Palestinian Dreams

  

 

Zeinab Habash

Poetry

2005

 


 

Dedication

To All those

Who dream to Achieve

Justice,

Freedom,

Peace and happiness

To all humans

 

 

 

 

 

The Thorny Road

 

In our thorny road,

Dynamite bombs are planted,

Wheat stalks are burnt,

Only hunger,

Resists, struggles,

And is still the defender.

 

 

Poems of Rebels

Whenever I recite

The poems of rebels,

I lose consciousness.

I become a bomb,

That shouts in the face

Of this cruel world.

 

Whenever I recite

The poems of rebels,

I become a bomb,

That changes

The roles of people

In this strange world.

 

 

Last Letter

I need only one letter

To finish my poem.

This appeal has been responded

By an eternal cascade,

Of innocent blood.

 

For the Sake of Your Eyes

You've always been

My charming song,

My great extacy.

You've been more beautiful,

More precious,

And more desired,

Than eternal Paradise.

Yet,

You've become a thousand times

More beautiful,

More precious,

And more desired,

You've become so,

Just when they,

For the sake of your eyes,

Pulled off my eyes.

 

 

More Lovely

It's more lovely for me,

To be in jail in Haifa,

Suffering cruelness and torture,

Than living in a castle on a green hill,

Far away

From the sand of my beloved country.

 

 

Palestinian Mothers

Who but you,

Great Palestinian mother,

Is able to make the history,

Of  this sacred land?

 

 

Deformed Portrait

O my beautiful portrait!

In you,

I had a lake of dreams and great expectations.

From you,

I listened to a thousand jungles of   symphonies.

With you,

I lived a long love story.

But

Since they deformed you

With bloodshed,

With hostile,

And with condemned sadism,

They not only wounded my heart,

But also

Crucified me on the same tree,

Besides Christ.

 

 

Optimism

O beloved country!

I still sing charming songs,

In spite of  occupation.

I still have winged dreams,

In spite of beeing in jail.

I still have bunches of joys,

In spite of melancholy.

I'm still alive,

In spite of surrounding death

And despite of all,

I still see

Peace and freedom,

In the eyes of children.

 

 

Our Daily Talks

Memories and longings

Are no more

Our daily talks.

Perfume,

Coiffeur,

Passionate songs and silky clothes,

Are no more our daily talks.

The dreams of victory,

The songs of freedom,

The flags of peace,

The perfume of happiness,

And the glorious return to our country,

Have all become our daily talks.

 

 

Drinks of Victory

Niruda!

Shout with me.

Shout with me.

You!

Poet of freedom.

Blood is flowing

In ancient streets.

Blood is filling

Cups of wine.

Blood is being drunk by the oppressors,

Who have achieved victory,

Against children.

 

 

The Star and the Rose

The star asked the rose:

Where have you come from?

The rose answered:

From the heart of clouds.

The rose asked the star:

Where have you come from?

The star answered:

From the heart of earth.

 

 

A Family Dialogue

Why do they want my head?

Why?

Because, in your head,

My lovely child,

There are precious jewels that amaze them.

Why do they want to pull off my eyes?

Because, in your eyes,

My darling

Birds have built their warm nests.

Why do they prevent me from singing?

Because foxes hate songs,

And fear the roaring of lions.

Why have I been born

Without an identity?

To carry,

My lovely child,

The sorrows of this world.

To achieve,

My lovely child,

The dreams of this world.

 

 

Palestinian Children

Death

Reaps the flowers

Of almond trees.

Yet, in Palestine,

Trees give us fruit

Before flowers.

 

 

The Oppressed, the Oppressor

In my country,

Delicate stars

Burn the mighty sun,

At midday.

Young birds,

Tell stories of glory,

To dangerous serpents.

Wheatstalks,

Take off their green

And yellow garments,

To participate in struggle.

In my country,

The appressed have become

The oppressor.

 

 

Daily News

Daily news are pregnant.

They spit voming,

In the face of truth.

 

Every minute they become pregnant.

Every minute they enduce abortion.

And the drizzle of voming,

Blunts eyes

From perceiving the truth.

