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Victims of a Map: A Bilingual Anthology of Arabic Poetry
Mahmud Darwish, Samih al-Qasim and Adonis are amongst the leading poets in the Arab world today.
Victims of a Map presents some of their finest work in translation, alongside the original Arabic, including thirteen poems by Darwish never before published – in English or Arabic – and a long work by Adonis written during the 1982 siege of Beirut, also published here for the first time.
Adonis (the pen-name of Ali Ahmad Said) was born in Syria in 1930. He was exiled to Beirut in 1956 and later became a Lebanese citizen. The founder of the influential journal Mawaqif, a critic as well as a poet, he has exercised enormous influence on Arabic literature. He is the author of Sufism and Surrealism, also published by Saqi.
Mahmoud Darwish was born in 1942 in the village of al-Birweh in Galilee, Palestine. His family fled to Lebanon in 1948 when the Israeli Army destroyed their village. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize, the Lannan Prize for Cultural Freedom, the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from France and the Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands. He died in August 2008.
Samih al-Qasim is a Palestinian born to a Druze family of Galilee in 1939. He grew up in Nazareth and has long been politically active in Israel, suffering imprisonment many times. A prolific writer, he had published six collections of poetry by the time he was thirty.
Victims of a Map presents some of their finest work in translation, alongside the original Arabic, including thirteen poems by Darwish never before published – in English or Arabic – and a long work by Adonis written during the 1982 siege of Beirut, also published here for the first time.
Adonis (the pen-name of Ali Ahmad Said) was born in Syria in 1930. He was exiled to Beirut in 1956 and later became a Lebanese citizen. The founder of the influential journal Mawaqif, a critic as well as a poet, he has exercised enormous influence on Arabic literature. He is the author of Sufism and Surrealism, also published by Saqi.
Mahmoud Darwish was born in 1942 in the village of al-Birweh in Galilee, Palestine. His family fled to Lebanon in 1948 when the Israeli Army destroyed their village. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize, the Lannan Prize for Cultural Freedom, the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from France and the Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands. He died in August 2008.
Samih al-Qasim is a Palestinian born to a Druze family of Galilee in 1939. He grew up in Nazareth and has long been politically active in Israel, suffering imprisonment many times. A prolific writer, he had published six collections of poetry by the time he was thirty.
168 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
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About the author
Mahmoud Darwish
211 books11.9k followers محمود درويش
Mahmoud Darwish was a respected Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet. In his work, Palestine became a metaphor for the loss of Eden, birth and resurrection, and the anguish of dispossession and exile.
The Lotus Prize (1969; from the Union of Afro-Asian Writers)
Lenin Peace Prize (1983; from the USSR)
The Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (1993; from France)
The Lannan Foundation Prize for Cultural Freedom (2001)
Prince Claus Awards (2004)
"Bosnian stećak" (2007)
Golden Wreath of Struga Poetry Evenings (2007)
The International Forum for Arabic Poetry prize (2007)
محمود درويش هو شاعرٌ فلسطيني وعضو المجلس الوطني الفلسطيني التابع لمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية، وله دواوين شعرية مليئة بالمضامين الحداثية. ولد عام 1941 في قرية البروة وهي قرية فلسطينية تقع في الجليل قرب ساحل عكا, حيث كانت أسرته تملك أرضًا هناك. خرجت الأسرة برفقة اللاجئين الفلسطينيين في العام 1948 إلى لبنان، ثم عادت متسللة عام 1949 بعد توقيع اتفاقيات الهدنة، لتجد القرية مهدمة وقد أقيم على أراضيها موشاف (قرية زراعية إسرائيلية)"أحيهود". وكيبوتس يسعور فعاش مع عائلته في قرية الجديدة.
بعد إنهائه تعليمه الثانوي في مدرسة يني الثانوية في كفرياسيف انتسب إلى الحزب الشيوعي الإسرائيلي وعمل في صحافة الحزب مثل الإتحاد والجديد التي أصبح في ما بعد مشرفًا على تحريرها، كما اشترك في تحرير جريدة الفجر التي كان يصدرها مبام.
أحد أهم الشعراء الفلسطينيين والعرب الذين ارتبط اسمهم بشعر الثورة والوطن. يعتبر درويش أحد أبرز من ساهم بتطوير الشعر العربي الحديث وإدخال الرمزية فيه. في شعر درويش يمتزج الحب بالوطن بالحبيبة الأنثى. قام بكتابة وثيقة إعلان الاستقلال الفلسطيني التي تم إعلانها في الجزائر.
Tras una juventud dentro de la Palestina ocupada, años salpicados por numerosos arestos, se trasladó a Egipto y después al Líbano para realizar su sueño de renovación poética. Será en su exilio en Paris, tras tener que abandonar forzosamente el Líbano, donde logre su madurez poético y logre un reconocimiento ante los ojos occidentales.
En 1996, tras los acuerdos de Oslo para la autonomía de los territorios de Gaza y Cisjordania, dimite como ministro de Cultura de la Organización para la Liberación de Palestina y regresa a Ramallah. Allí dirige la revista literaria Al Karmel, cuytos archivos fueron destruidos por el ejército israelí durante el asedio a la ciudad en el año 2002.
Mahmoud Darwish was a respected Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet. In his work, Palestine became a metaphor for the loss of Eden, birth and resurrection, and the anguish of dispossession and exile.
