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Oman – A cry uttered by the former Jordanian Minister of Culture, Dr. Salah Jarrar, on social media at the moment of storming Jenin and its camp at dawn on July 3, 2023, with the participation of a thousand Israeli soldiers and hundreds of military vehicles, and the subsequent killing and destruction of the Zionist machine and the legendary steadfastness of the resistors, which included a poetic quatrain, in which he said:
Jenin, the jewel of countries and cities…and a crown of glory over days and time
In you, the camp has never lost its resolve… and its determination has never been weakened, nor has it ever been
Jenin is patient, for God’s promise is waiting.. If He says to the matter, “Be in a blink of an eye, it will be.”
You are the one whom the Most Merciful has bestowed upon its inhabitant: glory, glory, and a sword that is not mortgaged
In turn, the poet Dr. Saeed Yaqoub picked up the cry, and responded to the call with a similar quatrain, as if they were in a poetic duel that reminded us of Okaz Market, after which Arab contributions followed from a battalion of poets supporting those steadfast on the ground in the Jenin camp:
Raise your brow and shout, “I lived, my country.. I am free. Without you, the meaning of glory would not have existed.”
Jenin wrote the pottery book for us in her blood… she was swollen by the ravages of the front of time
O citadel of glory, its sides do not shake. Victory is linked to patience, so do not be discouraged
And in her camp, I see a symbol of steadfastness… good news for what was stated in the Qur’an and Sunnah
This is how the idea of the collection “Jenin Quartets” emerged and was translated into reality, as 125 Arab poets participated in quatrains, some of which were close to an enthusiastic oratorical tone, but in their entirety they revealed a poetic eye whose context is still in the Arab conscience, and it adhered to meter, rhyme, and visions, so that in their entirety they were what they called “the Suspension.” Al-Hamra” and “Jenin of Heroism and Resilience” are in support of the city and the struggle of its heroic people and its steadfastness in the face of the fiercest colonial attack. It records a position, and presents a document for future generations that Arab poets reject humiliation and humiliation, and did not remain silent about what is happening in a time of betrayal, decline, and exploitation.
An honorable Arabic pen
The dedication stated: “Every drop that was shed for Palestine… Every bead of sweat that was given for Palestine… Every speck of dirt that rose up in the face of the occupiers… To the souls of the martyrs of Jenin and its camp, Palestine and its cities, villages and camps… To the wounded, prisoners and detainees in the prisons of the Zionist occupation. To the mothers, fathers, and families of the martyrs everywhere in Palestine and the Arab land…to all those who are jealous of Palestine and its sanctities…to every owner of an honorable Arab pen…to Jenin, its cubs, its cubs, and its heroes who provided an example of struggle, resistance to occupation, and sacrifice for the sake of the homelands and humanity.”
The collection of “Jenin Quartets” is the second of its kind, as researchers in the 1990s collected a collection of poems that they called “The Collection of Intifada” by Ahmed Musa Al-Khatib, and the collection of “The Popular Intifada” by Abdul Latif Barghouti included a collection of songs that became popular during the first Intifada.
There is the collection “The Martyr Muhammad al-Durrah,” which was published in three parts in one volume by the Abdulaziz al-Babtain Award Foundation for Poetic Creativity, and included 1,682 poems, and the collection “Selections from the Poetry of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Intifada,” compiled by the critic and academic Yousef Shehdeh al-Kahlot, which included 94 poems ranging from classical to ambiguity.
Before going into the details, it is important to point out that the collection “The Jenin Quartets” was prepared and edited by Dr. Salah Jarrar and the poet Saeed Yaqoub, and artistically directed by Samir Al-Youssef with the participation of 125 poets from 12 Arab countries: Jordan, Palestine, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Algeria, Egypt, and Mauritania, while Lebanon and Morocco were limited. The Sultanate of Oman has one participation for each country.
As stated in the introduction to the collection prepared by the academic Dr. Khaled Al-Jabr, it is not surprising that Jordan and Palestine received the largest percentage of contributions. We still repeat, “One people, not two peoples… and one country with two lungs,” while Arab participation in the book indicates that Palestine is still alive in The living conscience of the sons of Arab Islam.
The quatrains – according to Dr. Al-Jabr – are very similar to those verses of poetry that a fighter used to recite in battle, in which he arouses the fighters’ fervor and arouses their resolve to continue fighting. Therefore, they are poetry in the face of an airplane missile, a tank or cannon shell, a sniper’s bullet, and a bulldozer’s tooth.
Why Jenin?
Dr. Al-Jabr answers this question by saying that it is a legitimate question, but the issue is deeper and more closely related to the struggle of the entire Palestinian people, and Jenin is only a symbol of the struggle action on the entire Palestinian land, and in the diaspora, the occupation forces invaded the Jenin camp several times, but it was rising again and with it the resistance action was stronger. More cohesive and determined to confront.
