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If I Were Another: Poems
Winner of the PEN USA Literary Award for Translation
Mahmoud Darwish was that rare literary phenomenon: a poet both acclaimed by critics as one of the most important poets in the Arab world and beloved by his readers. His language—lyrical and tender—helped to transform modern Arabic poetry into a living metaphor for the universal experiences of exile, loss, and identity. The poems in this collection, constructed from the cadence and imagery of the Palestinian struggle, shift between the most intimate individual experience and the burdens of history and collective memory. Brilliantly translated by Fady Joudah, If I Were Another—which collects the greatest epic works of Darwish's mature years—is a powerful yet elegant work by a master poet and demonstrates why Darwish was one of the most celebrated poets of his time and was hailed as the voice and conscience of an entire people.
Mahmoud Darwish was that rare literary phenomenon: a poet both acclaimed by critics as one of the most important poets in the Arab world and beloved by his readers. His language—lyrical and tender—helped to transform modern Arabic poetry into a living metaphor for the universal experiences of exile, loss, and identity. The poems in this collection, constructed from the cadence and imagery of the Palestinian struggle, shift between the most intimate individual experience and the burdens of history and collective memory. Brilliantly translated by Fady Joudah, If I Were Another—which collects the greatest epic works of Darwish's mature years—is a powerful yet elegant work by a master poet and demonstrates why Darwish was one of the most celebrated poets of his time and was hailed as the voice and conscience of an entire people.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
45 people are currently reading
931 people want to read
About the author
Mahmoud Darwish
211 books12k 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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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
November 25, 2020
2 .
I see what I want of the sea . . . I see
the rise of seagulls at sunset, and I close my eyes:
this loss leads to an Andalus
and this sail is the pigeons' prayer for me . . .
3.
I see what I want of the night . . . I see
the end of this long corridor by some city's gates.
I'll toss my notebook on the sidewalk of cafes, and seat this absence
on a chair aboard one of the ships
4.
I see what I want of the soul: the face of stone
as lightning scratches it. Green is the land . . . green, the land of my soul.
Wasn't I a child once playing by the edge of the well?
I am still playing . . . this vastness is my meadow, and the stones my wind
[...]
8.
I see what I want of love . . . I see
horses making the meadow dance, fifty guitars sighing, and a swarm
of bees suckling the wild berries, and I close my eyes
until I see our shadow behind this dispossessed place
I see what I want of the sea . . . I see
the rise of seagulls at sunset, and I close my eyes:
this loss leads to an Andalus
and this sail is the pigeons' prayer for me . . .
3.
I see what I want of the night . . . I see
the end of this long corridor by some city's gates.
I'll toss my notebook on the sidewalk of cafes, and seat this absence
on a chair aboard one of the ships
4.
I see what I want of the soul: the face of stone
as lightning scratches it. Green is the land . . . green, the land of my soul.
Wasn't I a child once playing by the edge of the well?
I am still playing . . . this vastness is my meadow, and the stones my wind
[...]
8.
I see what I want of love . . . I see
horses making the meadow dance, fifty guitars sighing, and a swarm
of bees suckling the wild berries, and I close my eyes
until I see our shadow behind this dispossessed place
July 29, 2016
'Green, my poem's land is green. One river is enough for me to whisper to the butterfly: O sister. One river is enough for me to seduce the ancient myths to remain on the wings of an eagle. An eagle that changes banners and distant peaks, where armies have founded the kingdoms of forgetfulness for me. There is no nation smaller than its poem. But weapons widen the word for the dead and the living in it, and letters brighten the sword that hangs in dawn's belt, and the song either diminishes or expands the desert.' ~ from Mural
I will now have to add Mahmoud Darwish to my club of favorite poets, the majority of whom are Arab. I think if such poems are so wonderful, thought provoking, elegant, and beautiful in English, I would die of ecstacy if I had the skill to read them un-translated.