The Lotus Prize (1969; from the Union of Afro-Asian Writers)
Lenin Peace Prize (1983; from the USSR)
The Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (1993; from France)
The Lannan Foundation Prize for Cultural Freedom (2001)
Prince Claus Awards (2004)
"Bosnian stećak" (2007)
Golden Wreath of Struga Poetry Evenings (2007)
The International Forum for Arabic Poetry prize (2007)
محمود درويش هو شاعرٌ فلسطيني وعضو المجلس الوطني الفلسطيني التابع لمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية، وله دواوين شعرية مليئة بالمضامين الحداثية. ولد عام 1941 في قرية البروة وهي قرية فلسطينية تقع في الجليل قرب ساحل عكا, حيث كانت أسرته تملك أرضًا هناك. خرجت الأسرة برفقة اللاجئين الفلسطينيين في العام 1948 إلى لبنان، ثم عادت متسللة عام 1949 بعد توقيع اتفاقيات الهدنة، لتجد القرية مهدمة وقد أقيم على أراضيها موشاف (قرية زراعية إسرائيلية)"أحيهود". وكيبوتس يسعور فعاش مع عائلته في قرية الجديدة.
بعد إنهائه تعليمه الثانوي في مدرسة يني الثانوية في كفرياسيف انتسب إلى الحزب الشيوعي الإسرائيلي وعمل في صحافة الحزب مثل الإتحاد والجديد التي أصبح في ما بعد مشرفًا على تحريرها، كما اشترك في تحرير جريدة الفجر التي كان يصدرها مبام.
أحد أهم الشعراء الفلسطينيين والعرب الذين ارتبط اسمهم بشعر الثورة والوطن. يعتبر درويش أحد أبرز من ساهم بتطوير الشعر العربي الحديث وإدخال الرمزية فيه. في شعر درويش يمتزج الحب بالوطن بالحبيبة الأنثى. قام بكتابة وثيقة إعلان الاستقلال الفلسطيني التي تم إعلانها في الجزائر.
Tras una juventud dentro de la Palestina ocupada, años salpicados por numerosos arestos, se trasladó a Egipto y después al Líbano para realizar su sueño de renovación poética. Será en su exilio en Paris, tras tener que abandonar forzosamente el Líbano, donde logre su madurez poético y logre un reconocimiento ante los ojos occidentales.
En 1996, tras los acuerdos de Oslo para la autonomía de los territorios de Gaza y Cisjordania, dimite como ministro de Cultura de la Organización para la Liberación de Palestina y regresa a Ramallah. Allí dirige la revista literaria Al Karmel, cuytos archivos fueron destruidos por el ejército israelí durante el asedio a la ciudad en el año 2002.
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October 21, 2024
"My era tells me bluntly:
You do not belong.
I answer bluntly:
I do not belong,
I try to understand you.
Now I am a shadow
Lost in the forest
Of a skull." - First stanza of The Desert (The Diary of Beirut Under Siege, 1982) by Adonis.
Shoutout to Hend. I usually don't go about dedicating my reviews, but this book is a special case at I read it after a conversation on Goodreads a year ago between myself and the person who (indirectly) recommended this book to me. After expressing my frustration of never learning about writers outside of "The West" in school and especially poets from the middle-east (an area that, as far as literature was concerned, has specialized in poetry since forever) I was given an extensive list of poets and after some quick searching I came across this book which was surprisingly designed to address the very frustration I felt. This book is a straight-forward introduction/sample of 3 of the most significant contemporary (in a relative sense) Arab poets of the last 40 years or so.
This book was published during the mid-1980s when the big conflict in the middle-east was The Lebanon War (I will get back to that later when I talk about Adonis). It features three poets: 2 Palestinians and one Syrian. I will go ahead and briefly review all 3 before giving my opinion on who stood out to me and what I thought of the book overall.
The first poet featured was Mahmud Darwish of Palestine.
The second poet featured is Samih al-Qasim of Palestine.
And now the man who is basically the headliner of this collection (and for good reason), Adonis (a.k.a. Ali Ahmad Said Esber) of Syria.
I don't have any real criticism of any of these poets, all of them are the cream of the crop. My personal favorite was Samih al-Qasim whose style and tone nearly hypnotizes me. If pressed I would say that Adonis is the most "mature" of the three and his style may be the most familiar to a western audience, but when it comes to quality I think any of these poets would do nicely. Again, thank you Hend for steering me in the direction of good literature and I hope to one day return the favor.
You do not belong.
I answer bluntly:
I do not belong,
I try to understand you.
Now I am a shadow
Lost in the forest
Of a skull." - First stanza of The Desert (The Diary of Beirut Under Siege, 1982) by Adonis.
Shoutout to Hend. I usually don't go about dedicating my reviews, but this book is a special case at I read it after a conversation on Goodreads a year ago between myself and the person who (indirectly) recommended this book to me. After expressing my frustration of never learning about writers outside of "The West" in school and especially poets from the middle-east (an area that, as far as literature was concerned, has specialized in poetry since forever) I was given an extensive list of poets and after some quick searching I came across this book which was surprisingly designed to address the very frustration I felt. This book is a straight-forward introduction/sample of 3 of the most significant contemporary (in a relative sense) Arab poets of the last 40 years or so.
This book was published during the mid-1980s when the big conflict in the middle-east was The Lebanon War (I will get back to that later when I talk about Adonis). It features three poets: 2 Palestinians and one Syrian. I will go ahead and briefly review all 3 before giving my opinion on who stood out to me and what I thought of the book overall.
