IT'S OFFICIAL
Posted by NATIVE at 1/28/2009 10:09:00 PM::
2 Comments::
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Under Siege
Here on the slopes of hills, facing the dusk and the cannon of time
Close to the gardens of broken shadows,
We do what prisoners do,
And what the jobless do:
We cultivate hope.
***
A country preparing for dawn. We grow less intelligent
For we closely watch the hour of victory:
No night in our night lit up by the shelling
Our enemies are watchful and light the light for us
In the darkness of cellars.
***
Here there is no "I".
Here Adam remembers the dust of his clay.
***
On the verge of death, he says:
I have no trace left to lose:
Free I am so close to my liberty. My future lies in my own hand.
Soon I shall penetrate my life,
I shall be born free and parentless,
And as my name I shall choose azure letters...
***
You who stand in the doorway, come in,
Drink Arabic coffee with us
And you will sense that you are men like us
You who stand in the doorways of houses
Come out of our morningtimes,
We shall feel reassured to be
Men like you!
***
When the planes disappear, the white, white doves
Fly off and wash the cheeks of heaven
With unbound wings taking radiance back again, taking possession
Of the ether and of play. Higher, higher still, the white, white doves
Fly off. Ah, if only the sky
Were real [a man passing between two bombs said to me].
***
Cypresses behind the soldiers, minarets protecting
The sky from collapse. Behind the hedge of steel
Soldiers piss—under the watchful eye of a tank—
And the autumnal day ends its golden wandering in
A street as wide as a church after Sunday mass...
***
[To a killer] If you had contemplated the victim’s face
And thought it through, you would have remembered your mother in the
Gas chamber, you would have been freed from the reason for the rifle
And you would have changed your mind: this is not the way
to find one’s identity again.
***
The siege is a waiting period
Waiting on the tilted ladder in the middle of the storm.
***
Alone, we are alone as far down as the sediment
Were it not for the visits of the rainbows.
***
We have brothers behind this expanse.
Excellent brothers. They love us. They watch us and weep.
Then, in secret, they tell each other:
"Ah! if this siege had been declared..." They do not finish their sentence:
"Don’t abandon us, don’t leave us."
***
Our losses: between two and eight martyrs each day.
And ten wounded.
And twenty homes.
And fifty olive trees...
Added to this the structural flaw that
Will arrive at the poem, the play, and the unfinished canvas.
***
A woman told the cloud: cover my beloved
For my clothing is drenched with his blood.
***
If you are not rain, my love
Be tree
Sated with fertility, be tree
If you are not tree, my love
Be stone
Saturated with humidity, be stone
If you are not stone, my love
Be moon
In the dream of the beloved woman, be moon
[So spoke a woman
to her son at his funeral]
***
Oh watchmen! Are you not weary
Of lying in wait for the light in our salt
And of the incandescence of the rose in our wound
Are you not weary, oh watchmen?
***
A little of this absolute and blue infinity
Would be enough
To lighten the burden of these times
And to cleanse the mire of this place.
***
It is up to the soul to come down from its mount
And on its silken feet walk
By my side, hand in hand, like two longtime
Friends who share the ancient bread
And the antique glass of wine
May we walk this road together
And then our days will take different directions:
I, beyond nature, which in turn
Will choose to squat on a high-up rock.
***
On my rubble the shadow grows green,
And the wolf is dozing on the skin of my goat
He dreams as I do, as the angel does
That life is here...not over there.
***
In the state of siege, time becomes space
Transfixed in its eternity
In the state of siege, space becomes time
That has missed its yesterday and its tomorrow.
***
The martyr encircles me every time I live a new day
And questions me: Where were you? Take every word
You have given me back to the dictionaries
And relieve the sleepers from the echo’s buzz.
***
The martyr enlightens me: beyond the expanse
I did not look
For the virgins of immortality for I love life
On earth, amid fig trees and pines,
But I cannot reach it, and then, too, I took aim at it
With my last possession: the blood in the body of azure.
***
The martyr warned me: Do not believe their ululations
Believe my father when, weeping, he looks at my photograph
How did we trade roles, my son, how did you precede me.
I first, I the first one!
***
The martyr encircles me: my place and my crude furniture are all that I have changed.
I put a gazelle on my bed,
And a crescent of moon on my finger
To appease my sorrow.
***
The siege will last in order to convince us we must choose an enslavement that does no harm, in fullest liberty!
***
Resisting means assuring oneself of the heart’s health,
The health of the testicles and of your tenacious disease:
The disease of hope.
