by the Middle East Center for Peac ...
'' of 2012, in addition to the lyrics of Mahmoud Darwish, poems by the Arab poet
Fadwa Touqan Fadwa Tuqan ( ar, فدوى طوقان, also transliterated as ''Fadwa Tuqan'', es, Fadwa Tuqan, french: Fadwa Touquan and Fadwa Tuqan; 1917 – 12 December 2003), was a Palestinian poet known for her representations of resistance to Israeli occu ...
and the Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai are sounded.Moore, Thomas (September 12, 2010)
Mohammed Fairouz: An Interview
''Opera Today'', retrieved 19 April 2011.
In 2011, the Syrian composer Hassan Taha created the musical play "The Dice Player", based on the poems and lyrics of Mahmoud Darwish. Their premiere took place at the experimental Center for Contemporary Music Gare du Nord in Basel, Switzerland. Inspired by the attempted suppression of Khalife's composition "I am Yusuf, oh my father," the Norwegian singer-songwriter
Moddi Pål Moddi Knutsen (born 18 February 1987 in Senja), known by the artist name Moddi, is a Norwegian musician, author and activist, whose contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest or social justice. Background Pål Knutsen grew up ...
composed a fresh melody to the poem. The song is titled "Oh my father, I am Joseph," from his 2015 album ''
Unsongs Pål Moddi Knutsen (born 18 February 1987 in Senja), known by the artist name Moddi, is a Norwegian musician, author and activist, whose contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest or social justice. Background Pål Knutsen grew up ...
''. In 2017, British musician
Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-s ...
set to music an English translation of Darwish's "Lesson From the Kama Sutra (Wait for Her)" on his album '' Is This the Life We Really Want?'' in a song titled "
Wait for Her Wait or WAIT may refer to: Music * Wait (musician), British town pipers Albums and EPs * ''Wait'' (The Polyphonic Spree EP), by The Polyphonic Spree * ''Wait'' (Emanuel Nice EP), a 2002 EP released by the band Emanuel Nice * ''Wait'' (Stee ...
."


Representation in other media

In 1997, a documentary entitled ''Mahmoud Darwish'' was produced by French TV, directed by French-Moroccan director Simone Bitton. Darwish appeared as himself in
Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...
's ''
Notre Musique ''Notre musique'' ( English: ''Our Music'') is a 2004 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. The film reflects on violence, morality, and the representation of violence in film, and touches especially on past colonialism and the current Israeli–Pal ...
'' (2004). In 2008 Darwish starred in the five-screen film '' id – Identity of the Soul'' from Arts Alliance Productions, in which he narrates his poem "A Soldier Dreams of White Lilies" along with
Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...
's poem "
Terje Vigen ''Terje Vigen'' is a poem written by Henrik Ibsen, published in 1862. Much of the story and setting is from the area around the town of Grimstad in southern Norway where Ibsen lived for a few years in his youth. It describes the dramatic saga of ...
." ''Id'' was his final performance. It premiered in Palestine in October 2008, with audiences of tens of thousands. In 2010, the film was continuing an international screening tour. In 2009 Egin, a patchanka band from Italy, published a song setting the poem "Identity Card" to music. In 2016, his poem "We Were Without a Present" served as the basis for the central song, "Ya Reit" by Palestinian rapper
Tamer Nafar Tamer Nafar ( ar, تامر النفار, he, תאמר נפאר; born June 6, 1979) is an Israeli rapper, actor, screenwriter and social activist who identifies as Palestinian. He is the leader and a founding member of DAM, the first Palestinia ...
in the film "Junction 48". Additionally, one of his poems was read as part of Nafar's speech during the
Ophir Awards The Ophir Awards ( he, פרס אופיר), colloquially known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. The award, named ...
. In 2017, his poem "Think of Others" was set to music by a South African artist and 11-year old Palestinian youth activist, Janna Jihad Ayyad.