The first poet featured was Mahmud Darwish of Palestine.
"A Gentle Rain in a distant autumnTwo things that the above quote features that I think all 3 poets like is precise use of repetition and use of symbolism and to make a point. What Darwish was a very prominent left-wing poet whose political activism and literature has drawn recognition and criticism across the Arab-Israeli divide. His poetry was unique to me in its use of the senses and memory. I have gotten so use to poets aiming for my psyche that it was amazing to read a poet who so impacted my senses and could describe something and make me see, smell, and taste it. He is also very fond of using nostalgia and memory in his poems in-which he wants you to remember something that happened to him.
And the birds are blue, are blue,
And the earth is a feast.
Don't say I wish I was a cloud over an airport.
All I want
From my country which fell out of the window of a train
Is my mother's handkerchief
And reasons for a new death." - first stanza of "A Gentle Rain in a Distant Autumn."
The second poet featured is Samih al-Qasim of Palestine.
"On the day you kill meSometimes, less is more. No poet so exemplifies the previous statement like Samih al-Qasim. Like Mahmud Darwish he is a Palestinian, but unlike Darwsh, he has lived most of his life inside Israel in the town of Hafia and rarely leaves Israel or the Palestinian territories. Both al-Qasim and Darwish were involved in political causes and ran afoul of the Israeli government, but when it comes to poetry things are very different. Where Darwish writes in very descriptive long-form, al-Qasim is sparse, minimal and to the point. His poems may be only two lines, but you will read them over and over because of his mastery of symbolic expression makes you keep wanting to pick up something you thought you missed. His poems are so open to interpretation that you don't know if he is being darkly-comedic or tragic (or both).
You'll find in my pocket
Travel tickets
To peace,
To the fields and the rain,
To people's conscience.
Don't waste the tickets." - "Travel Tickets"
And now the man who is basically the headliner of this collection (and for good reason), Adonis (a.k.a. Ali Ahmad Said Esber) of Syria.
"The street is a woman who saysMaybe the most famous Arab poet of the post-war 20th century, Adonis is definitely the "strongest" poet of the three featured in this book. I would guess that if a contemporary Arab poet is anthologized in "The West" it is him (or maybe Mahmud Darwish). His poetry, while sharing many traits with the two previous poets, is very intentionally styled after modernist poetry. Now I can start using names like T.S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound and etc., but he also has a connection to the older mystic poetry of Rumi and Kahil Gibran. His poetry reflects the wider Arab world (with an obvious bias towards Syria) and recognizes the presence of Christians in the Arab world (or at least in Syria/Lebanon). The centerpiece of this book is his poem "The Desert" which premiered in the first edition of this collection (which came out in 1984) and is a poetic "diary" of the Siege of Beirut which he was caught up in. If I had to recommend one poem from this book for a first time reader of Arabic poetry "The Desert" would be my choice hands down.
The Fatiha when she's grieved
Or makes the sign of the Cross.
Under her breast
The hunchbacked night
Fills his bag
With grey whinning dogs
And snuffed out stars." First stanza of "A Mirror for Beirut (1967)"
I don't have any real criticism of any of these poets, all of them are the cream of the crop. My personal favorite was Samih al-Qasim whose style and tone nearly hypnotizes me. If pressed I would say that Adonis is the most "mature" of the three and his style may be the most familiar to a western audience, but when it comes to quality I think any of these poets would do nicely. Again, thank you Hend for steering me in the direction of good literature and I hope to one day return the favor.
December 29, 2021
لشعر هو وسيلة للارتقاء بالذات خارج العالم المصغر الذي قد يصاب الكثيرون بالشلل والتكيف معه. يشرح أدونيس كيف أن الشعر هو المكان الذي يتحدى الدين. الحواجز الموجودة - التي قد تقيد الفنان بكل المعاني التقليدية - تتلاشى. إضفاء الضوء والأجنحة الشفافة على الكلمات. وإبداعاته تحوم في الأجواء الدولية بلا قيود مثل "بابيليونيم" عند إطلاقها من سجن الشرنقة. نجا الشعر العربي المعاصر من الاضطراب في العالم العربي.
هذه مختارات رائعة من القصائد العربية كتبها أدونيس ومحمود درويش وسميح القاسم. تقدم هذه المجموعة للقراء الناطقين باللغة الإنجليزية إحساسًا متقلبًا بالشعر العربي في عالمنا الحديث. مع الترجمة الأصلية للغة العربية والإنجليزية جنبًا إلى جنب ، توضح هذه المختارات موسيقيًا أكثر القصص حميمية للشعراء الذين استخدموا كتاباتهم بشكل منفرد كوسيلة لمقاومة الإيذاء والتعبير عن تطلعاتهم ككتاب معاصرين.
"ما هي الحضارة؟ إنها ابتكار شيء جديد ، كاللوحة. فالشعب الذي لم يعد يصنع يصبح مستهلكًا لمنتجات الآخرين.
- أدونيس (علي أحمد سعيد اسبر) "
أدى أطفال هؤلاء الشعراء الثلاثة إلى انهيار التقاليد الشعرية العربية الكلاسيكية وإعادة تعريف الخريطة. يمكن العثور على مزيد من العمق في العديد من ملاحظات السيرة الذاتية / السياق التاريخي. احتفال أدونيس بطفولة طفولته أمر رقيق لدرجة أن هذه القصيدة ملقاة على اللسان دون أي رغبة في الإخلاء المفاجئ ... حتى الريح تريد أن تصبح عربة تجرها الفراشات ... في دمشق. قراءة "حتى الليل كان شمعة" وأمنياتي هي الزهور تلطيخ أيامي بلون لا يمحى باللون الأرجواني. لحنية / ملهمة. يقرأ.
