Mahmoud Darwish 1941-2008 محمود درويش في ذمة الله

I just read the sad news that the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish passed away yesterday, may Allah have mercy on his soul.

The video below is of Marcel Khalife singing one of his most beautiful and poignant poems: "My Mother", the translation of the poem/lyrics is below the video.

أحنّ إلى خبز أمي
و قهوة أمي
و لمسة أمي
و تكبر في الطفولة
يوما على صدر يوم
و أعشق عمري لأني
إذا متّ،
أخجل من دمع أمي!
خذيني ،إذا عدت يوما
وشاحا لهدبك
و غطّي عظامي بعشب
تعمّد من طهر كعبك
و شدّي وثاقي..
بخصلة شعر
بخيط يلوّح في ذيل ثوبك..
عساي أصير ***
*** أصير..
إذا ما لمست قرارة قلبك!
ضعيني، إذا ما رجعت
وقودا بتنور نارك..
وحبل غسيل على سطح دارك
لأني فقدت الوقوف
بدون صلاة نهارك
هرمت ،فردّي نجوم الطفولة
حتى أشارك
صغار العصافير
درب الرجوع..
لعشّ انتظارك

My Mother

I long for my mother's bread
My mother's coffee
Her touch
Childhood memories grow up in me
Day after day
I must be worth my life
At the hour of my death
Worth the tears of my mother.

And if I come back one day
Take me as a veil to your eyelashes
Cover my bones with the grass
Blessed by your footsteps
Bind us together
With a lock of your hair
With a thread that trails from the back of your dress
I might become immortal
Become immortal I will
If I touch the depths of your heart.

If I come back
Use me as wood to feed your fire
As the clothesline on the roof of your house
Without your blessing
I am too weak to stand.

I am old
Give me back the star maps of childhood
So that I
Along with the swallows
Can chart the path
Back to your waiting nest.

Spring Morning

Hi all, I hope you are well.
I had to include the following poem in my blog, I remember first reading this as a child and I loved it ever since. Can any one guess who wrote it? A clue, the person who wrote this poem also created a very well known, and much loved character. Enjoy!

Spring Morning

Where am I going? I don't quite know.
Down to the stream where the king-cups grow-
Up on the hill where the pine-trees blow-
Anywhere, anywhere. I don't know.

Where am I going? The clouds sail by,
Little ones, baby ones, over the sky.
Where am I going? The shadows pass,
Little ones, baby ones, over the grass.

If you were a cloud, and sailed up there,
You'd sail on water as blue as air,
And you'd see me here in the fields and say:
"Doesn't the sky look green today?"

Where am I going? The high rooks call:
"It's awful fun to be born at all."
Where am I going? The ring-doves coo:
"We do have beautiful things to do."

If you were a bird, and lived on high,
You'd lean on the wind when the wind came by,
You'd say to the wind when it took you away:
"That's where I wanted to go today!"

Where am I going? I don't quite know.
What does it matter where people go?
Down to the wood where the blue-bells grow-
Anywhere, anywhere. I don't know.

Music and Poetry: The Pigeons Fly

A beautiful song, performed live by Marcel Khalife. The words are by Mahmoud Darwish, the famous Palestinian poet. I've posted a snippet of the lyrics both in Arabic and English, if any one wants, I can post the link for the full Arabic poem. (Please right click on image and open link/image in new window, to enlarge and listen to the music while reading).