I call out to you, my people
I firmly clasp your hands,
I kiss the earth beneath your feet
and declare: I sacrifice myself for you.
I give you the light of my eyes as a gift.
I give you the warmth of my heart.
The tragedy I live
is my share of your own.
I call upon you,
I firmly clasp your hands.
In my land I never was disgraced,
never lowered myself.
I always challenged my oppressors,
orphaned, naked and with bare feet.
I felt my blood in my own hands,
never lowered my flag.
I always protected the grass
on my ancestors' graves.
I call out to you, my people,
I firmly clasp your hands.
โ Tawfiq Zayyad, 1966 (as translated by Mohammed Sawaie in The Tent Generations: Palestinian Poems)
This poem was also the basis of a famous Palestinian nationalist song: https://youtu.be/ec2yB6nMGxM