"On this land, there's what's worth living"

This is an artwork portraying the famous Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. The words written in Arabic are from his poem "On this Land" , which was written about Palestine.

There’s on this land

what is worth living,

The recurring of April,

the smell of bread at dawn,

A woman’s amulet for men ,

Aeschylus’s writings,

the beginning of love,

Grass on a stone,

mothers standing on the thread of a flute,

and the invaders fear of memories.

There’s on this land what is worth living,

The end of September,

A lady leaving the forties

with all its apricot,

The hour of sunlight in prison,

Clouds imitating a flock of creatures,

A people’s cheers for those going up

to their doom, smiling

and the tyrants fear of songs.

There’s on this land what is worth living,

There’s on this land,

the lady of lands,

the mother of the beginnings

and of the ends.

It was called Palestine

Its name later became Palestine

My lady: I deserve,

since you’re my lady,

I deserve life