I rank Mahmoud Darwish beside another of my favorites Syrian and the most revered modern Arab poets, Nizar Qabbani. Mahmoud Darwish is also honored as the national poet of the Palestinians. Some of the poems of both of these men have been put into song by popular Arab singers. If you have seen the award winning 2009 film Amreeka, the closing song sung by Lebanese singer Marcel Khalife are the words from Mahmoud Darwish's poem Passport.
In If I Were Another Mahmoud Darwish's words are about longing and remembrance: longing for a homeland, longing for justice, remembrance of history, remembrance of childhood, remembrance of parents, remembrance of a Jewish woman he once had a secret love affair with, remembrance of his Christian Palestinian friend with dual identities, Arab American scholar and writer Edward Said.
Even though he is of an oppressed group Darwish comes off as wise and elegant in the face of oppression. His language is never harsh or angry. He knows what the deal is, but he will never be anyone's lackey. These poems express the feeling he will always keep his dignity while facing injustice. He knows how to rise above his enemies. Poetry is his sword, and he will always be bigger than any brute.
In The Red Indian's Penultimate Speech to the White Man, Darwish even has the Native American speak because he can accurately compare his people's own plight in Palestine to what happened in America under European colonialism. Here is the poem by the translator of all the poems in this volume.
http://harvardreview.fas.harvard.edu/...
I've revealed enough about this wonderful collection. I took time to read Mahmoud Darwish's poems over months to really digest it. For me in some ways Mahmoud Darwish's If I Were Another: Poems functions similar to Tolstoy's prose. Certainly they are not in the same territory as artists and intellectuals. Both are in classifications of their own in time, place, and technique. However, both I enjoy reading slowly and pondering over a very long time. Their artistry is such that I can learn from them and comprehend more about life by reading their works. Being a member of the African diaspora ancestrally, I can relate so much to Mahmpud Darwish's longing for a homeland and his feeling of exile.
In closing, here is Passport from the movie Amreeka sung by Marcel Khalife. This poem is not in this volume.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDRKs...
I will now have to add Mahmoud Darwish to my club of favorite poets, the majority of whom are Arab. I think if such poems are so wonderful, thought provoking, elegant, and beautiful in English, I would die of ecstacy if I had the skill to read them un-translated.
I rank Mahmoud Darwish beside another of my favorites Syrian and the most revered modern Arab poets, Nizar Qabbani. Mahmoud Darwish is also honored as the national poet of the Palestinians. Some of the poems of both of these men have been put into song by popular Arab singers. If you have seen the award winning 2009 film Amreeka, the closing song sung by Lebanese singer Marcel Khalife are the words from Mahmoud Darwish's poem Passport.
In If I Were Another Mahmoud Darwish's words are about longing and remembrance: longing for a homeland, longing for justice, remembrance of history, remembrance of childhood, remembrance of parents, remembrance of a Jewish woman he once had a secret love affair with, remembrance of his Christian Palestinian friend with dual identities, Arab American scholar and writer Edward Said.
Even though he is of an oppressed group Darwish comes off as wise and elegant in the face of oppression. His language is never harsh or angry. He knows what the deal is, but he will never be anyone's lackey. These poems express the feeling he will always keep his dignity while facing injustice. He knows how to rise above his enemies. Poetry is his sword, and he will always be bigger than any brute.
In The Red Indian's Penultimate Speech to the White Man, Darwish even has the Native American speak because he can accurately compare his people's own plight in Palestine to what happened in America under European colonialism. Here is the poem by the translator of all the poems in this volume.
http://harvardreview.fas.harvard.edu/...
I've revealed enough about this wonderful collection. I took time to read Mahmoud Darwish's poems over months to really digest it. For me in some ways Mahmoud Darwish's If I Were Another: Poems functions similar to Tolstoy's prose. Certainly they are not in the same territory as artists and intellectuals. Both are in classifications of their own in time, place, and technique. However, both I enjoy reading slowly and pondering over a very long time. Their artistry is such that I can learn from them and comprehend more about life by reading their works. Being a member of the African diaspora ancestrally, I can relate so much to Mahmpud Darwish's longing for a homeland and his feeling of exile.
