The Butterfly's Burden (English and Arabic Edition) Paperback – August 1, 2006

Dear Mahmoud, I’m just an average American white guy, but I want to tell you that even though you’re gone, even though this comment is not about what’s going on in your homeland, I think your symbolism has a perennial significance. Under siege. I feel as human beings, we are all Under siege in our lives, life itself is a siege as is survival in it,. For a while, I had that line from one of your , if not your, greatest poem. “Nothing pleases me.” I had that line above my desk, “I’m always besieging a ghost that is besieging me. “ Is this siege a ghost? Is this life an illusion? The older I get, and I’m approaching 70, it seems that perhaps it is. Have we been chasing phantoms the whole time? In any case brother, I send you greetings from 2025 southeastern USA. So many beautiful images and emotions you have left us with….

The Butterfly's Burden by Mahmoud Darwish (translated by Fady Joudah) is a beautiful book of poetry that covers a wide variety of topics. I loved having the original Arabic poems and the English translations side-by-side. I was so amazed by the different lengths of some of the lines that I asked my husband to spot check a few of the translations. He said they were pretty accurate. Darwish has a way of writing about everyday occurrences in ways that make them feel magical and the magical in ways that make them feel accessible. The Butterfly's Burden expounds on the impact of humans on other humans as well as the world we inhabit with its honest reflections on how human beings move through the world for better or worse.

Went through a breakup with this book

Got this book as a gift and they loved it .. nice quality book

A bit confusing to me but amazing poetry

Have heard a lot about this author. Excited to read

I love the poems in this book. Soulful!

Mahmoud Darwish will forever remain a legend. I purchased this incredible book a couple of months ago. Here I am again, purchasing another one because it's too good. I want to give it to someone who would appreciate it as much as I do. The pieces are a masterpiece and the more you read, the more you realize that "wow", and that's when it hits you right in the face. MD, a genius.