My Homeland

Ibrahim Tuqan – My Homeland

My homeland
My homeland
Glory and beauty
Sublimity and prettiness
Are in your hills
Life and deliverance
Pleasure and hope
Are in your atmosphere
Will I see you?
Safe and comfortable

Sound and honored
Will I see you?
In your eminence
Reaching the stars
My homeland
My homeland
*

The youth will not get tired
Their goal is your independence

Or they die
We will drink from death
But we will not be slaves to our enemies
We do not want
An eternal humiliation
Nor a miserable life
We do not want
But we will return
Our great glory
My homeland
My homeland

*
The sword and the pen
Are our symbols
Not talking nor quarreling
Our glory and covenant
And a duty to fulfill it
Shake us
Our honor
Is an honorable cause
A raised flag
O, your beauty
In your eminence
Victorious over your enemies
My homeland
My homeland

As mentioned above, Ibrahim is Fadwa’s brother who initially introduced her to poetry and literature. Born and raised to a prominent governing family in Nablus in 1905, his works are believed to have influenced generations and echoed the very silenced Palestinian voices at the turn of the 20th century. 

My Homeland seems to serve as both a tribute and reminder of how resilient Palestinians are,  bearing and carrying “the sword and the pen (as) (their) symbols” at all times – proof that the Palestinian cause will only die out once each and every single pen runs out of ink.