 

 

Disloyalty

Our days are deceptive,

Treacherous.

Laugh at  our faces.

Frown at our faces.

Carry

The changeable colours,

Of disloyalty.

 

 

History That Drinks Blood

(To Ahmad Dahdool)

 

Ahmad hasn't been well known,

Except to his intiment friends.

But,

After being martyred,

Ahmad has become  a history,

Irrigated with blood.

 

 

Tiny Fingers

I read what tiny fingers dig,

In the forehead of shame.

I read what tiny fingers draw,

In the eyes of daylight.

 

 

The Song of the Nightingale

(To Mahmoud  Alkurd)

 

The nightingale sang his

Charming song,

In the warm nest,

Then flew into the heart

Of endless sky.

Yet

In a trice,

He became a glittering star,

That spread light

Over the whole world.

 

 

 

The Frame of Palestinian Issue

The Sun has collapsed into the arms of dawn,

When my shivering neck

Dropped,

Under the hanging rope.

 

The Stars crept close to me,

And wept mutely,

On the cheeks of night.

 

Dear fellow!

Tear off the gown of the torturing tattoo.

Between eyelashes and eyes,

Only false lakes are there.

 

Fellow!

Be not so sad,

I'm not the first victim,

And I shall never be the last.

My neck became a cloud,

My eyelashes a jungle,

So, my dear fellow,

Carry not melancholy in your heart.

 

Fellow!

Keep chanting your lovely songs,

To help me bear my death.

For I'm not the issue,

I'm the frame of the Palestinian issue.

 

 

You'll Never Resist the Sunshine

My heart leaves me and lives with you,

My country children, boys and girls.

Who are captured in the enemy's jails

Shouting and resisting,

In the rooms of torture:

 

You!

Ugly wolves

You'll never frighten us

Of torture.

You'll never frighten us

Of death.

 

A part of the brown generous soil,

We are.

A part of the wild flowers on our proud mountains,

We are.

A rich fountain of love and songs,

We are.

So, continue your ugly affliction.

Yet,

You can never pull off sand from our country.

You can never steel fragrant from flowers.

You can never prevent charming songs of breeze.

You can never deport mountains.

You can never arrest beauty.

You can never hang fountains.

And you'll never resist the sunshine.

You'll never resist the sunshine.

 

 

 

I Dream and Dream

Not of castles or silky clothes,

Not of gold or precious jewelry,

Not of travelling round the world,

 I dream.

 

I only dream,

Of wandering

 Inside my own garden,

Of watching young children

 Play and laugh,

Of drinking coffee

 In my open balcony.

 

I only dream,

Of watching my mother's happiness

 Jump off her eyes,

Of seeing my far away

 Brothers, sisters, and their children,

 Running joyfully into her arms.

 

I only dream,

Of walking in our beautiful street,

Without being afraid

 Of the soldiers' patrols,

That intend to kill those who walk.

 

I only dream,

Of driving my car

 Into the streets of Ramallah,

Without being stopped by soldiers,

Who've announced the street

 A military area.

 

I only dream,

Of sleeping calmly

 In my night chamber,

Without being disturbed

 By weaponed civil men,

Who invade houses at midnight.

 

I dream and dream

Of freedom and justice,

Of peace and happiness,

Not only to me and to my people,

But, also, to every human being,

On this great world.

 

 

The Root of the Tree

The boughs of the Arab tree,

Multiply to a large extent.

The tempest blows them away,

But, all the boughs,

However they are separated,

Still drink,

From the same root.

 

 

Why and How?

Why do I love you?

 

Has earth been asked,

Why it loves trees?

Have songs been asked,

Why they dance on the tunes of music?

Have lovers been asked,

Why they are vigilant?

Has the sun been asked,

Why it decorates the eyes of the moon

 With light?

 

How do I love you?

 

I love you,

As a brook of longing

Gathering the dust of deserts,

And making them a cascade of life's thirst.

I love you,

As the dewy dawn,

As the fragrant of jasmine.

 

I love you as I love you.

 

Why I love you?

