Be a Moon

If you would not be rain my darling, then be a tree,

Content in its bounty. Be a tree.

And if you would not be a tree my darling, then be a stone,

Content in its dampness. Be a stone.

And if you would not be a stone my darling, then be a moon,

In the slumber of the beloved, be a moon.

This is how a woman spoke to her son, at his funeral.


-Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008)



Original Arabic:


إذا لم تكن مطرا يا حبيبي ...فكن شجرا مشبعا بالخصوبة...كن شجرا...


وإذا لم تكن شجرا يا حبيبي...فكن حجرا مشبعا بالرطوبة...كن حجرا


وإذا لم تكن حجرا يا حبيبي ...فكن قمرا في منام الحبيبة ...كن قمرا


هكذا قالت امرأة لابنها في جنازته

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