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His literary work genuinely pictured and voiced the true agony of the Palestinian conflict; with his words, he paved the way for human resistance; and with his death, the Arab world has lost one of its conscious critics.
Words will fail to describe the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, says Dr As’ad Abdul Rahman, Chairman of the Palestinian Encyclopaedia, adding, “He is one of the most important innovators.
His creativity had beautifully crafted his literary work. He was a remarkable writer in literature, politics and the philosophy of life along with his humanistic and endless effort to defend the Palestinian cause, which will always have its prints in the conscious mind.”
Born in 1942 in Palestine, Darwish, 67, won numerous awards for his literary output, including the 2003 Sutlan Al Owais Cultural Award in the field of cultural and scientific achievement, along with the Syrian poet Adonis.
In an interview with Haaretz last year, Darwish spoke about death, saying, “Let it not come like a thief.
Let it take me in a swoop.” On August 9, after having experienced clinical death once, the poet passed away after undergoing heart surgery in Texas.
Dr Abdul Rahman described his cherished, long association with Darwish as “a rare friendship that was filled with heart-to-heart cultural, political and literary discussions that took place at least twice a month.
"These discussions were peace-of-mind sort of talks that were between friends that can’t be disclosed to the public due to their sensitivity — on the political and social situation and about the people and authorities involved in making it.”
His life and death is of controversy, described Dr Fatima Al Sayegh, a UAE writer, saying: “He survived clinical death once before passing away and his life was controversial for many.
"He was a poet of Palestinian resistance. His politically charged poems made his words resonate in every corner of the Arab world.”
His words are believed to have voiced the inherent pain of many Palestinians.
In his work, Palestine became a metaphor for the loss of Eden, birth and resurrection and the anguish of dispossession and exile.
“His death is of great loss to Palestinians and Arabs. He was a beacon of hope and light in the Arab world. His literary work on political resistance will never see a resemblance anywhere in our lifetime again,” said Mohammad Al Mattawa, the prominent UAE writer."
Many of Darwish’s poems were set to music by Arab composers, including Marcel Khalife, Majida Al Roumi and Ahmad Qa’abour.
Darwish admired the Hebrew poet Yehuda Amichai but described his poetry as a “challenge to me because we write about the same place.
He wants to use the landscape and history for his own benefit, based on my destroyed identity. So we have competition: Who is the owner of the language of this land? Who loves it more? Who writes it better?”
In 2000, Israel’s education minister proposed adding some of Darwish’s writings to the school curriculum but the move was blocked after a stormy debate that rattled Ehud Barak’s coalition government.
“The lights of the city have vanished and the window of knowledge has closed for he was the leader of modern poetry and has many political stands on the Palestinian cause which will always be of great pride in the Arab world,” said Bilal Al Budoor, who is the assistant under-secretary for cultural affairs at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development.
Darwish’s mother, made famous by his poem My Mother’s Bread, had been bedridden for over a year but the tragic news of her son’s unexpected death got her out of bed to eulogise the son who lived away from her and used to pay her quick and sometimes secret visits, the Arabic daily Al khaleej reported.
“Whatever I say does not do Mahmoud justice,” she said. “He came to visit before he travelled to the United States.
I begged him not to go and I cried. You may not believe it but I felt tightness in my chest when he told me about the surgery.
“I begged him not to do it but he said he had thought it through and decided to undergo surgery. He made the decision,” she said.
Dr Abdul Rahman told Weekend Review that his last meeting with Darwish was while they were leaving Palestine on July 24 for Jordan. From Jordan, Darwish traveled to America after he received the visa approval to go to the US for his surgery after several attempts.
“He was worried about the surgery as it was a matter of life and death but he was also composed. As his friends, we should have been more composed. Instead we made him more worried,” Dr Abdul Rahman said.
Trying to hold back tears, he said, “Come back to us … we miss you.”
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