I'm tired my darling, I'm tired.

I love you the same as a fida’i

 Loves his land.

 

Will you ask again

 Why and how I love you?

 

 

Between You and Me

Between you and me,

Ah! My darling

Is it war?

Is it loss?

Is it a new catastrophy?

But

We might die before war dies!

And before loss and catastrophy disappear!

 

Between you and me,

Ah! My beloved

There are piles of occupation agony,

 And military orders,

Against both of us:

 

A home arrest for me,

And an eternal exile for you.

 

 

The path of Life way

I know well that age is short,

And that the path of lifeway is long.

Yet

To live that  age,

And to walk that long path of lifeway,

One has to dig a dagger of love

Into his own heart!

 

 

The New nationality

I only need a pen and a gun.

 

With my pen,

Explode dynamite and atom bombs.

 

With my gun,

Draw happy dreams,

Decorate green fields,

Scatter laughs,

Scratch wars,

And make a law of peace and love.

 

With my gun,

Cancel boundaries,

And offer all human beings,

A new dinamic nationality,

That allows all of them

To go round the world,

With no identity.

 

 

The Minarate

I've read the history of all nations.

Yet, I've never found,

In books of history and civilization,

Any people,

Who built a minarate to their country,

Of their own flesh and blood,

The same

As we, Palestinians, did

 

 

The Candles

Inside my heart,

Ellumed a stream of million candles.

But

When a tear of sadness

Had dropped from my eye,

Light collapsed,

And death slept calmly,

On the pellow of my melancholy.

 

 

My Dreams

Since the birth of Christ,

I dreamt of joy,

That has never come.

Since I became the martyred,

I drew my dreams,

On tears and rainbows.

 

 

Ask Them

Ask them

Does light vanish

From the eyes of the moon,

If they are being closed?

 

Ask them

Does the bird stop singing,

If his beak is being closed?

 

 

Palestinian Dreams

As fate and destiny cling into each other,

As the brown soil melts when kissing rain,

As the blond star disappears

 When the  moon laughs,

I melt into you,

I disappear in your charming eyes.

I become a vein in your great heart,

My country.

 

You!

The musical song of heaven,

That makes birds dance,

Trees joyful,

Children run happily

Into the fields of almond and olive trees,

That makes loving eyes,

Whisper warmly to each other.

 

O country!

I wish you were a beautiful nest,

That attracts every migrant nightingale,

Of your original birds.

 

I wish I were a red rose,

That covers the way of returners

With hope and love,

 

I wish I were a green wheatstalk,

A drop of water,

A grasp of soil.

I wish you were my everlasting homeland.

 

I dream I were a matchstick,

That kisses every proud candle,

That sings for the rebirth of a new world,

That embraces clouds,

And covers the soil with grass.

 

I dream I were a butterfly,

That decorates fields,

Laughs to light,

Kisses flowers day and night,

Smiles to children,

And draws history for new generations.

 

I dream that the globe of earth,

Were a public song.

Chanted by all humans, young and old,

During the journey of life,

At wedding parties,

At harvest seasons,

At beauty festivals and glorious feasts.

 

O country!

I wish you were

 The heavenly message of God to earth,

To every human being,

To every life on this wide world.

Thus, darkness will drown into darkness,

The Moon will become happy,

And children will play joyfully

On the fields of almond and olive trees,

While charming eyes

Will smile widely to loving eyes.

 

 

 

I Saw Him Yesterday,

I Saw Him Tomorrow

 

 

I saw him yesterday,

Swimming in the lake of thinking,

Wading into the deep caves of sorrow,

Chasing blackbirds,

Struggling against destiny,

Disappearing in the land of insanity,

Wandering in the darkness,

And carrying in his eyes

Deep hatred to human beings.

Yet,

I saw him grasping a torch

Of hope and dreams.

I saw him conquering death

 And defeating destiny.

 

I saw him tomorrow,

Embracing horizon,

Playing with stars,

Kissing clouds,

And shaking hands with fate.

I saw him an angel,

A bee,

A smile,

A rose,

A kiss.