---
Poetry is a way to elevate oneself out of the microcosm many may be crippled and conditioned to. Adonis explains how poetry is the venue that defies religion. The barriers present---that may restrain the artist in all conventional senses---vanish. Imparting light and translucent wings to words. And his creations hover in the international atmosphere unfettered like a “papilionem” on its release from a "dunkel" chrysalis prison. Contemporary Arab poetry has survived the tumultuous Arab world.
This is a masterpiece anthology of Arabic poems pleasantly penned by Adonis, Mahmud Darwish, and Samih al-Qasim. This collection gifts English-speaking readers with an iconoclastic sense of Arab poetry in our modern world. With the original Arabic and the English translations side-by-side, this anthology musically illustrates the most intimate stories of poets who have used their writing cathartically as a vehicle to resist victimization and express their aspirations as contemporary writers.
"What is civilisation? It's the creation of something new---like a painting. A people that no longer creates becomes a consumer of the products of others.
---Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said Esber)"
Three poets' literal babies, led to the breakdown of classical Arab poetic conventions and redefined the map. Further depth may be found in the many biographical notes/historical context. Celebrating Childhood by Adonis is so mellifluous that this poem lies on the tongue without any desire of abrupt eviction...even the wind wants to become a cart pulled by butterflies...in Damascus. Reading “even the night was a candle” and my wishes are flowers staining my days do indelibly color my filter purple. Melodic/inspiring. Read.
هذه مختارات رائعة من القصائد العربية كتبها أدونيس ومحمود درويش وسميح القاسم. تقدم هذه المجموعة للقراء الناطقين باللغة الإنجليزية إحساسًا متقلبًا بالشعر العربي في عالمنا الحديث. مع الترجمة الأصلية للغة العربية والإنجليزية جنبًا إلى جنب ، توضح هذه المختارات موسيقيًا أكثر القصص حميمية للشعراء الذين استخدموا كتاباتهم بشكل منفرد كوسيلة لمقاومة الإيذاء والتعبير عن تطلعاتهم ككتاب معاصرين.
"ما هي الحضارة؟ إنها ابتكار شيء جديد ، كاللوحة. فالشعب الذي لم يعد يصنع يصبح مستهلكًا لمنتجات الآخرين.
- أدونيس (علي أحمد سعيد اسبر) "
أدى أطفال هؤلاء الشعراء الثلاثة إلى انهيار التقاليد الشعرية العربية الكلاسيكية وإعادة تعريف الخريطة. يمكن العثور على مزيد من العمق في العديد من ملاحظات السيرة الذاتية / السياق التاريخي. احتفال أدونيس بطفولة طفولته أمر رقيق لدرجة أن هذه القصيدة ملقاة على اللسان دون أي رغبة في الإخلاء المفاجئ ... حتى الريح تريد أن تصبح عربة تجرها الفراشات ... في دمشق. قراءة "حتى الليل كان شمعة" وأمنياتي هي الزهور تلطيخ أيامي بلون لا يمحى باللون الأرجواني. لحنية / ملهمة. يقرأ.
---
Poetry is a way to elevate oneself out of the microcosm many may be crippled and conditioned to. Adonis explains how poetry is the venue that defies religion. The barriers present---that may restrain the artist in all conventional senses---vanish. Imparting light and translucent wings to words. And his creations hover in the international atmosphere unfettered like a “papilionem” on its release from a "dunkel" chrysalis prison. Contemporary Arab poetry has survived the tumultuous Arab world.
This is a masterpiece anthology of Arabic poems pleasantly penned by Adonis, Mahmud Darwish, and Samih al-Qasim. This collection gifts English-speaking readers with an iconoclastic sense of Arab poetry in our modern world. With the original Arabic and the English translations side-by-side, this anthology musically illustrates the most intimate stories of poets who have used their writing cathartically as a vehicle to resist victimization and express their aspirations as contemporary writers.
"What is civilisation? It's the creation of something new---like a painting. A people that no longer creates becomes a consumer of the products of others.
---Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said Esber)"
Three poets' literal babies, led to the breakdown of classical Arab poetic conventions and redefined the map. Further depth may be found in the many biographical notes/historical context. Celebrating Childhood by Adonis is so mellifluous that this poem lies on the tongue without any desire of abrupt eviction...even the wind wants to become a cart pulled by butterflies...in Damascus. Reading “even the night was a candle” and my wishes are flowers staining my days do indelibly color my filter purple. Melodic/inspiring. Read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2023
Intense work from all three poets.
On the day you kill me
You'll find in my pocket
Travel tickets
To peace,
To the fields and the rain,
To people's conscience.
Don't waste the tickets.
-- Travel Tickets, by Samih al-Qasim
My era tells me bluntly:
You do not belong.
I answer bluntly:
I do not belong,
I try to understand you.
Now I am a shadow
Lost in the forest
Of a skull.
from The Desert (The Diary of Beirut Under Siege, 1982), by Adonis
On the day you kill me
You'll find in my pocket
Travel tickets
To peace,
To the fields and the rain,
To people's conscience.
Don't waste the tickets.
-- Travel Tickets, by Samih al-Qasim
My era tells me bluntly:
You do not belong.
I answer bluntly:
I do not belong,
I try to understand you.