In closing, here is Passport from the movie Amreeka sung by Marcel Khalife. This poem is not in this volume.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDRKs...
October 21, 2021
Love poems hit better, make me change my mind.
January 25, 2024
“no love resembles another love.
no night resembles another night.”
no night resembles another night.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 3, 2023
Mahmoud Darwish has been called Palestine’s national poet and along with Edward Said, he is perhaps one of the most important contributors to Palestinian culture and theory of the 20th century. This book, If I Were Another contains four parts: “I See What I Want” (1990), “Eleven Planets” (1992), “Mural” (2000) and “Exile” (2005).
The first two are from what is considered his middle period and are more dense and more historical (the second collection includes a long piece which ties the Palestinian experience to that of the Native American). The latter two parts, which I enjoyed much more, are from his late period. These ones are beautiful and personal. All of them are rich in symbolism and biographical experience.
His style is at times a bit of Rimbaud, a bit of Leonard Cohen, of Garcia Lorca and his works show the influence of important Arab philosophers as well. But the works are distinctly Darwish, steeped in the historical moments he experienced in Palestine (and abroad) and given his own magic touch. The poems are lyrical, symbolic and epic in nature and Darwish has the gift of capturing something both unique and personal and at the same time universal.
His poems can be playful (making Death wait as he packs his razor) and reflective. His gift for language and for seeing the world in all its agony and glory are impressive and it’s easy to see what made him an artist both critically acclaimed and revered by his public.
The first two are from what is considered his middle period and are more dense and more historical (the second collection includes a long piece which ties the Palestinian experience to that of the Native American). The latter two parts, which I enjoyed much more, are from his late period. These ones are beautiful and personal. All of them are rich in symbolism and biographical experience.
His style is at times a bit of Rimbaud, a bit of Leonard Cohen, of Garcia Lorca and his works show the influence of important Arab philosophers as well. But the works are distinctly Darwish, steeped in the historical moments he experienced in Palestine (and abroad) and given his own magic touch. The poems are lyrical, symbolic and epic in nature and Darwish has the gift of capturing something both unique and personal and at the same time universal.
His poems can be playful (making Death wait as he packs his razor) and reflective. His gift for language and for seeing the world in all its agony and glory are impressive and it’s easy to see what made him an artist both critically acclaimed and revered by his public.
July 13, 2022
I think I’m going to come back to this beautiful book again and again.
March 20, 2022
I want from love only the beginning, the pigeons darn
this day's dress over my Granada squares.
There's a lot of wine in the jars for a feast after us.
There are enough windows in the songs for pomegranate blossoms to explode
I leave the Arabian jasmine in the vase, I leave my little heart
in my mother's closet, I leave my dream laughing in water.
I leave the dawn in the honey of figs, I leave my day and my yesterday
in the alleyways to the orange plaza where the pigeons fly
Was I the one who descended to your feet, for speech to rise
as a white moon in your nights' milk . . . Stomp the air
for me to see the street of the flute blue . . . Stomp the evening
for me to see how marble falls ill between me and you
The windows are empty of your shawl's gardens. In a different time
I used to know a lot about you, and pick gardenias
off your ten fingers. In a different time, I had pearls
around your neck, and a name on a ring illuminating darkness
I want from love only the beginning, the pigeons flew
over the sky's last ceiling, the pigeons flew and flew.
A lot of wine will remain, after us, in the jars
and a bit of land is enough for us to meet, and for peace to arrive
June 26, 2022
I think my favorite collection of Darwish poems so far? The introduction is pretty dense, but I did enjoy this Darwish quote from it: “The Palestinian is not a profession or a slogan. He, in the first place, is a human being who loves life and is taken by almond blossoms and feels a shiver after the first autumn rain.”