I saw him a forest of wild flowers,

An oasis of joy and tenderness.

I saw him there,

Paving our way with peace and justice,

Cutting fences and destroying boundaries.

I saw him climbing up

 The summit of the holy rock,

And with a charming smile,

Raising the flag,

 Raising the flag,

 Raising the flag.

 

 

Death In The Lab of Land

Alone I waked,

Holding love in my heart,

Carrying sadness in my sleepy eyes,

My deep wounds bleeding.

Nails of severe coldness being digged

 Into my bones.

For the mornings of Gaza are chilling.

Hunger and darkness have made of me,

A murdered,

Wearing the uniform of a murderer.

 

Alone I walked,

Embracing the childish dreams

 Of my seven kids.

Meditating of the warmth

 Of their innocence.

With nothing to own,

Except thirsty eyes for the sunrise

 Of my beloved Yaffa.

Except sweet memories

 That irrigated my land

With love, dreams and deep longing.

Except the smiles of birds

 That before dawn,

Have escaped from their cages,

And covered the horizon,

Which has been drowned

 In the lake of death.

 

Alone I walked

In one hand, some bread,

 Olives and cactus.

In the other, love, patience

 And hesitation.

I walked into chains of massacres

 And bloodshed.

I walked from Deir Yassin

 And Qufr Qassem.

From the hill of sculps at Tall El-Za’tar.

From Sabra and Shatella

Where death has invaded festivals.

To a new and horrible one,

Where a soldier has transformed

 Into a devil,

And smashed herbs and dewy flowers.

 

O You Qufr Qassem!

Tell me, for the sake of God!

How does death look like in the lab of land?

How does time collapse?

How do heart beatings

 Become gunfires of nothing?

How does life become a nightmare?

A horror?

 

Tell me Qufr Qassem

What makes my dreams small?

What makes the dreams of birds great?

What makes the bloodshed

  Of my heart, at daylight, legal?

What?

If not the absence of justice

 In this crazy world!

 

My eyes scrambled

 Over the waves of an unseen ocean.

Suddenly,

My eyesight returned to me.

I saw a young brown child,

 At the age of flowers,

I saw her cut the vigorous waves,

 With her tiny arms.

Immediately

The ocean has changed into a forest.

The fainted moon has been carried

 Into the arms of a cloud.

I almost died of thirst

Yet, in a glance

She jumped from the heart of rain

Carrying in one hand a glass of water

In the other, a stone.

 

 

The City of Dreams

(At the Med. Festival)

7.9.2000

 

 

 

Bisceglie

The City of dreams

The song of waves

The bird of joys

And the rose of ancient love

 

Bisceglie

The innocent girl

That sleeps calmly

In the arms of the Mediterranean festival

The holy saint

That prays in children's smiles

 

Bisceglie

The loving mother

Who gave birth

To all these kind people

Whom I loved very much

And loved their charming smiles

Into which my eyes had drowned

 

When I returned to Ramallah

I found you in my bags

When I looked in the mirror

I saw you on my cheeks

 

When I walked in the streets

You were walking by my side

And when I put my head on my pillow

I was putting it into your warm lap

 

Bisceglie

Who has ornamented my heart

With you?

Who has changed you into a lovely tune

That irrigates my dreams?

And who has changed your wonderful people

Into intimate friends and relatives

That fill my garden?

 

Bisceglie

I found in you real security,

Which I had never known

Freedom, which I was deprived from

Peace, which I still dream of

And love,

 Which all Palestinians are thirsty for

I saw simplicity, which surpasses all beauty

 

Bisceglie

Will you allow me to dream,

That one day,

I see in my country,

All the beauty I have seen in you?!

 

 

The Martyred Child

" To Mothers of martyred children during Al Aqas Intifada"

Oct, 25th, 2000

 

O child !

O beloved child !

Sleep as calmly as an angel

On the waves of loving hands

With your beautiful, quiet face,

As a bunch of roses,

Paying no attention to glory

That is surrounding your small body

And holding you passionately.

 

Sleep calmly

As a bird

In a warm nest.