Now I am a shadow
Lost in the forest
Of a skull.
from The Desert (The Diary of Beirut Under Siege, 1982), by Adonis
August 12, 2016
This volume serves both as an introduction into Arabic poetry as well as into Arabic literature in general, as poetry is the most important and most widely read literary form in the Arab world. It is a both lyrical and political collection of poems by three of the best known and most popular poets of the Arabic language: Mahmud Darwish, Samih al-Qasim and Adonis.
The three authors are considered to be among the most modern and most innovative writers of their language. In a mostly laconic language they give voice to their fellow countrymen’s isolation, the bareness of their lives, both hope and hopelessness and, above all, their yearning for freedom. Some of these images may sometimes seem unusual or strange to a western reader (it was for me at least), but patience is rewarded as these poems depict a new and quite different (both geographically and figuratively) scenery and mentality.
This book is also a great resource for Arabic language learners. The Arabic text is vocalized in the most common way (most fathas and the diacritics for long vowels and for the most common words are left out; endings are always vocalized) and the simple sentence structures make it easy to follow the poem while still containing some particularities of the Arabic language.
“We are entitled to love the end of autumn and ask:
Is there room for another autumn in the field to rest our bodies like coal?
An autumn lowering its leaves like gold. I wish we were fig leaves
I wish we were an abandoned plant
To witness the change of seasons. I wish we didn’t say goodbye
To the south of the eye so as to ask what
Our fathers had asked when they flew on the tip of the spear. Poetry
And God’s name will be merciful to us.
[…]”
“We are entitled to love the end of autumn” by Mahmoud Darwish, p. 18/19
The three authors are considered to be among the most modern and most innovative writers of their language. In a mostly laconic language they give voice to their fellow countrymen’s isolation, the bareness of their lives, both hope and hopelessness and, above all, their yearning for freedom. Some of these images may sometimes seem unusual or strange to a western reader (it was for me at least), but patience is rewarded as these poems depict a new and quite different (both geographically and figuratively) scenery and mentality.
This book is also a great resource for Arabic language learners. The Arabic text is vocalized in the most common way (most fathas and the diacritics for long vowels and for the most common words are left out; endings are always vocalized) and the simple sentence structures make it easy to follow the poem while still containing some particularities of the Arabic language.
“We are entitled to love the end of autumn and ask:
Is there room for another autumn in the field to rest our bodies like coal?
An autumn lowering its leaves like gold. I wish we were fig leaves
I wish we were an abandoned plant
To witness the change of seasons. I wish we didn’t say goodbye
To the south of the eye so as to ask what
Our fathers had asked when they flew on the tip of the spear. Poetry
And God’s name will be merciful to us.
[…]”
“We are entitled to love the end of autumn” by Mahmoud Darwish, p. 18/19
April 5, 2015
A gentle rain in a distant autumn
And the birds are blue, are blue,
And the earth is a feast.
Don't say I wish I was a cloud over an airport.
All I want
From my country which fell out of the window of a train
Is my mother's handkerchief
And reasons for a new death.
And the birds are blue, are blue,
And the earth is a feast.
Don't say I wish I was a cloud over an airport.
All I want
From my country which fell out of the window of a train
Is my mother's handkerchief
And reasons for a new death.
January 13, 2020
Mahmud Darwish
The earth is closing on us
The earth is squeezing us
Be the song of those who have no songs
We fear for a dream
We go on dreaming
I wish we were fig leaves
I wish we were an abandoned plant
Give birth to me again
I long for everything
I long for myself I long for you
We will live because life goes on
We travel like other people but we return to nowhere
As if travelling is the way of the clouds
We have a country of words
Speak speak so we may know the end of this travel
We are here and in a moment we'll explode this siege
In a moment we'll free a cloud and travel within ourselves
A gentle rain in a distant autumn
And the birds are blue are blue
And the windows are white are white
And the promises are green are green
The birds have flown to a time which will not return
My country is the joy of being in chains
Samih al-Qasim
On the day you kill me you'll find in my pocket travel tickets
Don't waste the tickets
A blue city dreamt of tourists
Don't kill us fire
We are young and pretty and we grew up together
Don't kill us Don't k...
They killed me once then wore my face many times
From the window of my small cell I can see trees smiling at me
Windows weeping and praying for me
From the window of my small cell I can see your large cell
Light the fire so I can see my tears
Light the fire so I can see myself dying
My suffering is your only inheritance
The house collapsed
The clock was still on the wall
The clock ticked on
Adonis
The earth and sky trapped in a box of colours
He never slept in a bed of myths
The earth rises in my body
As distant as our souls
As distant as a journey into the space of the soul
A sun that kills and destroys appears over the bridge
Doubt is his home but he is full of eyes
His words are engraved in the direction of loss loss loss
Through a window of prayers we reached the sky
We have lost faith in tomorrow
Where we used to begin a new life
How can I walk towards my people towards myself?
How can I walk towards my passion my voice?
My era tells me bluntly you do not belong
I am a shadow lost in the forest
Am I full of contradictions?