He added that the camp’s steadfastness led to an escalation in the intensity of the confrontation with the occupation in other areas of the occupied West Bank, and between Jenin and Nablus, new resistance brigades emerged, crossing organizations, movements, and factions, and that most of their members were young people who were born under the Oslo Accords and in the midst of unfulfilled promises of peace and prosperity and the erosion of the land through settlement. Bypass roads make life difficult with checkpoints, sieges, arrests, killings, and frequent raids.
From Algebra’s point of view, Jenin, especially its camp, has become a true symbol of a persistent Palestinian resistance that does not tire, does not beg or beg anyone, “a resistance that takes upon itself to defend the last breath of Palestinian existence and Arab dignity.”
Poets are the conscience of the nation
Regarding the importance of the word, the poet Saeed Yacoub said that poetry was once only strongly present in the lives of Arabs, especially in major events and exceptional situations, because the poet, from pre-Islamic times until our present era, was the conscience of his tribe and the strong voice expressing the concerns and ideas of his society, and he did not Poets abandon their task, which duty requires them to carry out.
He added in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that poets in all ages record and write down in their poems major events at historical junctures and important milestones, and for this reason it was said, “Poetry is the Diwan of the Arabs,” and it was said in the book that Arabs do not abandon poetry until camels leave longing, and for this reason we find Arab poets, especially those who dealt with national issues, present. With the power of “poets are the conscience and mouthpiece of the nation.”
Yaqoub adds, “People believe that words or poetry have no value, and this is contrary to the truth and contrary to reality. Words have a strong and influential role in shaping the collective conscience and the overall mind of the nation. They are translated into action that leads to incitement, revolution, and change.”
He continued, “Work is currently underway to issue a new collection of poems within days, entitled ‘The Flood of Al-Aqsa’, with the participation of 210 poets from Arab countries. Their work is lined up in support and support of the resistance, and depicts scenes of blood, war crimes, the killing of women and children, and the difficult situation in Gaza.”
The poems also evoke history and heroic situations, and call for reviving the glories of the nation, as happened in Yarmouk, Hattin, and Al Karama, according to the Jordanian academic and poet.
Poetry excerpts
Among the book’s excerpts, the former Minister of Culture, the poet Haider Mahmoud, says that in his participation:
This embryonic time that was promised to Palestine, so carry me to my homeland
To regain my existence in it from nothingness… and shake the mud from my soul and body
I am the longing that is still in the womb of the mother… for whom birth has not yet arrived
But it was created before my name.. If you are not one of my madmen, then do not be
From the participation of the Palestinian poet Jawad Younis Abu Halil:
Jenin, the source of glory in my homeland… and the hunting ground from Fez to Aden
On Rabak, Sama al-Qassam, has a minaret. It used to give the call to fire machine guns in the cities
Jenin, O sword of truth, forever displayed… in the faces of the intruders and traitors
Their heads grew fresh, and the nerve of its owner…so they rolled it away, and there was nothing in it but rot
From the participation of Syrian Munther Ghanem:
Jenin, oh the anger of the free people in a time… Arabism has been threatened by injustice and adversity
Arise, restore to us glory that shines.. and renew the covenant. Indeed, the lion has not been humiliated
Oh, the revolution of truth, a beacon for it that shines.. From you are the suns and from you is the dawn, so let it be
God is greater than the one who disbelieves, other than a youth.. The falsehood is scattered like mold
The poem is soft resistance
In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, the poet Salim Ahmed Hassan, who participated in the collection “Jenin Quartets,” said, “The word has the power of magic wherever it is said, whether in the popular dialect or in the eloquent language of the Arabic poem. It arouses enthusiasm, ignites the situation, and urges altruism and sacrifice.”
Hassan believes that the national poem represents a message that plays a major role in the lives of peoples, as it is a sincere expression of the conscience of citizens. From my point of view, it is a soft resistance that contributes to forming collective awareness, mobilizing the masses and inciting them against the occupier. How many poems have been turned into a song that raised morale even in the most difficult circumstances.
But he went on to say that the influence of the poem is acceptable only to the Arab peoples, who, in his opinion, are “oppressed and oppressed peoples, and thank God that He allowed us to demonstrate, nothing more.” He said that “the influence of the poem does not reach the leaders.”
From the poet Salim Ahmed Hassan’s participation in the “Jenin Rubaiyat”:
Jenin is a bird singing for Finn. She lived in peace and love throughout time
The falcon came to her boasting of his strength… so she quickly killed him with the shroud
Jenin is distressed, but her joy…in victory overshadows the sorrows and tribulations
Her hunting sons were a symbol of her invincibility… May God protect them in secret and in public
Women’s posts
Participation was not limited to men only, but there were 21 female poets who expressed Dr. Jarrar’s cry, including the Syrian woman Lilas Zarzour:
Jenin, oh paradise in which my country is proud.. My longing for you is like a kindergarten’s longing for a garden
To the camp when it experienced tribulations… and in you you will experience heroes in tribulations
Whoever sees you up close will be amazed by the distance of truth between the eye and the ear
We will not bargain for an inch, and this is our blood.. What you are right, Warqaa, will tell you in Finnan