Listen, only, to the chant of God

In heaven

 

Here you are

You!

Myth of place and time !

Embrace dreams!

Make of wheat seeds,

Wide shores of charming music

 

Shine !

As an everlasting star.

As a sun,

That scatters light on endless fields.

 

I behold you !

A spring of iris and chrysanthemum

A generous cloud

That pours its charming scent,

At the whole world.

 

You!

Innocent  angel !

Glittering smile!

Who says that you are away from me ?

Who says that you are away from us?

You are still living

In our hearts and eyes

With your small hand

Embracing the Palestinian colored flag

Grasping the white sacred stone

And throwing it

At the face of oppression.

 

The tires you’ve burnt

 In the middle of the street

Are still flaming,

As an angry hell.

Spouting hatred

At those

Who dream of living, forever,

In our homeland.

 

And condemning those,

Who awakened you

From your noble dreams.

 

I Am

 

Upon reaching my 14th year,

I wrote the following in my daily diary:

“ I was nothing, became something,

 but will be everything”

 

Who am I?

What am I?

Two grand questions overwhelm

 The calm fire of my life

For I am, whom I am

 

I am this vast sky

With open arms

 To embrace all the birds in flight

I am this ocean with all its treasures

And this earth

 With all its magic and mystery

 

I am the sun, I am the moon.

I shrink,

And transform into a dew drop

Glistening on the crown of a violet bloom

I expand,

And pluck the stars with ease

 

I am everything I conceive

And everything I will conceive

Everything I conceive in wakefulness

Everything I conceive in sleep

Everything I conceive in reality

Everything I conceive in fantasy

 

I am all those whom I love

And all those

I will love

 

I am all the towns I visited

And all the towns I will visit

My eyes see all existence

My arms embrace the universe

My heart grows to hold the world

 

All these trees are mine

And all these song birds

Are singing for me

 

Whenever I shut the door behind me

When I leave my home

The doors

 Of ultimate happiness and freedom

 Are open for me

And when I return,

The door becomes happy

And the flowers in my garden,

 Which I irrigate each morning

Are so jubilant

At my return.

 

When I enter my home

I enter my small paradise

Yes

For home is my small paradise

In it I listen to sweet music

In it I draw a Homeland

 And color it to my taste

In it I create dreams and trees,

Poems and legends

 

In this small paradise

I feel God has created the whole universe

For me

I humbly stand,

 At the threshold of the Creator

In my pure white clothes

I thank Him for innumerable blessings

And recite His words,

Which are above all other words

I feel I’m close to Him

And He’s close to me

My heart then is full

 With peace and happiness,

So that if I open my eyes,

The world

All the world

Will drown in them

 

This is who I am

And what I am

Is it true I am all this?!!!

How wonderful!!

 

Translated by Issa Mitri

July 25,2001


 

 

A love song to the Snow

 

 

O Pure white!

The Purity of Angels

Laughing as children

Grand as a bride’s gown

Wonderful as a poem

Fragile as the grip of a child’s hand

Conquering as judgment

Exceptional as a jasmine flower

Elegant as a lily

Graceful as a ballerina

Alert as a candle!

 

In you I see my most beautiful dreams

And my innocent love

I see the glimmer of happiness

 In my eyes

And the mythical portraits

 Of wonderful art

 

I see persons and forms and flowers

I see birds and gardens

As if I live in another world!

Am I dreaming?

Or am I hovering in the Seventh Sky?!

 

As if I stand at the Throne’s Doorsteps

And see the Light of God

And the Creator’s Greatness

 

I see God’s Power

And feel His Gentleness, His Wisdom and His Kindness

And see His Smile, like no other

 

I wish I can hold on to you

And hold you to my bosom

I wish I savor your taste

And clean my heart with your purity

I wish you permeate every cell of my soul

And create in my heart,

 Love, happiness and life


 

I wish I sleep on your feathered pillows

And cover my body

 With your white sheets

And gather the warmth

 Of your downy fur

 

Everything subjugates to you

Everything receives you with love,

 Like no other love

The Earth hugs you with her arms

The trees surrender to you

The flowers close their eyes

 And slumber in your lap

The walls call upon you to ascend them

 With your integrity

And the streets give you alone,

 The right of way

 

Everything gives itself to you

Are you the eternal love?