I hung my death between my face and these bleeding words
The earth is closing on us
The earth is squeezing us
Be the song of those who have no songs
We fear for a dream
We go on dreaming
I wish we were fig leaves
I wish we were an abandoned plant
Give birth to me again
I long for everything
I long for myself I long for you
We will live because life goes on
We travel like other people but we return to nowhere
As if travelling is the way of the clouds
We have a country of words
Speak speak so we may know the end of this travel
We are here and in a moment we'll explode this siege
In a moment we'll free a cloud and travel within ourselves
A gentle rain in a distant autumn
And the birds are blue are blue
And the windows are white are white
And the promises are green are green
The birds have flown to a time which will not return
My country is the joy of being in chains
Samih al-Qasim
On the day you kill me you'll find in my pocket travel tickets
Don't waste the tickets
A blue city dreamt of tourists
Don't kill us fire
We are young and pretty and we grew up together
Don't kill us Don't k...
They killed me once then wore my face many times
From the window of my small cell I can see trees smiling at me
Windows weeping and praying for me
From the window of my small cell I can see your large cell
Light the fire so I can see my tears
Light the fire so I can see myself dying
My suffering is your only inheritance
The house collapsed
The clock was still on the wall
The clock ticked on
Adonis
The earth and sky trapped in a box of colours
He never slept in a bed of myths
The earth rises in my body
As distant as our souls
As distant as a journey into the space of the soul
A sun that kills and destroys appears over the bridge
Doubt is his home but he is full of eyes
His words are engraved in the direction of loss loss loss
Through a window of prayers we reached the sky
We have lost faith in tomorrow
Where we used to begin a new life
How can I walk towards my people towards myself?
How can I walk towards my passion my voice?
My era tells me bluntly you do not belong
I am a shadow lost in the forest
Am I full of contradictions?
I hung my death between my face and these bleeding words
December 21, 2021
Eye-opening for me, back when I bought and read this.
April 30, 2021
Incredible. In particular, this was the first time I really sat down and read this much of Adonis' work, and his poems are a revelation. Get him his Nobel prize already! Masterful work from all three authors, who work really nicely alongside each other, while being very different. The translation was good, although there will always be some wordplay, images and devices that are extremely difficult to translate. Will definitely be reading again. Such an intense, enveloping experience. So many highlighted notes and images to go back to. Look forward to reading more from all of these authors.
December 3, 2017
I hated the English translation.
November 25, 2023
Free Palestine
March 5, 2024
Some of the translations are definitely missing something - the poetry in English doesn't always quite work - but the emotions still carry through. I especially loved Adonis's works.
December 15, 2024
the greats
January 24, 2021
Jan 23
8. Adonis, Mahmud Darwish, and Samih al-Qasim, Victims of a Map: A Bilingual Anthology of Arabic Poetry [1984] 165 pages
An anthology of three of the most important twentieth-century Arab poets, translated by Abdullah al-Udhari. Each is represented by fifteen poems, written shortly before the anthology was published; in fact many of the poems are published here for the first time in Arabic, and all for the first time in English translation. Mahmud Darwish (Palestinian, born 1942) is probably the best known; one of his anthologies is next month's reading for the World Literature group I belong to on Goodreads. Samih al-Qasim (born 1939) was also Palestinian. Both were represented by a small number of poems in the anthology by Alshaer (The Map of Absence) that the Goodreads group read for this month. Adonis (pen name of Ali Ahmad Said, born 1930) was the oldest of the three, and one of the pioneers in modern Arabic poetry; he was born in Syria, but after being imprisoned for his political activities (as were the other two as well) he went into exile in Beirut when he was 26.
As always, I have to begin by admitting that I am unqualified to review modern poetry, and particularly when I don't read the language of the original; however, I did find all three poets enjoyable and full of striking images -- although in some cases I think I didn't have the cultural knowledge to fully appreciate them. A highlight was the long poem "The Desert" written by Adonis during the 1982 siege of Beirut.
8. Adonis, Mahmud Darwish, and Samih al-Qasim, Victims of a Map: A Bilingual Anthology of Arabic Poetry [1984] 165 pages
An anthology of three of the most important twentieth-century Arab poets, translated by Abdullah al-Udhari. Each is represented by fifteen poems, written shortly before the anthology was published; in fact many of the poems are published here for the first time in Arabic, and all for the first time in English translation. Mahmud Darwish (Palestinian, born 1942) is probably the best known; one of his anthologies is next month's reading for the World Literature group I belong to on Goodreads. Samih al-Qasim (born 1939) was also Palestinian. Both were represented by a small number of poems in the anthology by Alshaer (The Map of Absence) that the Goodreads group read for this month. Adonis (pen name of Ali Ahmad Said, born 1930) was the oldest of the three, and one of the pioneers in modern Arabic poetry; he was born in Syria, but after being imprisoned for his political activities (as were the other two as well) he went into exile in Beirut when he was 26.
As always, I have to begin by admitting that I am unqualified to review modern poetry, and particularly when I don't read the language of the original; however, I did find all three poets enjoyable and full of striking images -- although in some cases I think I didn't have the cultural knowledge to fully appreciate them. A highlight was the long poem "The Desert" written by Adonis during the 1982 siege of Beirut.
Read
January 31, 2024I do not feel like I can give a rating for this book, but I will say that there are quite a few poems in this anthology that truly show why they have had the impact that they’ve had.
My reluctance to rate this is that this is a translated work and there’s a few times where I felt there was something that was missing in the translation where rhythm and direct translation was favored over meaning. It’s also evident that I’m missing knowledge of some symbolism which may be culturally or religiously tied.
It was fun though to use this book as a way to practice Arabic. Though I wouldn’t say I managed to sound out any word correctly, it has helped me to learn most of the phonetics of the Arabic alphabet!
