To My Mother
إلى أمي
Written from an Israeli prison as a letter of longing for his mother's bread, coffee, and touch — later sung by Marcel Khalife, it became one of the most beloved poems in the Arab world.
أحن إلى خبز أمي
I long for my mother’s bread, And my mother’s coffee, And her touch.
(excerpt)
About this poem
“To My Mother” (Ila Ummi) was written in 1965 while Darwish was held in an Israeli prison, and published in his 1966 collection Ashiq min Filastin (A Lover from Palestine). Framed as a letter home, it braids longing for his mother with longing for the homeland — bread, coffee, and touch becoming the substance of a life worth keeping.
Set to music by the Lebanese composer Marcel Khalife, the song “Ummi” turned the poem into an anthem known across the Arab world. NPR featured the poem in its remembrance of Darwish after his death in 2008.