 

O You, White as a lover’s steed

Let me ride your horseback

Rush me to the unknown fields

Take me to your bewitched forests

Float me in the world of poetry

Sing to me the song of innocence

And let me hear your sweet music

That refreshes the soul

 

O You, gentle as a butterfly

To You, I afford my life

Absorb her nectar

And make her a part of You

 

O You, divine blessing

Quickly sprawl on all quarters

 Of our motherland

And transform into fresh water

For the people of Palestine

Are so thirsty for water

So thirsty for happiness

So thirsty for freedom

And here you have come to us

Possessing everything we need.

 

 

 

Translated by Issa Mitri


 

 

Mohammad Al-Dura

 

It is so… without any retouches

Mohammad Al-Dura

This beautiful dark child,

Transforms,

Into the entire motherland

Whenever I see you, Mohammad,

Writhing in pain

Trying to shrink your small body

So that the bullets of death do not  strike you,

I cry

Whenever I see you crying

For help from your father

Who is transformed into a statue,

Of absolute failure,

I cry

Whenever I see your mother

Choking on her tears

As Virgin Mary did

As she cradled her child,

Her own flesh and blood,

I cry

Whenever I see your pearly tears

Spill from your beautiful eyes

I cry

Whenever I see your head fall

Onto your father’s chest,

I cry

Whenever I see your tiny hand

Wipes up the tears that have poured,

On your wrinkled face,

I cry

Whenever I see your body

Sprawled in the dust,

And grows and grows before my very eyes,

I cry

You have grown, Mohammad

To the size of our motherland

And your small body

Blankets the whole of Palestine

And your innocent blood

Which like a waterfall

Flooded upon the earth

Caused the drowning of our motherland

From Sea to River

From Ras Al-Naqurah to Rafah

I did not grieve for your martyrdom

But for the way you were martyred,

At high noon,

In view of every human on earth

Isn't this what happened to all of us,

In the past?!

Isn't this what is happening to all of us, every day?!

Isn't this what will happen to all of us,

In the future?!!

The whole world watches us

While we are killed in cold blood

In all the previous massacres

In all the massacres that are happening now

And in all the massacres that will happen in the future.

Your father is a powerless man

Without ability and without strength.

He even waved his paralyzed arms

Begging the killer

To stop the murder of his beloved boy!

Whenever I see you, Mohammad

I cry for me

 For

 You

 Are

 Me!

You are all my family!

And you are all Palestinians in this universe!

Whenever I see your father

I cry for  all the Arabs

Who though love us very much

But are so powerless

To lift the injustice that engulfs us

Whenever I see the free people of the world

Support us

I cry and cry for all the human values

Which are erased with a tiny eraser

Called the American Veto

 

 

By Zeinab Habash- November 7, 2000


 

Luminiferous Words

 

With love

We protect our souls from decay

 

With Work

We confirm the value

 Of our existence

 

With Giving

We take our rewards

 

With Happiness

We resist the armies of boredom

 

With a Smile

We preserve the emotions

 Of our mirrors

 

With Laughter

We wrestle death

 

With Kindness

We express our humanity

 

With Astonishment

We immortalize the innocence

 Of our childhood

 

With Hope

We expel the locusts of despair

 

With Music

We transform into butterflies

 

With Freedom

We exchange the treasures

 Of the world

 

With a Truthful word

We open hearts

 

With Belonging

Our souls unite

 

With Fulfillment

We deserve immortality

 

With Generosity

Our bodies sparkle

 

With rightness

We defeat power

 

With Courage

We trample cowardice

 

With the Future

We preserve the past

 

With Drawing

We color life

 

With Poetry

We embody the fantasy

 

With Persistence

We entice the impossible

 

Translated by Issa Mitri

31st, July.2001


 

 

 

Martyr .. Martyr ..Martyr

 

Two full weeks

We’ve swung between life and death

We prayed, we invocated

We supplicated to The Living Immortal

 