Awards

* Lotus Prize for Literature (1969; from the Afro-Asian Writers' Association) * Lenin Peace Prize (1983; from the USSR) * The
Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is t ...
(1993; from France) * The Lannan Foundation Prize for Cultural Freedom (2001) *
Al Owais Award The Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Awards (or Al Owais Awards; ar, جائزة سلطان بن علي العويس) are a biannual prize for literary and cultural achievement in the Arab world.Prince Claus Awards The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Fund has presented the international Prince Claus Awards annually s ...
(2004) * "Bosnian stećak" (2007) * Golden Wreath of Struga Poetry Evenings (2007) * The International Forum for Arabic Poetry prize (2007) * The Argana International Poetry Prize (2008; from
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...
)


Death

Mahmoud Darwish died on 9 August 2008 at the age of 67, three days after heart surgery at
Memorial Hermann Hospital A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...
in
Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
. Before surgery, Darwish had signed a document asking not to be resuscitated in the event of brain death. According to
Ibrahim Muhawi Ibrahim Muhawi (born 1937, ar, إبراهيم مهوي) is a Palestinian academic and writer, specializing in Palestinian and Arabic literature, folklore and translation. He is a member of the Palestinian diaspora.Ibrahim Muhawi,’Translation and ...
, the poet, though suffering from serious heart problems, did not require urgent surgery, and the day set for the operation bore a symbolic resonance. In his ''Memory for Forgetfulness,'' Darwish centered the narrative of Israel's invasion of Lebanon and 88-day siege of Beirut on 6 August 1982, which was the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. A new bomb had been deployed, which could collapse and level a 12-storey building by creating a vacuum. Darwish wrote: "On this day, on the anniversary of the Hiroshima bomb, they are trying out the vacuum bomb on our flesh and the experiment is successful." By his choice of that day for surgery, Muwahi suggests, Darwish was documenting: "the nothingness he saw laying ahead for the Palestinian people." Early reports of his death in the Arabic press indicated that Darwish had asked in his will to be buried in Palestine. Three locations were originally suggested; his home village of al-Birwa, the neighboring village Jadeida, where some of Darwish's family still resides, or in the West Bank city of
Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerus ...
. Ramallah Mayor Janet Mikhail announced later that Darwish would be buried next to Ramallah's Palace of Culture, at the summit of a hill overlooking
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
on the southwestern outskirts of Ramallah, and a shrine would be erected in his honor. Ahmed Darwish said "Mahmoud doesn't just belong to a family or a town, but to all the Palestinians, and he should be buried in a place, where all Palestinians can come and visit him.""PA may request Galilee burial for poet"
. ''Associated Press'' via ''JPost'', 10 August 2008.
Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Nati ...
declared three days of mourning to honor Darwish and he was accorded the equivalent of a State funeral.Zvi Bar'el, "Palestinians: Mahmoud Darwish to be laid to rest in Israel", ''Ha'aretz''
10 August 2008.
A set of four postage stamps commemorating Darwish was issued in August 2008 by the PA. Arrangements for flying the body in from Texas delayed the funeral for a day. Darwish's body was then flown from
Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 as of 2021, Amman is ...
,
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
for the burial in Ramallah. The first
eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or as ...
was delivered by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to an orderly gathering of thousands. Several left-wing Knesset members attended the official ceremony; Mohammed Barakeh (
Hadash Hadash ( he, חד״ש, lit=New), an acronym for ''HaHazit HaDemokratit LeShalom uLeShivion'' ( he, הַחֲזִית הַדֶּמוֹקְרָטִית לְשָׁלוֹם וּלְשִׁוְיוֹן, lit=The Democratic Front for Peace and Equalit ...
) and Ahmed Tibi ( United Arab List- Ta'al) stood with the family, and
Dov Khenin Dov Boris Khenin ( he, דב חנין; born 10 January 1958) is an Israeli politician, political scientist and lawyer who served in the Knesset as a member of the Joint List. He was a member of the central committee of Maki (the Israeli Communis ...
(Hadash) and
Jamal Zahalka Dr Jamal Zahalka ( ar, جمال زحالقة, he, ג'מאל זחאלקה; born 11 January 1955) is an Israeli Arab politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Balad between 2003 and 2019, and was leader of the party between 2007 and 20 ...
( Balad) were in the hall at the
Mukataa :''See ''Muqata'ah'' for the Ottoman instrument for financing state expenses. '' :''This article deals mainly with the Mukataa of Ramallah.'' Mukataʿa ( ar, المقاطعة al-muqāṭaʿah) is an Arabic word for headquarters or administrative ...
. Also present was the former French prime minister and poet
Dominique de Villepin Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac. In his career working at the Ministry ...
. After the ceremony, Darwish's coffin was taken in a cortege at walking pace from the Mukataa to the Palace of Culture, gathering thousands of followers along the way. On 5 October 2008, the
International Literature Festival Berlin The Berlin International Literature Festival (german: internationales literaturfestival berlin) or ''ilb'' is an annual event based in Berlin. Every September, the festival presents contemporary poetry, prose, nonfiction, graphic novels and int ...
held a worldwide reading in memory of Mahmoud Darwish.


