Mahmoud Darwish
Mahmoud Darwish was a prominent Palestinian poet and author, whose work profoundly reflects the themes of exile and identity shaped by his personal experiences during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which forced his family from their home in Galilee. Darwish began writing poetry as a teenager and quickly became recognized for his literary talents, although his activism often led to arrests and imprisonment. His poetry, deeply influenced by various literary figures, encapsulated the Palestinian struggle and his experiences in exile, earning him a prominent role in the Palestinian resistance movement.
Throughout his career, Darwish published nearly three dozen volumes of poetry and several works of prose, with notable collections including *Awraq al-zaytun* (Leaves of Olives) and *Unfortunately, It Was Paradise*. His work gained international recognition during the second Palestinian Intifada, and he opposed the Oslo Accord, believing it did not serve the Palestinian cause. Darwish received numerous awards for his literary contributions, and his poem "Passing Between Passing Words" sparked significant discussion in the Israeli Knesset, reflecting his impact on both Palestinian and Israeli discourse. He passed away in 2008, leaving behind a legacy commemorated by the establishment of the Mahmoud Darwish Foundation, dedicated to preserving his cultural contributions.
Mahmoud Darwish
Palestinian poet and activist.
- Born: March 13, 1942
- Birthplace: Berweh, east of Acre, Palestine (now in Israel)
- Died: August 9, 2008
- Place of death: Houston, Texas
Biography
Born in Palestine before the founding of the Israeli state, Mahmoud Darwish’s entire poetic career has been shaped by his and his family’s exile from their home in Galilee during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Living in exile in Lebanon, Darwish’s formerly wealthy father was forced to take a job as a quarryman in order to support his family. Such experiences marked young Mahmoud for life with a political, polemical bent. Writing his first poem when he was a young teen, Darwish came to know the power of his pen: After reading his production aloud at school, he was cautioned by local military authorities not to repeat the performance lest his father lose his job.
Early poetic influences included Federico García Lorca, Pablo Neruda, Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayati, and Badr Shakir al-Sayyab, as well as Hebrew literature. Darwish’s first notable collection of poetry, Awraq al-zaytun (Leaves of olives), appeared when he was nineteen and was quickly followed by three others. Each publication was followed by arrest, jailing, and house imprisonment. By the time he left Israel in 1971 to complete his education in Moscow—he had been active in the Israeli Communist party—Darwish was acknowledged as the leading poet of the Palestinian resistance movement. Then, starting in 1972, Darwish spent a decade living in Beirut, Lebanon, until he was expelled with other members of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) after the Israeli army invaded. Briefly married to a woman named Rana Kabbani, Darwish then remained rootless until, in 1996, he returned to his homeland. He resided in Ramallah in the West Bank.
During the second Palestinian Intifada or uprising, Darwish’s work became known by a wider audience when two collections of his poetry were published in English as The Adam of Two Edens (2000) and Unfortunately, It Was Paradise (2003). In total, Darwish penned nearly three dozen volumes of poetry and several works of prose. In addition to being translated into English, Darwish's writings have been translated into more than twenty other languages.
Darwish opposed the Oslo Accord of 1993, feeling that it was unfavorable to the Palestinian cause, and resigned from his position in the PLO. He also vocally denounced the opposing Palestinian group Hamas.
Darwish’s work garnered many awards over the years, including the Lotus Prize from the Union of Afro-Asian Writers (1969), the Mediterranean Prize (1980), the Avicenna Prize (1981), the Lenin Peace Prize (1983), the Lannan Foundation Award for Cultural Freedom (2001), the Sultan bin Ali al Owais Cultural Award for cultural and scientific achievement (2004), a Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development Award (2004), and the Golden Wreath at the Struga Poetry Evenings festival (2007). In 1997, he also received the Knight of Arts and Belles Lettres medal from France. Perhaps the most meaningful recognition Darwish has received, however, came in the aftermath of publication of his 1988 poem “Passing Between Passing Words,” when the work was debated in the Israeli Knesset on two separate occasions. This work, which expresses the author’s skepticism about the ability of Palestinians and Israelis to live peacefully together, has since been taught in Israeli high schools.