Until you came out to us

From the Percy French hospital

Draped in the flag of Palestine

Drowned in our National Anthem

That made us all drown in a deluge of tears

 

You were visited by your dear friend,

 Doctor Jacques Chirac,

Twice

 

The first time

He tried desperately to grant you the elixir of life

And the second time

You were asleep, encircled with your pleasant dreams

Dreams of liberation

Dreams of repatriation

Dreams of praying in the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque

 

He whispered to you

“I am your friend Doctor Chirac”

His warm words touched you deeply

And returned life to you

You opened your eyes... and smiled

 

Truly you deserve to smile, Our President

Because your French friend has granted you...

 

The State that you’ve dreamt of

The flag of four colors

And the National Anthem

 

He has also, granted us, Palestinians,

This great Love

That gave wind to our wings

And lightened our hearts of the heavy load

Of this hard event

 

It is true that tears burst from our eyes

But we felt that the honor,

Which was bestowed on you

Has extended to engulf us all

And the pride you had felt

Filled each and every Heart

Of your Palestinian People

Who are scattered all over the whole universe

And that Palestine which we dream of liberating

Has been liberated by you

 

And your first dream of Martyrdom

Has been realized

 

The airplane that circled the air

And landed with a quiver

On Al Kinana Land

Has encircled our souls

And landed them with you at the airport

 

Thus, you have realized your second Martyrdom

 

And advanced the monarchs and presidents

On the gun carriage

Led by true Arabian horses

 

We felt that greatness and dignity fill our hearts

 

No one

Who came before you... nor would come after you

Is as fortunate, or will be as fortunate,

 Of the honor you were bestowed

 

 Did you feel as we did

The magnificence of this surprise?

Did your heart dance with joy?

At hearing the National Anthem

Played by the musicians

In our beloved Egypt?

 

Did you notice the red carpet?

Which is only laid out

 For great people and presidents?

 

All these friends

Came to you from around the globe

Not to say goodbye to your mortal remains

But to grasp a bundle of light

From your defensive spirit

That insisted on extracting freedom and dignity

For your land and your people

 

Everyone who witnessed you, wished

That his funeral be conducted with such reverence

With such greatness

With such esteem

 

Then you descended upon us

Like the Bird of Thunder

For the third Martyrdom you have wished

“Martyr… Martyr… Martyr”

 

With your first Martyrdom

You united us

With your second Martyrdom

You united the whole world with us and for us

And with your third Martyrdom

You awaked in us the responsibility

To achieve all of your dreams

 

In the first you were embraced by France

In the second you were embraced by Egypt

In the third, you were embraced

By your precious and loving Palestine

A testimony of the love and esteem

Of your great people

The people who stood by you

As you stood with them

In the most difficult days of hardship

 

Excuse us Abu Ammar

For the feelings of our people for you

 Were overwhelming

And greater than the need

 To give you a more formal funeral

It was a spontaneous funeral

Governed by pure emotions

Pouring from pure hearts

 

The youths tried to carry you to Al Quds

Tried to return life to you

They replaced the flag with the Kofiyeh

Even the policemen

Who were supposed to maintain order,

Joined them

Releasing from deep within them, the call… 

“With our souls, with our blood,

We will redeem you Abu Ammar”

“With our souls, with our blood,

 We will redeem you Palestine”

And they rushed with you,

Beyond our amazement

 

Here you lay embraced by your soil

 From the Holy Al Quds

So sleep with delighted eyes

For we shall awake you soon from your slumber

To walk together to Al Quds

And to pray together

In the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque

That awaits you,

O Living Martyr

 

Are not your immortal words

“To Al Quds we go…Martyrs in millions”?

Yes Abu Ammar

You are returning to Al Quds a Martyr

Blazing the trail for all martyrs ahead of you

And those who will follow

 

I do not say farewell, Abu Ammar

Bu I say, so long, until we meet again

Oh, You!

 The miracle of this age and all ages.

 

 

Translated by Issa Mitri

14th, November.2004

 

 

 

 
 
 

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