Mahmoud Darwish was born on 13 March 1942 in the village of El Birwa in Galilea, northern Palestine.

He left us after a long struggle with illness on 9 August, 2008, but not before he gave us a wealth of poetry and passion to last for decades to come.

Here Ahram Online republishes the leading verses from one of his unforgettable pieces.

And We Love Life 

And we love life whenever we can 
We dance in between martyrs and raise a minaret for violet or palm trees

We love life whenever we can 

And we steal from the silkworm a thread to build a sky and fence in this departure
We open the garden gate for the jasmine to step out on the streets as a beautiful day

We love life whenever we can