Day: November 28, 2025

1. 🪪 Identity and Self-Assertion

In “Identity Card” by Mahmoud Darwish, the theme of identity and self-assertion emerges through the poem’s insistent refrain—“Write down! / I am an Arab”—which transforms a bureaucratic act into a powerful declaration of existence, dignity, and resistance. Darwish constructs an identity that is neither passive nor silent, but one that insists on being recorded, recognized, and respected even in the face of hostile authority. This identity is not merely personal but collective, echoing the shared experience of Palestinians who find themselves reduced to numbers—“my identity card number is fifty thousand”—yet refuse erasure. Through this assertive proclamation, the speaker challenges systems that attempt to categorize, limit, or dehumanize him, emphasizing instead a rooted, ancestral self grounded “before the birth of time.” In articulating his identity with unwavering clarity, the speaker transforms what could be an instrument of control into a vehicle for reclaiming narrative power and affirming communal belonging.

2. 🌍 Land, Roots, and Ancestral Continuity

In “Identity Card” by Mahmoud Darwish, the theme of land and ancestral rootedness unfolds through vivid imagery that ties the speaker’s existence to the soil, time, and generations that precede him. Darwish emphasizes an unbroken bond to the land when the speaker asserts that his “roots / were entrenched before the birth of time,” suggesting that Palestinian presence predates historical markers and political disruptions, thereby delegitimizing colonial claims of ownership. The references to the father and grandfather—figures connected to “the family of the plough” and “a farmer”—reveal a lineage shaped by agricultural labor, humility, and intimate familiarity with the land. These details elevate the land from mere geography to a repository of identity, memory, and cultural inheritance. Even deprivation—“you have stolen the orchards of my ancestors”—reinforces attachment, as dispossession becomes the very proof of belonging. Thus, the land functions not only as a physical space but as a generational anchor and moral claim.

3. ⚒️ Oppression, Economic Struggle, and Social Marginalization

In “Identity Card” by Mahmoud Darwish, the poem foregrounds the theme of socioeconomic struggle under occupation, portraying the speaker as a laborer who toils at a quarry to provide “bread, garments and books from the rocks” for his children. His labor symbolizes both hardship and dignity, highlighting the economic vulnerability that defines the lives of many Palestinians. Darwish presents a system in which the speaker is denied social mobility and stripped of honorifics—“I have a name without a title”—reflecting institutional marginalization imposed by a dominant political power. The poverty described through the “watchman’s hut / made of branches and cane” signifies not only material scarcity but also the precariousness of life under constant surveillance. Yet the speaker refuses humiliation—“I do not supplicate charity at your doors”—asserting agency even within oppression. This tension between deprivation and pride captures how systemic inequality shapes identity, fuels frustration, and exposes the moral bankruptcy of the occupying authority.

4. 🔥 Resistance, Anger, and the Consequences of Injustice

In “Identity Card” by Mahmoud Darwish, the escalating tone of resistance culminates in the powerful warning—“Beware… / of my hunger / and my anger!”—which encapsulates the theme of rebellion born from prolonged injustice. Darwish portrays resistance not as inherent violence but as a response to dispossession, poverty, and persistent dehumanization, suggesting that even a peaceful man may be pushed to desperate measures when denied dignity and survival. The metaphor—“the usurper’s flesh will be my food”—exposes the extremity of hunger, both literal and political, revealing that oppression inevitably breeds resistance when a people are pushed beyond endurance. Throughout the poem, anger emerges as a moral reaction to injustice rather than an immoral act itself, highlighting the ethical framework within which resistance is justified. Thus, Darwish frames rebellion as a natural, even inevitable, outcome of systemic oppression, positioning anger not merely as emotion but as a political force and existential necessity.

1. 🪪 How does “Identity Card” by Mahmoud Darwish use repetition to construct resistance and reclaim agency?

In “Identity Card” by Mahmoud Darwish, repetition functions as both a linguistic strategy and a political act through which the speaker asserts agency in the face of bureaucratic erasure. The insistent recurrence of the command “Write down! / I am an Arab” transforms a seemingly passive declaration into a weapon of resistance, turning the colonizer’s documentation process into an opportunity to vocalize dignity rather than submission. Repetition becomes an assertion of presence that cannot be silenced, especially as the poem underscores the speaker’s reduction to “identity card number… fifty thousand,” revealing how institutional systems attempt to replace identity with enumeration. By repeatedly invoking his Arab identity—alongside references to his roots “entrenched before the birth of time”—Darwish challenges the colonizer’s authority to define or diminish him. Thus, repetition reconstructs agency by making identity audible, refusing the silence imposed by occupation, and transforming a bureaucratic ritual into a defiant affirmation of existence.

2. 🌍 In what ways does “Identity Card” by Mahmoud Darwish link personal identity to the ancestral land, and how does this connection challenge colonial narratives?

In “Identity Card” by Mahmoud Darwish, the intimate connection between personal identity and ancestral land becomes a counter-narrative to colonial claims of entitlement or historical legitimacy. The speaker grounds himself in a lineage that existed “before the birth of time” and “before the olive trees,” suggesting that Palestinian presence predates all temporal and political constructs introduced by settler authorities. Darwish reinforces this continuity through images of agricultural labor—“my father descends from the family of the plough” and “my grandfather was a farmer”—which frame the land not as territory to be owned but as a generational inheritance cultivated through labor and belonging. This claim becomes even more forceful when he accuses the occupier of having “stolen the orchards of my ancestors,” thereby asserting that colonial possession is theft rather than legitimacy. By binding identity to land in this historical, familial, and ethical register, Darwish dismantles colonial narratives and restores indigenous ownership.

3. ⚒️ How does the poem portray economic oppression, and what does this reveal about the political structure surrounding the speaker?

In “Identity Card” by Mahmoud Darwish, economic oppression appears as an integral dimension of political domination, showing how the speaker’s material hardship is not an accident of poverty but a deliberate outcome of structural inequality. The speaker works “at a quarry” and extracts “bread, garments and books from the rocks,” illustrating how survival requires immense labor in return for the bare minimum, suggesting a system engineered to keep the colonized population economically dependent and socially marginalized. His home—“a watchman’s hut / made of branches and cane”—symbolizes not only poverty but the precariousness imposed by a state that surveils rather than protects. Yet he refuses humiliation, insisting that he does not “supplicate charity at your doors,” revealing how resistance persists even under material deprivation. The poem thus exposes an oppressive political structure that weaponizes economic scarcity, using it as a tool to control identity, limit agency, and maintain a hierarchy that privileges the settler authority.

4. 🔥 What does the final warning reveal about the psychological and political consequences of prolonged injustice in “Identity Card” by Mahmoud Darwish”?

In “Identity Card” by Mahmoud Darwish, the final warning—“Beware… of my hunger / And my anger!”—reveals the psychological transformation of a marginalized individual into a politically awakened figure whose resistance has been shaped by accumulated injuries. Darwish suggests that prolonged injustice generates not passivity but explosive potential, as hunger becomes both a literal symbol of deprivation and a metaphor for political starvation, where dignity, land, and identity have been stripped away. The metaphor “the usurper’s flesh will be my food” expresses the extremity of desperation, signaling that even a peaceful man may be driven to resistance when oppression leaves no alternative. This warning is neither irrational nor gratuitous; it arises from systematic humiliation, land theft, and economic disenfranchisement. Thus, the concluding lines illuminate the psychological costs of dehumanization and assert that political violence, though regrettable, becomes an inevitable outcome when a people are pushed beyond the limits of endurance.

1. ✊ “We Refugees” by Benjamin Zephaniah

• Similarity: Like “Identity Card,” this poem voices the pain, dignity, and frustration of displaced people, asserting identity in the face of political oppression and forced migration.

2. 🌍 “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou

• Similarity: Shares Darwish’s defiant tone; both poems confront systems of oppression and reclaim identity with pride, resilience, and unbreakable human dignity.

3. 🔥 “A Far Cry from Africa” by Derek Walcott

• Similarity: Like Darwish, Walcott explores identity, colonization, and the anguish of divided loyalties, merging personal pain with historical injustice.

📚 Books

• Mattawa, Khaled. Mahmoud Darwish: The Poet’s Art and His Nation. Syracuse University Press, 2014.
• Darwish, Mahmoud. Unfortunately, It Was Paradise: Selected Poems. University of California Press, 2003.
  

📝 Academic Articles

• Dayan, Mariam R., and Ahmed M. Al-Hawtali. “The Impact of Mahmoud Darwish’s Diasporic Identity on His Poetry: A Post-colonial Study of Selected Poems.” International Journal of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics, vol. 9, no. 3, 2025.
  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/393253282_The_Impact_of_Mahmoud_Darwish%27s_Diasporic_Identity_on_His_Poetry_A_Post-colonial_Study_of_Selected_Poems
• Khan, Muhammad Ajmal. “Concord between Palestinian Resistance and Literature: A Historico-Literary Analysis of Darwish’s Works.” Review of Education, Administration and Law (REAL), vol. 4, no. 1, 2021, pp. 101–112.
  https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/28c2/30b06b0aa12cdbe461806502335e452e2c77.pdf

🌐 Poem Websites

• “Identity Card.” Marxists Internet Archive, 1964.
  https://www.marxists.org/subject/art/literature/darwish/1964/identity-card.htm
• “Identity Card by Mahmoud Darwish.” PoemHunter.
  https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/identity-card/