Darwish died in August 2008 in Houston, Texas. His life was honored with three days of mourning in the Palestinian Territories and a state funeral in the West Bank. That same year, the Mahmoud Darwish Foundation was established in Ramallah to commemorate Darwish's work and promoting cultural expression and charitable endeavors.
Author Works
Poetry:
Asafir bila Ajniha, 1960
Awraq al-zaytun, 1964
Ashiq min Falastin, 1966
Akhir al-layl, 1967
Yawmiyyat jurh filastini , 1969
Al-Asafir tamut fe al jalil, 1969
Al-Kitabah 'ala dhaw'e al-bonduqiyah, 1970
Habibati tanhadu min nawmiha, 1970
Uhibbuki aw la uhibbuki, 1972 (selection rpt. as Psalms, 1995)
Muhawala raqam Sab’a, 1973
Tilka suratuha wa-hadha intihar al-ashiq, 1975
A’ras, 1977
Qasidat Bayrut, 1982
Madih al-xill al'ali, 1983
Hisar li-mada’ih al-bahr, 1984
Hiya ughniya, Hiya ughniya, 1986
Ward aqall, 1986
Sand, and Other Poems, 1986
Ma'asat al-narjis, malhat al-fidda, 1987
Ara ma urid, 1990
Ahada a’shara kawkaban, 1992
Limadha tarakta al-hisana wahidan?, 1995 (Why Did You Leave the Horse Alone?, 2006)
Sareer el Ghariba, 1998 (Bed of the Stranger, 1999)
Jidariyat Mahmoud Darweesh: Qasidah KRutibat'am 1999, 2000
Jidariya, 2000 (Mural, 2009)
The Adam of Two Edens: Selected Poems, 2001
The Raven's Ink, 2001
Halat Hisar, 2002 (State of Siege, 2010)
Unfortunately, It Was Paradise: Selected Poems, 2003
La ta'Tadhir 'amma fa'alt, 2004
Kazahr lawz aw ab’ad, 2005 (Almond Blossoms and Beyond, 2009)
The Butterfly's Burden, 2007
If I Were Another, 2011
La Uridu Li-Hadhi 'l-Qasidati An Tantahi, 2009 (I Don't Want This Poem to End: Early and Late Poems, 2017)
Nonfiction:
Shai'on 'an al-wattan, 1971
Yawmiyyat al-hozn al-'aadi, 1973 (Journal of an Ordinary Grief, 2010)
Wada'an ayatuha al-harb, wada'an ayuha al-salaam, 1974
Dhakirah li-al-nisyan, 1987 (Memory for Forgetfulness, 1995)
Fi wasf halatina , 1987
Fi intizar AL-barabira, 1987
Al-Rasa'il, 1989 (with Samih al-Qasim)
Aabiroon fi Kalamen 'aaber, 1991
Fi hadrat al-Ghiyab, 2006 (In the Presence of Absence, 2011)
Hirat Al-Aed, 2007
Athar Alfarasha, 2008 (A River Dies of Thirst: Journals, 2009)
Edited Text:
Victims of a Map, 1984 (with Samih al-Qasim and Adonis)
Bibliography
Bronner, Ethan. "Mahmoud Darwish, Leading Palestinian Poet, Is Dead at 67." New York Times. New York Times, 10 Aug. 2008. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. An obituary of Darwish.
Clark, Peter. "Mahmoud Darwish." Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 10 Aug. 2008. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. An obituary of Darwish.
Cohen, Joshua. "Martyrologies." Tablet. Nextbook, 17 Nov. 2011. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. An unflinching critique of the politics of Darwish's poetry.
Darwish, Mahmoud. Interview by Raja Shehadeh. BOMB. Bomb Magazine, 2002. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. Discusses such topics as Darwish's inspiration to become a poet, the price of resistance through writing, his process, and his innovations to Arabic-language poetry, as well as the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
"Mahmoud Darwish." Poets.org. Acad. of Amer. Poets, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. A short biography of Darwish.
Mattawa, Khaled. Mahmoud Darwish: The Poet's Art and His Nation. Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 2014. Print. Provides cultural and historical context for Darwish's poetry and examines its influence on Palestine.