February 23, 2023
no one does it like darwish. would have enjoyed it so much more if i read it in arabic. still loved the translation
September 2, 2024
"O water, be a string to my guitar"
November 24, 2023
This is probably Darwish's best collection (it's actually four books in one), and one of the most exquisite volumes of poetry I've ever read. The highlight is his epic poem, "Mural", which is a gorgeous meditation on loss and dispossession, and the hope for a better future. I will always admire the resilience of the Palestinian people to find joy in the horrific circumstances they're subjected to by imperialism and Zionism. I challenge anyone who sees Palestinians and Arabs as subhuman to read this, and tell me after if they still have the same impression.
November 15, 2024
love and exile and yearning for place, for existential understanding. i tend to have a difficult time following long poems—and the majority here are long—so i think this collection begets a slower, closer reading of these pieces, but upon first impression i really loved it and was wowed by darwish's reverence to all he writes about. i can only imagine how much more beautiful these words are in arabic, but joudah translations are lovely and lyrical as is
Read
June 7, 2021this was lovely but i didn't understand anything :(
August 14, 2022
Beauty that cannot be named
Love Darwish and especially any translation done by Joudah. Reading this again and again, and the beauty here only deepens. Shukran.
Love Darwish and especially any translation done by Joudah. Reading this again and again, and the beauty here only deepens. Shukran.
August 20, 2022
"Here are souls glitter, start by star, in the space of song!"
"why the mosquito, O God?" Hugely relatable.
"why the mosquito, O God?" Hugely relatable.
November 23, 2022
"On the last evening, we bid nothing farewell, we don't find the time to end who we are ... everything remains the same, the place exchanges our dreams and exchanges its visitors."
November 8, 2023
"I am from there. I am from here. I am not there and I am not here. I have two names, which meet and part, and I have two languages. I forget which of them I dream in..."
April 6, 2024
“There’s no wind here that lifts me higher than the past.”
December 19, 2024
4.5/5 exquisite
Read
May 8, 2025the country within my hands is of my hands
June 3, 2025
well damn, this was personal!
August 11, 2025
If I Were Another is a collection of Mahmoud Darwish’s poems from four different books. The poems are lyrical and dense with symbolism and imagery that warrant multiple slow reads to fully absorb. I was surprised by how there are poems that reference other places and times such as the indigenous peoples of the Americas or Spain’s history of Muslim rule, showing how parts of the Palestinian experience resonate across the world.
June 9, 2021
12.
i see what i want of the theater of the absurd: beasts,
court judges, the emperor's hat, the masks of the era,
the color of the ancient sky, the palace dancer, the mayhem of armies.
then i forget them all and remember only the victim behind the curtain
13.
i see what i want of poetry: in ancient times, we used to parade martyred
poets in sweet basil then return to their poetry safely. but in this age
of humming, movies, and magazines, we heap the sand on their poems
and laugh. and when we return we find them standing at our doorsteps . . .
i see what i want of the theater of the absurd: beasts,
court judges, the emperor's hat, the masks of the era,
the color of the ancient sky, the palace dancer, the mayhem of armies.
then i forget them all and remember only the victim behind the curtain
13.
i see what i want of poetry: in ancient times, we used to parade martyred
poets in sweet basil then return to their poetry safely. but in this age
of humming, movies, and magazines, we heap the sand on their poems
and laugh. and when we return we find them standing at our doorsteps . . .
July 20, 2014
I didn't intend on rereading this so soon, having read some other Darwish very recently- but hearing about the current situation in Gaza, I found myself gravitating towards him. So I don't really feel like I can write a proper review for it/change the rating, as I don't think there's much new stuff to add since the last time I read it. Love you lots Darwish.
November 15, 2009
Self and place, language and love, inheritance and exile -- Osiris sings softly to the night wind, dressed in white, eyes stolen from stone windows.
July 27, 2012
Joudah is my favorite translator of Darwish and this my favorite collection.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews