Those who are living away from home understands these pangs of homesickness very well , when we wakeup gloomy and bleak for no reason, quiet and moody , craving the simplest yet most familiar things and places we have grownup around , called and considered once our home , and yearn to smell the same trees , the flowers during spring, the earthly smell after the rain, walk the known streets , talk to those once closer to us ,see the same sunlight , sit at the places where we felt alive ,being around our own people, even the sofa we once sat on, holding that cup of tea, talking to our loved ones ,our most amicable souls ,even the imagination is enough to warm the soul.Charles Dickens said “Many a time of an evening, when I sat alone looking at the fire, I thought, after all, there was no fire like the forge fire and the kitchen fire at home.”
Those who leaves their homes always have a reason, some have the urge to fly ,see the world, explore the planet, others have to abandon their homes and homelands because they’re left with no choice, the refugees or immigrants are an example of this ,or incase of semetic Palestinians they’re expelled from their lands, and they feel this agonising pain and helplessness, they miss the orange trees of Yaffa , the streets of Hebron Al-khalil , the landscapes of Nablus, the prayer call of Al-Quds ,Jerusalem, the familiar air and that feeling.Those patterns and colours of centuries old traditional clothes.Infact Mahmood Darwish a Palestinian poet expressed that longingness for his homeland by using perfect language of poetry ,in his ” على هذه الأرض , On This Land” he says
“We have on this land that which makes life worth living
We have on this land all of that which makes life worth living
April’s hesitation
The aroma of bread at dawn
A woman’s beseeching of men
The writings of Aeschylus
Love’s beginning
Moss on a stone
Mothers standing on a flute’s thread
And the invader’s fear of memories
We have on this land that which makes life worth living
September’s end
A woman leaving ‘forty’ behind
with all of her apricots
The hour of sunlight in prison
A cloud reflecting a swarm of creatures
A people’s applause for those who face their own erasure with a smile
And the tyrant’s fear of songs.
We have on this land all of that which makes life worth living
On this land
The lady of our land
The mother of all beginnings
And the mother of all ends
She was called Palestine
Her name later became Palestine
My lady….
Because you are my lady
I have all of that which makes life worth living”
Among the Arabs is a famous proverb which is “Hubbul Watan Minal Iman” which means Loving the homeland is part of faith, it’s heart touching to know even the Prophet of Allah loved his homeland , that he used to pray for Medina ,his city , In a hadith narrated by Imam Bukhari, the Messenger of Allah ,Muhammad PBUH prayed, “O Allah, make us love Medina as much as we love Makkah, or exceed our love for Makkah”.It is also narrated that when the Prophet PBUH, returned to Medina from a trip or a pilgrimage, the Messenger of God would hasten his journey to Medina, due to his love and longing of his homeland and wanted to reach Medina the soonest possible.
I came across Aglaja Veteranyi, Swiss writer of Romanian origin, she said ,“My father says you remember the smell of your country no matter where you are but only recognize it when you’re far away.” Her father was indeed wise , we all have a natural feeling of love for the places where we are raised ,those familiar places always stays with us ,no matter where we are….
WEDA Coalition 