***
And in what remains of the dawn, I walk toward my exterior
And in what remains of the night, I hear the sound of footsteps inside me.
***
Greetings to the one who shares with me an attention to
The drunkenness of light, the light of the butterfly, in the
Blackness of this tunnel!
***
Greetings to the one who shares my glass with me
In the denseness of a night outflanking the two spaces:
Greetings to my apparition.
***
My friends are always preparing a farewell feast for me,
A soothing grave in the shade of oak trees
A marble epitaph of time
And always I anticipate them at the funeral:
Who then has died...who?
***
Writing is a puppy biting nothingness
Writing wounds without a trace of blood.
***
Our cups of coffee. Birds green trees
In the blue shade, the sun gambols from one wall
To another like a gazelle
The water in the clouds has the unlimited shape of what is left to us
Of the sky. And other things of suspended memories
Reveal that this morning is powerful and splendid,
And that we are the guests of eternity.
Mahmoud Darwish
Close to the gardens of broken shadows,
We do what prisoners do,
And what the jobless do:
We cultivate hope.
***
A country preparing for dawn. We grow less intelligent
For we closely watch the hour of victory:
No night in our night lit up by the shelling
Our enemies are watchful and light the light for us
In the darkness of cellars.
***
Here there is no "I".
Here Adam remembers the dust of his clay.
***
On the verge of death, he says:
I have no trace left to lose:
Free I am so close to my liberty. My future lies in my own hand.
Soon I shall penetrate my life,
I shall be born free and parentless,
And as my name I shall choose azure letters...
***
You who stand in the doorway, come in,
Drink Arabic coffee with us
And you will sense that you are men like us
You who stand in the doorways of houses
Come out of our morningtimes,
We shall feel reassured to be
Men like you!
***
When the planes disappear, the white, white doves
Fly off and wash the cheeks of heaven
With unbound wings taking radiance back again, taking possession
Of the ether and of play. Higher, higher still, the white, white doves
Fly off. Ah, if only the sky
Were real [a man passing between two bombs said to me].
***
Cypresses behind the soldiers, minarets protecting
The sky from collapse. Behind the hedge of steel
Soldiers piss—under the watchful eye of a tank—
And the autumnal day ends its golden wandering in
A street as wide as a church after Sunday mass...
***
[To a killer] If you had contemplated the victim’s face
And thought it through, you would have remembered your mother in the
Gas chamber, you would have been freed from the reason for the rifle
And you would have changed your mind: this is not the way
to find one’s identity again.
***
The siege is a waiting period
Waiting on the tilted ladder in the middle of the storm.
***
Alone, we are alone as far down as the sediment
Were it not for the visits of the rainbows.
***
We have brothers behind this expanse.
Excellent brothers. They love us. They watch us and weep.
Then, in secret, they tell each other:
"Ah! if this siege had been declared..." They do not finish their sentence:
"Don’t abandon us, don’t leave us."
***
Our losses: between two and eight martyrs each day.
And ten wounded.
And twenty homes.
And fifty olive trees...
Added to this the structural flaw that
Will arrive at the poem, the play, and the unfinished canvas.
***
A woman told the cloud: cover my beloved
For my clothing is drenched with his blood.
***
If you are not rain, my love
Be tree
Sated with fertility, be tree
If you are not tree, my love
Be stone
Saturated with humidity, be stone
If you are not stone, my love
Be moon
In the dream of the beloved woman, be moon
[So spoke a woman
to her son at his funeral]
***
Oh watchmen! Are you not weary
Of lying in wait for the light in our salt
And of the incandescence of the rose in our wound
Are you not weary, oh watchmen?
***
A little of this absolute and blue infinity
Would be enough
To lighten the burden of these times
And to cleanse the mire of this place.
***
It is up to the soul to come down from its mount
And on its silken feet walk
By my side, hand in hand, like two longtime
Friends who share the ancient bread
And the antique glass of wine
May we walk this road together
And then our days will take different directions:
I, beyond nature, which in turn
Will choose to squat on a high-up rock.
***
On my rubble the shadow grows green,
And the wolf is dozing on the skin of my goat
He dreams as I do, as the angel does
That life is here...not over there.
***
In the state of siege, time becomes space
Transfixed in its eternity
In the state of siege, space becomes time
That has missed its yesterday and its tomorrow.
***
The martyr encircles me every time I live a new day
And questions me: Where were you? Take every word
You have given me back to the dictionaries
And relieve the sleepers from the echo’s buzz.
