Do not rejoice, O Palestinians!

Israeli prisoners were released, and their families rejoiced. Their companions and loved ones celebrated their freedom with great joy. However, when Palestinians were freed, a tyrannical order was issued: “Do not rejoice, O Palestinians!” Obstacles and barriers were placed to prevent their celebrations, and schemes were devised to turn their joy into calamities. This reminded me of a poem by Syed Javed Akhtar in Urdu, which I translated into Arabic as follows:

A royal decree was issued:
All winds must inform us beforehand
Of their direction and destination.
Winds are also required to declare,
If they blow, what will be their speed?
We do not permit winds
To become storms; this is utterly prohibited.
A decree was issued: the walls we built of sand
And the palaces we constructed with paper
Must remain guarded and protected.
Storms have always been the sworn enemy
Of these sands and these palaces.
Is this hidden from anyone?
A decree was issued: the waves of the seas
Must moderate their rebellion
And remain within their boundaries.
But if waves rage in turbulence,
Only to calm down and rise again with greater force,
This chaos is a grave sin,
A sign of savagery, an emblem of barbarism.
Such rebellion will not be tolerated;
Such turbulence will not be accepted.
If waves wish to remain within the seas,
They must be calm in their flow.
A decree was issued: to the gardens and orchards,
That their flowers and blooms
Must possess only one colour.
Officials will be appointed to determine
How the gardens of tomorrow will appear.
Indeed, flowers will have a uniform colour,
But the depth or lightness of this colour
Shall be decided by the officials.
Can anyone tell the authors of these decrees
That flowers and blooms in gardens
Are never of one colour
And never will be?
Hidden within every colour are countless hues.
Those who sought to create a garden of one shade—
Look at them, how anxious they have become,
How troubled they appear,
When a hundred colours emerged within one.
Can anyone tell them
That the winds and waves obey no one?
Winds cannot be trapped in the grip of kings,
Nor shackled in chains or prisons.
And if waves are stopped,
Even if the sea appears calm,
It will erupt in a tempest.
This turbulence will give rise to a flood
That no force can restrain.

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Disclaimer: This article was translated by AI.