مَحْمود دَرْويش
Mahmoud Darwish
Palestinian Poet

“Mahmoud Darwish” is one of the most important Arab poets who contributed to the development of modern Arabic poetry. He was born in 1941 in Palestine, then moved with his family, accompanied by Palestinian refugees to Lebanon in 1948, and then returned to his country in 1949.

He was a revolutionary poet whose poetry was associated with the revolution and the Palestinian cause. In his poetry, the love of the homeland was mixed with the love of the beloved. His writing style was characterized by metaphors, symbols, historical and religious references that indicated his broad culture and his connection to humanitarian issues.

He died in the United States of America in 2008 after undergoing an open-heart surgery, and the President of the Palestinian Authority “Mahmoud Abbas” declared 3 days of mourning in all the Palestinian territories in grief over the poet’s death.

As for the sayings and quotes of “Mahmoud Darwish”, there are many immortal sayings, including:

“الكَون أصغر من جَناح فَراشةٍ في ساحةِ القلب الكبير.”
“The universe is smaller than a butterfly’s wing in the courtyard of the heart.”

“أنا المُسافِرُ داخِلي وأنا المُحاصَرُ بالثُّنائيات.”
“I travel within myself, besieged by contradictions.”

“كُلّ مدينة لا تُعرَفُ من رائحتها لا يُعَوَّلُ على ذِكْراها.”
“A city that cannot be known by its smell, is unreliable.”

“أحْبَبْتُكِ مُرغمًا، ليس لأنكِ الأجمل، بل لأنكِ الأعمق. فعاشقُ الجَمالِ في العادةِ أحمق.”
“I was compelled to love you, not because you are the fairest, but because you are the deepest. A lover of beauty is usually a fool.”

“حين ينتهي الحُب، أدرِكْ أنه لم يَكُن حُبًّا. الحُب لابدَّ أن يُعاش، لا أن يُتَذَكَّر.”
“When love ends, know it wasn’t really love. Love must be lived, not remembered.”

“قِفْ على ناصِية الحُلم وقاتِلْ.”
“Stand on the battlefront of your dream and fight for it.”

“حُرّيتي أن أكون كما لا يريدون لي أن أكون.”
“My freedom is to be what they don’t want me to be.”

“لرُبّما القمر ليس جميلًا إلا لأنه بعيد.”
“Maybe the moon is beautiful only because it is far.”

“على هذه الأرضِ ما يَسْتَحِقُّ الحياة.”
“We have on this land what makes life worth living.”

“الجميلاتُ هُنَّ الفقيرات، كالوردِ في ساحَةِ المَعْرَكة”
“The beautiful ones are the poor ones, like the roses in the battle field.”

“وأقولُ لِنَفْسي: سِيَطْلَعُ من عَتْمتي قمر.”
“And I tell myself: a moon will rise from my darkness.”

“سأحلُم، لا لأصلح أي معنى خارجي. بل كي أُرَمِّم داخلي المَهْجور.”
“I will dream, not to fix any external meaning. Rather, to restore my deserted interior.”

“إذا أردتَ أن تستيقظ سعيدًا في الصباح، فاعرفْ مع من تتحدث ليلًا.”
“If you want to wake up happy in the morning, know who you talk to at night.”

“احْذرْ قلبك، لا تُدَلِّلـهُ أكثر مما ينبغي، ولا تهملهُ أكثر مما يستحق.”
“Beware of your heart, do not spoil it more than it should, and do not neglect it more than it deserves.”

“إن أردتَ مُبارزة النِّسر، حلِّقْ معهُ.”
“If you want to duel the eagle, fly with it.”

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