***
The martyr enlightens me: beyond the expanse
I did not look
For the virgins of immortality for I love life
On earth, amid fig trees and pines,
But I cannot reach it, and then, too, I took aim at it
With my last possession: the blood in the body of azure.
***
The martyr warned me: Do not believe their ululations
Believe my father when, weeping, he looks at my photograph
How did we trade roles, my son, how did you precede me.
I first, I the first one!
***
The martyr encircles me: my place and my crude furniture are all that I have changed.
I put a gazelle on my bed,
And a crescent of moon on my finger
To appease my sorrow.
***
The siege will last in order to convince us we must choose an enslavement that does no harm, in fullest liberty!
***
Resisting means assuring oneself of the heart’s health,
The health of the testicles and of your tenacious disease:
The disease of hope.
***
And in what remains of the dawn, I walk toward my exterior
And in what remains of the night, I hear the sound of footsteps inside me.
***
Greetings to the one who shares with me an attention to
The drunkenness of light, the light of the butterfly, in the
Blackness of this tunnel!
***
Greetings to the one who shares my glass with me
In the denseness of a night outflanking the two spaces:
Greetings to my apparition.
***
My friends are always preparing a farewell feast for me,
A soothing grave in the shade of oak trees
A marble epitaph of time
And always I anticipate them at the funeral:
Who then has died...who?
***
Writing is a puppy biting nothingness
Writing wounds without a trace of blood.
***
Our cups of coffee. Birds green trees
In the blue shade, the sun gambols from one wall
To another like a gazelle
The water in the clouds has the unlimited shape of what is left to us
Of the sky. And other things of suspended memories
Reveal that this morning is powerful and splendid,
And that we are the guests of eternity.
Mahmoud Darwish
Posted by NATIVE at 1/18/2009 01:52:00 AM::
0 Comments::
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Dua for our brothers and sisters in Gaza
On Tuesday, the Israelis launched an attack on a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) in the northern town of Jabaliya.
The attack left 43 Palestinians dead and around 100 wounded.
Doctors said all the dead were either people sheltering in the school or residents of the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp.
John Ging, director of operations in Gaza for Unrwa, said they regularly provide the Israeli army with exact geographical co-ordinates of its facilities.
He also called for the Israelis to allow an international investigation into the incident
At least 683 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 3,085 wounded since the war began on December 27. Seven Israeli soldiers and three civilians have died in the same period.
Amid all this President Elect Obama is 'deeply concerned'. That doesnt help the people of Gaza
Source aljazeera english
Tel Aviv views as 'positive' an Egyptian initiative which calls for an end to the ongoing hostilities and bombardments in the Gaza Strip.
"Israel thanks the Egyptian president and the French president for their efforts to advance the solution to end the terrorist activity from Gaza and stop weapons smuggling from Egypt into Gaza," an Isreali spokesman Mark Regev said.
This is while Tel Aviv's airstrikes on the blockaded costal sliver have entered their 12th day, and its ground military incursion has reached its fifth day.
The all-out attack on Gaza was initially launched under the pretext of halting Palestinian's retaliatory rocket attacks. Later, however, Israel unveiled that the main objective of the onslaught was to topple the democratically-elect government of Hamas.
"Israel sees positively the dialogue between Egyptians and Israelis in order to advance these issues," Regev added, but failed to say whether Israel would send a delegation to Egypt to discuss the initiative.
On Tuesday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak presented a plan for an immediate ceasefire between Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The plan would require Israel and the Palestinian factions to accept an immediate ceasefire for a limited period, which would open safe passages for humanitarian aid to Gaza and give Egypt time to continue its efforts for a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire.
the development comes while authorities as well as people around the world have taken to the streets to condemn and call for an end to the Israeli attacks on Gaza, with some describing the killing of Palestinians as 'genocide' and 'holocaust'.
Since Israel unleashed its aerial and sea campaign against Gazans on December 27, at least 666 Palestinians have lost their lives and more than 2,950 others - most of whom are civilians - have been injured.
MP/MMN
Source Press TV
So Israel is offering the Gazans a 3hr ceasefire. 10minutes into that ceasefire gunshots were heard in parts of Gaza. Experts say that 3hrs isnt enough to distribute the aid that is being brought in because of the amount of checkpoints it has to go through. There is a shortage of medical supplies and doctors. The injured are being treated on hospital floors since they are overflowing. The generators are dying since there are shortages of fuel. Walahi if I was qualified in any medical way I would go to Gaza and help them. All we can do now is protest, donate, draft letters, raise awareness and most important of all make dua. Israel might be the 4th largest super power but Allah 'aza wa jal is mightier. They should remember that God's court has no appeal and they will be accounatble for the atrocities they are inflicting on these poor civilians. Majority of those dead are children and women.
