On The Extraordinary Poetry And Personality Of Mahmoud Darwish

By Dr Maqsood Jafri

Mehmood Darwish was a literary genius, who is hailed as the national poet of Palestine. He was born in Al-Birwa, in Western Galilee on 13 March 1941 and died on 9 August 2008 in Houston, Texas, America. He was regarded as Palestinian National Poet.

In 1988, he wrote the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, which was the formal declaration of the State of Palestine. In his poetic works, he explored Palestine as a metaphor for the loss of Eden, birth and resurrection, and the anguish of disposition.

John Milton wrote ‘Paradise Lost’ and ‘Paradise Regained’ with moral and spiritual zeal and zest, while the poetry of Darwish is the outburst of his vehemently adhered commitment to the freedom of Palestine. He has been described as incarnation and reflecting the tradition of a political poet in Muslims, the man of action whose action is poetry.

There are two types of men: the men of contemplation and the men of action. He was the man of contemplation as well as the man of action. He wrote poetry in Arabic but was well versed in Hebrew and English. At the age of 19, he published his first book titled “Wingless Birds”. He left Israel in 1970 to study in the Soviet Union. He attended the Lomonosov Moscow State University for one year. Later, he moved to Cairo in 1971.

When he joined Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1973, he was banned from re-entering Israel. Over his life time of 67 years, he published more than 30 volumes of poetry and eight books of prose. Some of his famous poems are: “Identity Card”, “To My Father”, and “A Soldier’s Dreams of Lilies.”

His early writings are in the Classical Arabic style. He wrote mono rhymed poems adhering to the metrics of traditional Arabic poetry. In 1970, he began to stray from these precepts and adopted a “free verse” technique and did not abide strictly by classical poetic norms. He wrote about the plight and hardships of the Palestinians at the hands of Israel.

His metaphorical, revolutionary and emotional poetry explored themes of displacement, self-discovery and impassioned love with an Israeli Jewish girl named Tamar Ben Ami known as Rita. They met in the early 1960s, when Darwish was a student at the University of Haifa. They were drawn to each other, despite their diverse backgrounds, and their love affair blossomed. Their union was a happy one. Mahmoud Darwish loved her from the core of his heart. Unfortunately, this love affair could not last long.

When the poet came to know that she was working for Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, he had to say goodbye to her. They were in relationship before he was married. On the other hand, Darwish was a prominent figure in the Palestinian National Movement, so this love had to end tragically. It was the national and patriotic need of Darwish to segregate himself from an agent of Israeli Mossad. A heartbroken Darwish then wrote:

“I felt like my homeland was occupied again.”

After their relationship was over, Darwish continued authoring poems revolving around this failed relationship, as he wrote,

“All roads lead to you, even those I took to forget you.”

He was deeply grieved on this separation. Once Darwish wrote:

“We once said that only death could tear us apart, death was late, and we split”.

How tragic are these words. He was all agony till his last breath on this tragic end of love. Though he married twice, and according to some sources both marriages ended in divorce. The wound of love could not be healed. Later, in his life in an interview with a French newspaper, he revealed his lost love affair with Tamar Ben Ami. Once, he wrote a poem about her titled “Rita and the Rifle”.

Alas; human tragedy is that people since centuries are divided into groups, races and religions. The racial discrimination and religious bigotry are great hurdles in human relations. The antagonist designs of nations have totally destroyed and disrupted human relations. The tragic end of the love of great Palestinian poet Mehmood Darwish and Israeli Jewish lady Ms. Ami is an example of this tragic story. Let the humans love humans discarding all such inhumane treatment and traditions. The unity of humans is the dire need of our age. Great poets Rumi and Bulleh Shah say that God lives in human hearts; capture hearts and do not break hearts.

Throughout my life, I have promoted and preached humanity. My English poetry book titled “Songs of Humanity“, was published in 2009, by Author House, Indiana, USA. It is my strong belief that the essence of all religions is to love humans and protect human rights. There is no other way to find God or being close to God except the Love of Man. Love begets love. ‘Live and let live’ should be the tenet of our faith. William Shakespeare in a Sonnet says:

“That love is not love that alters when it alteration finds.”

Did the love of Darwish and Rita find excuse for alteration? Yes, it found the excuse for alteration and that was not personal excuse but bitter truth that Ami was an agent of the Israeli Secret Service and Mahmud Darwish was a committed proponent and ideologue of the independence of Palestine, hence the separation was unavoidable.

Categories: Opinion, Palestine, Poetry

Tags: Israel, Jews, love, Muslims, Palestine, Poetry, poets