My reluctance to rate this is that this is a translated work and there’s a few times where I felt there was something that was missing in the translation where rhythm and direct translation was favored over meaning. It’s also evident that I’m missing knowledge of some symbolism which may be culturally or religiously tied.
It was fun though to use this book as a way to practice Arabic. Though I wouldn’t say I managed to sound out any word correctly, it has helped me to learn most of the phonetics of the Arabic alphabet!
April 13, 2021
3 poets with 3 very different styles and energy. The mourning and sorrow in these poets are so tangible! I read this books as an introduction to Arabic poetry and oh boy if I was mesmerized by it. I have read somewhere that Adonis happens to be the most mature of these poets. Yet, I actually found my self liking the other 2 way more. Mahmud Darwish has this fantastic ability to convey hope and sorrow through beautiful imagery, I think a beautiful example "We are entitled to love Autumn". I loved Samih al-Qasim, his genius comes out especially in short poems that tickle you and makes you read them multiple times. The poem "Abandoning" had me sobbing, which was completely unexpected.
August 15, 2022
Excerpts from my favourite poems in the anthology:
“We are entitled to love the end of this autumn and ask:
Is there room for another autumn in the field and rest our bodies like coal?
An autumn lowering it’s leaves like gold. I wish we were fig leaves
I wish we were an abandoned plant
To witness the change of the seasons.”
We Are Entitled to Love Autumn -Mahmud Darwish
“We travel like other people, but we return to nowhere. As if travelling
Is the way of the clouds. We have buried our loved ones in the
darkness of the clouds, between roots of the trees.
And we said to our wives: go on giving birth to people like us
To the hour of a country, to a metre of the impossible.”
We Travel Like Other People -Mahmud Darwish
“A gentle rain in a strange autumn
And the windows are white, are white,
And the sun is a citrus grove at dusk,
And I, a stolen orange.
Why are you running away from my body
When all I want
From the country of daggers and nightingales
Is my mother’s handkerchief
And a reason for a new death.”
A Gentle Rain in a Distant Autumn -Mahmud Darwish
“The street is a woman who bites
The passerby.
The camel sleeping around her breast
Sings
For the oil shaikhs.
And the street is a woman who falls
On her bed.”
A Mirror for Beirut (1967) -Adonis
“My era tells me bluntly:
You do not belong.
I answer bluntly:
I do not belong,
I try to understand you.
Now I am a shadow
Lost in the forest
Of a skull.”
The Desert (The Diary of Beirut Under Siege, 1982) -Adonis
A lot of powerful symbolism and imagery. A constant expression of longing, hope, and resistance throughout each poet’s work.
“We are entitled to love the end of this autumn and ask:
Is there room for another autumn in the field and rest our bodies like coal?
An autumn lowering it’s leaves like gold. I wish we were fig leaves
I wish we were an abandoned plant
To witness the change of the seasons.”
We Are Entitled to Love Autumn -Mahmud Darwish
“We travel like other people, but we return to nowhere. As if travelling
Is the way of the clouds. We have buried our loved ones in the
darkness of the clouds, between roots of the trees.
And we said to our wives: go on giving birth to people like us
To the hour of a country, to a metre of the impossible.”
We Travel Like Other People -Mahmud Darwish
“A gentle rain in a strange autumn
And the windows are white, are white,
And the sun is a citrus grove at dusk,
And I, a stolen orange.
Why are you running away from my body
When all I want
From the country of daggers and nightingales
Is my mother’s handkerchief
And a reason for a new death.”
A Gentle Rain in a Distant Autumn -Mahmud Darwish
“The street is a woman who bites
The passerby.
The camel sleeping around her breast
Sings
For the oil shaikhs.
And the street is a woman who falls
On her bed.”
A Mirror for Beirut (1967) -Adonis
“My era tells me bluntly:
You do not belong.
I answer bluntly:
I do not belong,
I try to understand you.
Now I am a shadow
Lost in the forest
Of a skull.”
The Desert (The Diary of Beirut Under Siege, 1982) -Adonis
A lot of powerful symbolism and imagery. A constant expression of longing, hope, and resistance throughout each poet’s work.
February 24, 2024
This anthology features poems by Mahmoud Darwish, Adonis, and Samih al-Qasim, each exploring themes of Palestinian loss, war, and exile.
"If I were to start all over again I'd choose what I had chosen: the roses on the fence.
I'd travel again on the road which may or may not lead to Cordova.
I'd hang my shadow on two rocks for the fugitive birds to build a nest on my shadow's branch,
I'd break my shadow to follow the scent of almonds as it flies on a dusty cloud,
And feel tired at the foot of the mountain: come and listen to me.
Have some of my bread,
Drink from my wine and do not leave me on the road of years on my own like a tired willow tree.
I love the country that's never felt the tread of departure's song, nor bowed to blood or a woman.
I love the women who conceal in their desire the suicide of horses dying on the threshold.
I will return if I have to return to my roses, to my steps, But I will never go back to Cordova."
"If I were to start all over again I'd choose what I had chosen: the roses on the fence.
I'd travel again on the road which may or may not lead to Cordova.
I'd hang my shadow on two rocks for the fugitive birds to build a nest on my shadow's branch,
I'd break my shadow to follow the scent of almonds as it flies on a dusty cloud,
And feel tired at the foot of the mountain: come and listen to me.
Have some of my bread,
Drink from my wine and do not leave me on the road of years on my own like a tired willow tree.
I love the country that's never felt the tread of departure's song, nor bowed to blood or a woman.