In their quest to wipe Hamas Israel has created millions of Hamas across the world.
Be patient people of Gaza, verily Allah is with the patient!
Posted by NATIVE at 1/07/2009 03:35:00 PM::
2 Comments::
Saturday, November 29, 2008
She is back.....atleast she thinks she is
So it has been a while since I have updated this blog. I guess this is the time when I should tell you how busy life has been and that I haven’t had a moment to myself. That is true.....I have been busy but also lazy. It will be a lie if I said I didn’t have a moment to update.....I did. What I didn’t have was the motivation or so called creativity that it takes to update this blog. This is my sorry attempt at an apology for neglecting my corner..................
What have I been up to? Since September I have been back at uni.....on my new course. No, I gave upon my ambitions to be a doctor instead I have decided to work in the allied health field. I am studying prosthetics and orthotics and before you get a confused (which is a common reaction by the way) let me explain what it entails. Prosthetics is the replacement of a body part while orthotics is correcting a deformed or deviated body part. In prosthetics I am specialising in the limbs (upper and lower) while in orthotics it is the limbs plus the torso.
School is taking up a lot of my time. However it is fun, I haven’t enjoyed a course this much in a long time. Infact I haven’t been terrified while at the same time having a feeling of contentment about academic/career future like this. I love what I am doing so far.......it’s very diverse so not boring. I study mechanics, anatomy, manufacturing and the best bit, I get to play with tools and get my hands dirty. Although by the end of my workshop classes I am so out of it as I have been on my feet for 6-7hrs.
My social life is currently on some kind of a hiatus. Although I am trying to somewhat revive it. Somewhat being the key word here lol
I am still looking for a job as the credit crunch is starting to bite me in the a** big-time. inshaAllah kheyr anyway.
I forgot how satisfying it was to put my thoughts on screen. Maybe I will get back to being a regular again......make dua
This is enough for now......I am off to write a 300wrd essay about a conference I attended.
I leave you all with kheyr inshaAllah
What have I been up to? Since September I have been back at uni.....on my new course. No, I gave upon my ambitions to be a doctor instead I have decided to work in the allied health field. I am studying prosthetics and orthotics and before you get a confused (which is a common reaction by the way) let me explain what it entails. Prosthetics is the replacement of a body part while orthotics is correcting a deformed or deviated body part. In prosthetics I am specialising in the limbs (upper and lower) while in orthotics it is the limbs plus the torso.
School is taking up a lot of my time. However it is fun, I haven’t enjoyed a course this much in a long time. Infact I haven’t been terrified while at the same time having a feeling of contentment about academic/career future like this. I love what I am doing so far.......it’s very diverse so not boring. I study mechanics, anatomy, manufacturing and the best bit, I get to play with tools and get my hands dirty. Although by the end of my workshop classes I am so out of it as I have been on my feet for 6-7hrs.
My social life is currently on some kind of a hiatus. Although I am trying to somewhat revive it. Somewhat being the key word here lol
I am still looking for a job as the credit crunch is starting to bite me in the a** big-time. inshaAllah kheyr anyway.
I forgot how satisfying it was to put my thoughts on screen. Maybe I will get back to being a regular again......make dua
This is enough for now......I am off to write a 300wrd essay about a conference I attended.
I leave you all with kheyr inshaAllah
Posted by NATIVE at 11/29/2008 01:27:00 PM::
5 Comments::
Sunday, August 31, 2008
RAMADHAN KAREEM
I just want to take a moment to wish you all a blessed ramadhan.
May Ar-Rahmanś light surround us, His love enfold us, His power protect us, His presence guide us and His blessings pour over us always.....ameen thuma ameen
May Allah make our heart fertile for iman, our tongue flexible for dhikr, our body fit for íbada, our life firm for jihad and our death an easy visa to janatul Firdaus....ameen thuma ameen
Once again Ramadhan mubarak brothers and sisters in Islam....may it be month full of positive changes inshaAllah
I leave you all with kheyr inshaAllah
Till next time ma salam
May Ar-Rahmanś light surround us, His love enfold us, His power protect us, His presence guide us and His blessings pour over us always.....ameen thuma ameen
May Allah make our heart fertile for iman, our tongue flexible for dhikr, our body fit for íbada, our life firm for jihad and our death an easy visa to janatul Firdaus....ameen thuma ameen
Once again Ramadhan mubarak brothers and sisters in Islam....may it be month full of positive changes inshaAllah
I leave you all with kheyr inshaAllah
Till next time ma salam
Labels: ramadhan
Posted by NATIVE at 8/31/2008 09:59:00 PM::
2 Comments::
Monday, April 07, 2008
Bish Bash Bosh
Salam y'all!!
