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Think of Others
English Translation
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As you prepare your breakfast, think of others
 (do not forget the pigeon's food).
As you conduct your wars, think of others
 (do not forget those who seek peace).
As you pay your water bill, think of others
 (those who are nursed by clouds).
As you return home, to your home, think of others
 (do not forget the people of the camps).
As you sleep and count the stars, think of others
 (those who have nowhere to sleep).
As you liberate yourself in metaphor, think of others
 (those who have lost the right to speak).
As you think of others far away, think of yourself
 (say: “If only I were a candle in the dark").

Original Arabic
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فكِّر بغيركَ

وأنتَ تُعِدُّ فطورك، فكِّر بغيركَ
لا تَنْسَ قوتَ الحمام
وأنتَ تخوضُ حروبكَ، فكِّر بغيركَ
لا تنس مَنْ يطلبون السلام
وأنتَ تسدد فاتورةَ الماء، فكِّر بغيركَ
مَنْ يرضَعُون الغمامٍ
وأنتَ تعودُ إلى البيت، بيتكَ، فكِّر بغيركَ
لا تنس شعب الخيامْ
وأنت تنام وتُحصي الكواكبَ، فكِّر بغيركَ
ثمّةَ مَنْ لم يجد حيّزاً للمنام
وأنت تحرّر نفسك بالاستعارات، فكِّر بغيركَ
مَنْ فقدوا حقَّهم في الكلام
وأنت تفكر بالآخرين البعيدين، فكِّر بنفسك
قُلْ: ليتني شمعةُ في الظلام
قُلْ: ليتني شمعةُ في الظلام

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Art by amygrace

This page is a digital installation by the Sphinx of the West.
Mahmoud Darwish
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Considered Palestine’s most eminent poet, Mahmoud Darwish published his first collection of poems, Leaves of Olives (Dār al-ʻawda, 1964) in Beirut when he was twenty-two. Since then, Darwish has published approximately thirty poetry and prose collections, which have been translated into more than twenty-two languages.

poets.org

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Some of Darwish’s more recent poetry titles include The Butterfly’s Burden (Copper Canyon Press, 2006); Unfortunately, It Was Paradise: Selected Poems (University of California Press, 2003); Stage of Siege, originally published in Arabic in 2002, then rereleased in English in 2010 (Syracuse University Press); The Adam of Two Edens (Syracuse University Press, 2000); Mural, first published in Arabic in 2000, then rereleased in English in 2017 (Verso Books); Psalms (Three Continents Press, 1994); Why Did You Leave the Horse Alone?, first published in Arabic in 1995, then rereleased in English in 2012 (Steerforth Press); and The Music of Human Flesh (Heinemann, 1980).

poets.org

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Darwish’s awards and honors include the Ibn Sina Prize, the Lenin Peace Prize, the 1969 Lotus Prize from the Union of Afro-Asian Writers, France’s Knight of Arts and Belles Lettres medal in 1997, the 2001 Prize for Cultural Freedom from the Lannan Foundation, the Moroccan Wissam of Intellectual Merit handed to him by King Mohammad VI of Morocco, and the USSR’s Stalin Peace Prize.

poets.org

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