I love the women who conceal in their desire the suicide of horses dying on the threshold.
I will return if I have to return to my roses, to my steps, But I will never go back to Cordova."
January 13, 2025
Jerusalem Rose Thorn: "To kill for nothing is my only profession (...) It is our fate. I die so you may live or you die so I may live"
Ear of Corn: "There is enough room for both of us in the field"
Rarely do I regret not learning the language when I had the chance as much as when I come across arabic poetry. Love poems translated into english in my experience tend to tear at my heartstrings in ways poems originally in other langauges do not and I just know the originals would leave me completely undone.
Meanwhile the imagery of war poetry with all its metaphors falls flat when written in English. It is still tense, the grief and agony often do manage to come across, but the imagery, presumably quite natural in Arabic, comes across as a bit confusing in English. I can only imagine the sheer magnitude of feelings conveyed in the originals.
I wish I could experience it.
Ear of Corn: "There is enough room for both of us in the field"
Rarely do I regret not learning the language when I had the chance as much as when I come across arabic poetry. Love poems translated into english in my experience tend to tear at my heartstrings in ways poems originally in other langauges do not and I just know the originals would leave me completely undone.
Meanwhile the imagery of war poetry with all its metaphors falls flat when written in English. It is still tense, the grief and agony often do manage to come across, but the imagery, presumably quite natural in Arabic, comes across as a bit confusing in English. I can only imagine the sheer magnitude of feelings conveyed in the originals.
I wish I could experience it.
November 13, 2023
This is a valuable and timeless collection, and I really appreciate the originals alongside the translations. That said, as an English-speaker, I do wonder about some of the translations. I would really love to be able to read the original Arabic, as it seems to me that some of the translated lines are a little awkwardly worded. It is always very difficult to translate poems into any other language; one hopes that there is a collaborative element involved, and that the translator is also a poet.
April 20, 2024
Mahmoud Darwish, Samih al-Qasim and Adonis are poets born in the 1930's and 1940's and are now regarded as the best and most loved poets of the Arab world today. Each have their own collection within the publication - there are thirteen poems of Mahmoud Darwish which have not been previously published.
Being a fan of Arab poetry, [written in both English and Arabic], this five star collection is both beautiful and poignant in its simplicity making even more the theme of the poems more resonant and memorable. It is a collection that you would want to turn to again and again.
Being a fan of Arab poetry, [written in both English and Arabic], this five star collection is both beautiful and poignant in its simplicity making even more the theme of the poems more resonant and memorable. It is a collection that you would want to turn to again and again.
February 7, 2024
No sé el suficiente árabe como para juzgar como de buena es la traducción pero sí como para ver las diferencias entre el texto en arabe y en inglés. En cualquier caso es precioso, vine por al Qasim y Darwish pero el que más me ha sorprendido es Adonis.
I'm on my feet, the wall is a fence—
The distance shrinks, the window recedes
Daylight is a thread
Snipped by my lungs to stitch the evening.
("The Dessert" from Diary of Beirut Under Siege, Adonis, 1982)
I'm on my feet, the wall is a fence—
The distance shrinks, the window recedes
Daylight is a thread
Snipped by my lungs to stitch the evening.
("The Dessert" from Diary of Beirut Under Siege, Adonis, 1982)
October 8, 2024
Short but beautiful collection from all three, will re-read ones that stood out to me.
Having it in bilingual helps me as an arab who can speak but wants to improve my literacy in reading and to compare how translations capture certain words English cannot as well.
Will come back and edit this review with poems that stood out
Having it in bilingual helps me as an arab who can speak but wants to improve my literacy in reading and to compare how translations capture certain words English cannot as well.
Will come back and edit this review with poems that stood out
February 16, 2019
Marshall gives nods to all the feels of Chi, and calls out the disparities the city tries to ignore. Powerful pieces about missing friends lost to gun violence and memories in a lyrical collection pulling on heart strings while saying the unsayable.
April 10, 2020
actual rating: 4.5⭐️.
a great introduction into Arabic poetry. I particularly loved the work of Darwish, finding it greatly evocative and poignant. It’s also nice to see the original Arabic text side-by-side with the English translation. Will definitely go back to this
a great introduction into Arabic poetry. I particularly loved the work of Darwish, finding it greatly evocative and poignant. It’s also nice to see the original Arabic text side-by-side with the English translation. Will definitely go back to this
August 8, 2021
Pure Pleasure Poetry
It is amazing the depths yielded by the traumatic life experiences of each of these writers. To have the Arabic alongside makes this work an answer to coming to grasp these writers in their experiences of statelessness, etc.
It is amazing the depths yielded by the traumatic life experiences of each of these writers. To have the Arabic alongside makes this work an answer to coming to grasp these writers in their experiences of statelessness, etc.
February 2, 2020
I really enjoyed this collection, in particular, the poems of Samih Al-Quasim.
April 7, 2020
Loved the poetry in it. Not sure if the translations were the best. For that I had to drop a star.
Read
September 13, 2021This is excellent.
October 14, 2023
"My country is the joy of being in chains,
A kiss sent in the post.
All I want
From the country which slaughtered me
Is my mother's handkerchief
And reasons for a new death. "
A kiss sent in the post.
All I want
From the country which slaughtered me
Is my mother's handkerchief
And reasons for a new death. "
March 28, 2024
Haunting yet beautiful imagery. These three poets capture human tragedy and longing in such vivid, unconventional ways. The words on each page bleed out sorrow and anguish.
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