Poetry expresses the most profound feelings of a people. That was what the concept of General Anwar Sadat. When Uri Avnery quotes these lines for Mahmud Darwish in his latest article- Palestine’s national poet (21.08.08), and it comes from a well known and dispassionate Israeli writer, his obituarial lines deeply touch the reader. Darwish was one of the greatest poets in the world. Only could Darwish term the Arab-Israeli conflict as “a struggle between two memories”. The phrase preserves humanity for both the confronting nations. It evokes nostalgia for both. It does not echo any shrieks of gun or missiles. Because he understood the feelings of his friends and foes. He equates the existence of his with theirs. He delves into the impact of the losses both had suffered so far. Only can a beautiful mind deliver such a great and mellifluous phrase. Such poets and writers leave a perennial vacuum, which no one can fill. I salute him. And a few lines for him:
Record !
You are a great poet
Of not the Arab world
But of the entire world
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