”Arabic Music,” a Poem by Mahmoud Darwish

“If only men were stones.”
If only I were a stone…

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Whenever the eyes wander,
Do these clouds, one by one,
Put me to flight?
When a sparrow scratches at the horizon
Do I search for an idol?

At each shining guitar
Does my spirit
Give way to its own demise
In the ships’ foaming wake—

When a woman finds her womanhood
Does the flash at my waist catch me in its light
And burn me!

When the mallow withers
And the bird cries upon its branch
Am I made ill
Or do I awaken: oh, my country!
Do I catch fire in the flowering of almonds
And at each burning
Am I the smoke, a kerchief

Does the north wind
Tear me,
The rain erase my face?

“If only men were stones.”
If only I were a stone…

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From Darwish: Poems. Used with the permission of the publisher, Everyman’s Library. Copyright © 2026 by Mahmoud Darwish

Mahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian author and poet. He was born in 1941 in the village of al-Birwa, which was destroyed by Israeli forces in 1948. He is often called the national poet of Palestine and was outspokenly opposed to the Jewish state. His first collection, Wingless Birds, was published when he was just nineteen years old. Darwish’s early work mirrored the traditional Arabic style, with poems composed of strictly metered monorhyme couplets. By the 1970s, Darwish started to develop the unique free-verse voice he is known for. His writing explores themes of exile, dispossession, birth, and resurrection. He authored over forty books, and served as editor for numerous literary journals. He received many prestigious awards, and after his death in 2008, Palestine observed three days of mourning. Later that year, the Mahmoud Darwish Foundation was established to uphold his cultural and literary legacy.