Legacy

The Mahmoud Darwish Foundation was established on 4 October 2008 as a Palestinian non-profit foundation that "seeks to safeguard Mahmoud Darwish's cultural, literary and intellectual legacy." The foundation administers the annual "Mahmoud Darwish Award for Creativity" granted to intellectuals from Palestine and elsewhere. The inaugural winner of the prize, in 2010, was Egyptian novelist
Ahdaf Soueif Ahdaf Soueif ( ar, أهداف سويف; born 23 March 1950) is an Egyptian novelist and political and cultural commentator. Early life Soueif was born in Cairo, where she lives, and was educated in Egypt and England. She studied for a PhD in lin ...
.


Published works


Poetry

* ''Asafir bila ajniha'' (''Wingless birds''), 1960 * ''Awraq Al-Zaytun'' (''Leaves of olives''), 1964 * ''Bitaqat huwiyya'' (''Identity Card''), 1964 * Asheeq min filasteen'' (''A lover from Palestine''), 1966 * ''Akhir al-layl'' (''The end of the night''), 1967 * ''Yawmiyyat jurh filastini'' (''Diary of a Palestinian wound''), 1969 * ''Habibati tanhad min nawmiha'' (''My beloved awakens''), 1969 * ''al-Kitabah 'ala dhaw'e al-bonduqiyah'' (''Writing in the light of the gun''), 1970 * ''al-'Asafir tamut fi al-jalil'' (''Birds are Dying in Galilee''), 1970 * ''Mahmoud Darwish works'', 1971. Two volumes * ''Mattar na'em fi kharif ba'eed'' (''Light rain in a distant autumn'') 1971 * ''Uhibbuki aw la uhibbuki'' (''I love you, I love you not''), 1972 * ''Jondiyyun yahlum bi-al-zanabiq al-baidaa (''A soldier dreaming of white lilies''), 1973 * ''Complete Works'', 1973. Now ''al-A'amal al-jadida'' (2004) and ''al-A'amal al-oula'' (2005). * ''Muhawalah raqm 7'' (''Attempt number 7''), 1974 * ''Tilka suratuha wa-hadha intihar al-ashiq'' (''That's her image, and that's the suicide of her lover''), 1975 * ''Ahmad al-za'tar'', 1976 * ''A'ras'' (''Weddings''), 1977 * ''al-Nasheed al-jasadi'' (''The bodily anthem''), 1980. Joint work * ''The Music of Human Flesh'', Heinemann 1980, Poems of the Palestinian struggle selected and translated by
Denys Johnson-Davies Denys Johnson-Davies (Arabic: دنيس جونسون ديڤيز) (also known as Abdul Wadud) was an eminent Arabic-to-English literary translator who translated, ''inter alia,'' several works by Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz, Su ...
* ''Qasidat Bayrut'' (''Ode to Beirut''), 1982 * ''Madih al-zill al-'ali'' (''A eulogy for the tall shadow''), 1983 * ''Hissar li-mada'eh al-bahr'' (''A siege for the sea eulogies''), 1984 * ''Victims of a Map'', 1984. Joint work with Samih al-Qasim and
Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis, ; derived from the Canaanite word ''ʼadōn'', meaning "lord". R. S. P. Beekes, ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 23. was the mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite. One day, Adonis was gored by ...
in English. * ''Sand and Other Poems'', 1986 * ''Hiya ughniyah, hiya ughniyah'' (''It's a song, it's a song''), 1985 * ''Ward aqall'' (''Fewer roses''), 1985 * ''Ma'asat al-narjis, malhat al-fidda'' (''Tragedy of daffodils, comedy of silver''), 1989 * ''Ara ma oreed'' (''I see what I want''), 1990 * ''Ahad 'asher kaukaban'' (''Eleven planets''), 1992 * ''Limadha tarakt al-hissan wahidan'' (''Why Did You Leave the Horse Alone?''), 1995. English translation 2006 by Jeffrey Sacks (
Archipelago Books Archipelago Books is an American not-for-profit publisher dedicated to promoting cross-cultural exchange through international literature in translation." Located in Brooklyn, New York, it publishes small to mid-size runs of international ficti ...
) () * ''Psalms'', 1995. A selection from ''Uhibbuki aw la uhibbuki'', translation by Ben Bennani * ''Sareer al-ghariba'' (''Bed of a stranger''), 1998 * ''Then Palestine'', 1999 (with Larry Towell, photographer, and Rene Backmann) * ''Jidariyya'' (''Mural''), 2000 * ''The Adam of Two Edens: Selected Poems'', 2000 (Syracuse University Press and Jusoor) (edited by Munir Akash and Carolyn Forche) * ''Halat Hissar'' (''State of siege''), 2002 * ''La ta'tazer 'amma fa'alta'' (''Don't apologize for what you did''), 2004 * ''Unfortunately, It Was Paradise: Selected Poems'', 2003. Translations by Munir Akash, Caroyln Forché and others * ''al-A'amal al-jadida'' (''The new works''), 2004. A selection of Darwish's recent works * ''al-A'amal al-oula'' (''The early works''), 2005. Three volumes, a selection of Darwish's early works * ''Ka-zahr el-lawz aw ab'ad'' (''almond blossoms and beyond''), 2005 * ''The Butterfly's Burden'', 2007 (
Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both ...
) (translation by Fady Joudah)