So here I am on a Monday morning. First day of the semester I’m already cutting class. Although in my defence it is a boring class, and by boring I mean I would rather chew my nails (this coming from a girl who doesn’t even bite her nails).
So I’ve been well. Just been trying to take advantage of the Easter break (or spring break as my friends on the other side of the pond call it). It has been a busy two weeks. I had plans of relaxing, spending most of it in my pj’s and mopping around. Then again we plan and Allah plans. I had family come over….some I met before and others I was meeting for the first time. It was surprisingly nice. Most of them were the same age group as my parents but we got along good. I met two new cousins (to be fair they weren’t new….just new to me) around the same age group as me. They were siblings but I met them on separate days. Met the brother first….he seemed nice, although we only spent less than five minutes together. The sister on the other hand I spent longer with…..a whole afternoon. Super girl…..timid but strong and she is also funny (great sense of humour). Quite clever as well…..came up with this cool contraption for my kitchen.
Highlight of the week was going to White African’s wedding party. It was beautiful…..mashaAllah. I enjoyed myself immensely and the bride looked gorgeous……mashaAllah. It was a chance for me to meet the gang. It has been a while since we were all under the same roof at the same time. Made some new friends. Picked up some new dance moves. And all this while looking hot (hey….I gotta stroke the ego….I need it lol)
May White African be blessed with a marriage filled with kheyr and barakah and may you and your hubby be the ones that elevate each other to a higher status in Jannah. Ameen thuma ameen
Bring on the next aroos…….it has been wedding season up here. Seems like the girls are all getting knocked down one by one like a bowling pin (not a great analogy I know…..but its Monday and I’m slow). Ever, White African then inshaAllah Naima.
Wonder who is next?
I leave you with Salam and barakah
InshaAllah kheyr
So here I am on a Monday morning. First day of the semester I’m already cutting class. Although in my defence it is a boring class, and by boring I mean I would rather chew my nails (this coming from a girl who doesn’t even bite her nails).
So I’ve been well. Just been trying to take advantage of the Easter break (or spring break as my friends on the other side of the pond call it). It has been a busy two weeks. I had plans of relaxing, spending most of it in my pj’s and mopping around. Then again we plan and Allah plans. I had family come over….some I met before and others I was meeting for the first time. It was surprisingly nice. Most of them were the same age group as my parents but we got along good. I met two new cousins (to be fair they weren’t new….just new to me) around the same age group as me. They were siblings but I met them on separate days. Met the brother first….he seemed nice, although we only spent less than five minutes together. The sister on the other hand I spent longer with…..a whole afternoon. Super girl…..timid but strong and she is also funny (great sense of humour). Quite clever as well…..came up with this cool contraption for my kitchen.
Highlight of the week was going to White African’s wedding party. It was beautiful…..mashaAllah. I enjoyed myself immensely and the bride looked gorgeous……mashaAllah. It was a chance for me to meet the gang. It has been a while since we were all under the same roof at the same time. Made some new friends. Picked up some new dance moves. And all this while looking hot (hey….I gotta stroke the ego….I need it lol)
May White African be blessed with a marriage filled with kheyr and barakah and may you and your hubby be the ones that elevate each other to a higher status in Jannah. Ameen thuma ameen
Bring on the next aroos…….it has been wedding season up here. Seems like the girls are all getting knocked down one by one like a bowling pin (not a great analogy I know…..but its Monday and I’m slow). Ever, White African then inshaAllah Naima.
Wonder who is next?
I leave you with Salam and barakah
InshaAllah kheyr
Posted by NATIVE at 4/07/2008 11:07:00 AM::
8 Comments::
Monday, March 17, 2008
Like a headless chicken
I know I don’t tend to update as much as I should but this semester has been super busy. Stuff, stuff and more stuff! Yea, big tings a gwan and I a try to tackle dem. Seriously though…..bear with me. I have a crazy load of assignments and exams to revise for, applications to reply to, send and review. Couple that with my actual personal life...............its busy busy! So please, please, please……make lots of dua for this Native inshaAllah
Fee aman Allah guys!
Fee aman Allah guys!
Posted by NATIVE at 3/17/2008 02:35:00 PM::
4 Comments::
