Nuh Ibrahim (1913-1938) was known as the poet of the 1936 Arab Revolution against British and Zionist rule in Palestine. Born into poverty in Haifa, Ibrahim studied at the Islamic School in that city, where Izz al-Din al-Qassam, the famous preacher and anti-imperialist militant, also taught. After working with printing presses in Haifa and Jaffa, Ibrahim traveled to Baghdad for more training in the craft. He then moved to Bahrain to help train typesetters and printers. While living in Bahrain, he composed many poems and songs in vernacular Arabic, and developed a following while performing at private functions in Manama and Muharraq. Upon hearing the news of revolt in Palestine in 1936, Ibrahim returned home to join the guerrilla movement, joining the same brigades that al-Qassam had organized. It was around this time that he published a collection of his nationalist (or militant) poems, perhaps first in Damascus. He was imprisoned for five months in 1937 following the publication of his poem, “Commander Dill,” which skewered the top British military commander in Mandate Palestine. In October 1938, Nuh and three other militants were traveling outside the village of Tamra when they were killed by a British patrol, operating with the support of fighter aircraft. Their bodies were thrown down a well, though local residents later retrieved them and buried them in the local cemetery.
Though Ibrahim was only 25 years old when he was martyred, his poems and songs (almost entirely in the Palestinian Colloquial, rather than Modern Standard Arabic) remain popular, having been long part of nationalist song repertoires, and performed by bands such as Firqat al-Ashiqeen.
“Commander Dill”
by Nūḥ Ibrāhīm
trans. Ahmed Saidam and Elliott Colla
Hey, Commander Dill
Don’t think the nation’s grown tired
But since you’re following its affairs
Maybe you’ll be the one to fix things?
Since you’re an expert,
And an effective military leader
Who understands our whole cause,
You need no explanation.
Tell London what’s happened
And what is yet to come:
The Arabs are a nation of free men
Whose friendship you badly need.
So make it work, Mr. Dill
Perhaps you’ll fix it all…
Mister General—If you want
By force to change the situation
Then you must certainly grasp
That your request is difficult, impossible,
So take it with a bit of wisdom.
Pay us our due, Uncle
And give the nation what it demands
Of freedom and independence.
Manage it, Mr. Dill
Maybe you can fix things.
You came to a free Palestine,
To put down the Revolution.
And when you studied the situation,
You discovered how precarious things were.
You ought to make Britain understand,
So we may be spared its harm,
And reconcile with the Arab nation
With a prohibition on land sales and immigration
So get on it, Mr. Dill,
Maybe you’ll be the one to fix things?
As long as you’re in charge,
Then solve this problem and end this crisis.
Reach out your hand and take ours,
Take all your battalions away.
Fulfill your good-faith promises,
So we can erase this mistake.
This would be an honor for your regime
And the best plan of action.
Hop to it, Mr. Dill
Maybe you’re the one to fix it…
Source: Nūḥ Ibrāhīm, Majmū‘at qaṣā’id Falasṭīn al-mujāhida (Damascus: Maṭba‘at al-I‘tidāl, N.D. [1939?], 23.
قصيدة القائد دل
للشاعر نوح أبراهيم
يا حضرة القائد دل
لا تظن الأمة بتمل
لكن انت سايرها
يمكن على يدك بتحل
ما دمت رجل خبير
وقائد عسكري خطير
وقضيتنا كلها فهمتها
ما بلزم الك تفسير
فهِم لندن باللي صار
واللي وبعدوا راح يصير
العرب أمة أحرار
صداقتها لازمتكم كثير
ودبرها يا مستر دل
يمكن على يدك بتحل
إن كنت عاوز يا جنرال
بالقوة تغير هالحال
لازم تعتقد أكيد
طلبك صعب من المحال
لكن خدها بالحكمة
واعطينا الثمن يا خال
ونفذ شروط الأمة
من حرية واستقلال
ودبرها يا مستر دل
يمكن على يدك بتحل
جيت فلسطين الحرة
حتى تقمع الثورة
ولما درست الحالة
لقيت المسألة خطرة
بدك تفهم بريطانيا
حتى تكفينا شرها
وتصافي الامة العربية
بمنع البيع والهجرة
ودبرها يا مستر دل
يمكن على يدك بتنحل
ما دمت صاحب السلطة
حل هالمشكلة وهالورطة
ومد يدك وصافحنا
وما تخلي ولا أورطة
ونفذ وعود الشرف
حتى نمحي هالغلطة
للدولة هادا شرف
وأحسن مشروع وخطة
ودبرها يا مستر دل
يمكن على يدك بتحل