Prose

* ''Shai'on 'an al-wattan'' (''Something about the homeland''), 1971 * ''Youmiat muwaten bala watan'' (''Diary of a Citizen without a Country''), 1971, translated as
The Palestinian Chalk Circle
' * ''Wada'an ayatuha al-harb, wada'an ayuha al-salaam'' (''Farewell, war, farewell, peace''), 1974 * ''Yawmiyyat al-hozn al-'aadi'' (''Diary of the usual sadness''), 1973 (Turkish translation, 2009 by Hakan Özkan) * ''Dhakirah li-al-nisyan'' ('' Memory for Forgetfulness''), 1987. English translation 1995 by Ibrahim Muhawi * ''Fi wasf halatina'' (''Describing our condition''), 1987 * ''al-Rasa'il'' (''The Letters''), 1990. Joint work with Samih al-Qasim * ''Aabiroon fi kalamen 'aaber'' (''Bypassers in bypassing words''), 1991 * ''Fi hadrat al-ghiyab'' (''In the presence of absence''), 2006 * ''Athar alfarasha'' (''A River Dies of Thirst: journals''), 2009 (
Archipelago Books Archipelago Books is an American not-for-profit publisher dedicated to promoting cross-cultural exchange through international literature in translation." Located in Brooklyn, New York, it publishes small to mid-size runs of international ficti ...
) (translated by Catherine Cobham)


Reviews

* Miller, Kevin (1975), review of ''Selected Poems'', in ''Calgacus'' 1, Winter 1975, p. 59,


See also

* Palestinian literature *
Arabic poetry Arabic poetry ( ar, الشعر العربي ''ash-shi‘ru al-‘Arabīyyu'') is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that. Arabic poetry ...
* Abd al-Karim al-Karmi


References


Further reading

*


External links

*
Mahmoud Darwish
at Poetry Foundation *
Essay on Mahmound Darwish at Thought Catalog
* * Hour-long radio program fro
Voices of the Middle East
*
Darwish poems
* *
Five Darwish poems at Poemhunter.com
* *
Poem by Darwish at the ''Virginia Quarterly Review''
* * ''In Jerusalem'' * ''I Belong There''

another translation of ''I belong there'' * Mahmoud Darwish -Abiroun * Oh My Father, I am Yusif

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darwish, Mahmoud 1941 births 2008 deaths 21st-century Palestinian poets Palestinian communists Palestinian Muslims Lenin Peace Prize recipients Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath laureates Palestinian non-fiction writers Palestinian refugees 20th-century Palestinian poets 20th-century non-fiction writers Members of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization