The Arab and Englishman Debate

The Arab and Englishman Debate

by Nūḥ Ibrāhīm

trans. Ahmed Saidam and Elliott Colla

The Arab:

Hey History—record this, write it down.

Hey Tyrant—crush and torture us!

What goes up must come down.

You shall rejoice, My Palestine

The Englishman:

Write it down or not—whatever!

I’m a stranger to promises and honor.

I fear only force.

That’s how I govern Palestine

The Arab:

Where’s my justice, where’re my rights,

Mr. Clever Englishman?

We thought you were compassionate,

We thought you kept your promises.

The Englishman:

Hey Arab—Talk all you like.

Who will listen to you, poor man?

Shout as much as you want, I won’t hear.

My ears are plugged!

The Arab:

You burned my heart,

With your promise to the Zionists.

Will you doublecross us? 

Are you trying to destroy Palestine?

The Englishman:

There’s no going back on my promise to Balfour

I won’t give up the millions I got in return

Even if I have to escalate things with artillery,

airplanes and rifles!

The Arab:

Woe is me, My Oppressor

Your heart is hard and never softens

You think we’re animals?

Or just a nation of savages?

The Englishman:

Seems you don’t understand

The colonizers’ philosophy.

Wake up, if you’re still asleep:

We are a nation of excellence. 

The Arab:

Mr. Englishman—we fought with you,

When you came out victorious!

What happened to our hopes and demands?

To our independence in Palestine?

The Englishman:

No matter how much we offer and promise,

—We might swear a thousand oaths!—

We won’t change this policy

That we follow.

The Arab:

As long as you do not hear my voice,

And have no respect for the law,

I will take care of myself,

As the Lord is my support.

The Arab:

Where have you gone, Good People of Honor,

Good Muslim Kings?

Let me hear your voices thunder,

To save Palestine.

Source: Nūḥ Ibrāhīm, Majmū‘at qaṣā’id Falasṭīn al-mujāhida (Damascus: Maṭba‘at al-I‘tidāl, N.D. [1939?], 42-3.

محاورة العربي والإنجليزي

للشاعر نوح إبراهيم

العربي

يا تاريخ سجل واكتب

يا ظالم اطغى وعذب

لازم الدهر يقلب

وتنفرحي يا فلسطين

الإنجليزي

سجل مجل ما بعرف

ولا بفهم عهد وشرف

غير القوة ما بخاف

وهذا حكمي بفلسطين

العربي

وين العدل والحقوق

يا انجليزي يا فطين

كنا منفتكرك شفوق

وإنك عالعهد أمين

الإنجليزي

يا عربي احكي لتشبع

من يفهملك يا مسكين

مهما تصيح ما بسمع

حيث آداني مسدودين

العربي

قلبي منك صار محروق

بوعدك للصهيونيين

راح تصفينا بخازوق

وبدك تهلك فلسطين؟

الإنجليزي

بوعدي لبلفور ما برجع

ما بترك قبض الملايين

وان كترتها بالمدفع

والطيارة والمرتين

العربي

آه منك يا ظالم

قلبك قاسي ما بلين

بتفتكرنا بهايم

والا أمة متوحشين

الإنجليزي

الظاهر انك مش فاهم

مبادي المستعمرين

اصحى ان كنت نايم

نحنا أمة موصوفين

العربي

يا نكليزي حاربنا معكم

وخرجتو منصورين

فين أملنا ومطاليبنا

واستقلالنا بفلسطين

الإنجليزي

مهما عطينا ووعدنا

وحلفنا ألف يمين

ما منغير سياستنا

هاللي عليها ماشيين

العربي

ما دمت ما تسمع حسي

وما بتراعي القوانين 

أنا بدبر نفسي 

والمولى إلي معين

العربي

فينكم يا أهل النخوة

ويا ملوك المسلمين

سمعوني صوتكم يدوي

لإنقاذ فلسطين

Commander Dill

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