آلاء
@AlaaQAlQaisi
لا تجزع فقد ينفتح الباب ذات يوم تحية لمن يخوضون الحياة ببراءة الأطفال وطموح الملائكة.
"وكن لنا، وإن لم نكن لأنفسنا، لأنك أولى بنا." - الإشارات الإلهية
Thank you to @NourGaza & @AlaaQAlQaisi, and the many beautiful writers & translators of Gaza, who keep sharing their words with us. Your writing makes more of an impact than you may realize. I have the deepest gratitude, respect, and appreciation for you.
{وَأَدْخِلْنَا فِي رَحْمَتِكَ ۖ وَأَنْتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ}
We spoke with mouths filled with dust. We sang, even with broken teeth. We prayed from fractured knees. And though the world may have looked away, let this much be remembered: we named the hunger. We bore it. We endured. Let that remain. -Alaa Alqaisi arablit.org/2025/07/21/ben…
this is a beautiful piece - it's worth reading and sharing and rereading.
Long before hunger takes hold of the body, it begins by breaking down language. I wrote this for @arablit on an empty stomach and with a heavy heart. arablit.org/2025/07/21/ben…
Read every word. Share this with everyone you know. Let @AlaaQAlQaisi's writing enter your heart, mind, and body. Feel the weight and presence of what she is saying. Let her words inside you and may they propel you, guide you, in every word you speak and in your every action.
Long before hunger takes hold of the body, it begins by breaking down language. I wrote this for @arablit on an empty stomach and with a heavy heart. arablit.org/2025/07/21/ben…
"كلما اقترب الخبز من يدي، شعرتُ بأنه رصاصةٌ بعيدة، تصفع وجه طفلٍ نحيل، يمدّ يده في العتمة، لا لشيء، بل ليقيس حجم الفراغ في معدته".
عالم مجنون، بيتجاهل التجويع اللي بنعيشه، وبيبرروا إنه المجاعة مالها علاقة بسياسة ترامب بما إنه عشناها قبله. تلقيت رسائل ضغينة منها بسبب بغضهم لدكتور رفعت ومنها استهزاء بآلامنا. بيننا وبين هالعالم ثأر كبير، وهوّة ساحقة لن يسدها رمل الكرة الأرضية كله.
"Instead of often telling my kids “I love you,” I have been repeating for the past two weeks: “Kids, eat less. Kids, drink less.” And I imagine this being my last thing I say to them and it is devastating." - Refaat Alareer, October 2023
بيوجع قلبي كيف بنحاول نحكي للعالم إنه احنا أولاد عز، وإنه هادي مش حياتنا اللي بنعرفها. بيوجع قلبي كيف حاسين بالذل وكيف بنكتب عن شعورنا بالجوع بخجل، وكيف بنشرح إنه كلمة (جعان) عنا شتيمة. بيعزّ علينا والله كل اللي بصير فينا. مالك الملك تؤتي الملك من تشاء وتنزع الملك ممن تشاء..
"Instead of often telling my kids “I love you,” I have been repeating for the past two weeks: “Kids, eat less. Kids, drink less.” And I imagine this being my last thing I say to them and it is devastating." - Refaat Alareer, October 2023
"I write this because I am still here, Because I am still here, Because I am still here— And that, Mahmoud, is the only victory I can claim" from In Praise of What is No Longer Ours by Alaa Alqaisi
"You were the master of departure, But we are the prisoners of waiting." arablit.org/2025/03/13/new… After Mahmoud Darwish (born on this day in 1941). By Gaza-based Palestinian poet-scholar-translator Alaa Alqaisi.
مهانة الجوع تسحق الروح سحقًا يجعلك تتمنى لو أنك مُتَّ ألف مرة بدلًا من أن تجوع.
وأنا بمشي بأحد شوارع مدينة غزة، رجل عمره في الخمسينات كان ماشي قدامي، وقف فجأة وقعد على الأرض. بس هيك.
From a forthcoming essay by our beloved contributor & workshop participant & friend, @AlaaQAlQaisi. An incredibly gifted writer, translator, & scholar. Being starved.
From a forthcoming essay by my beloved friend @AlaaQAlQaisi. I love you, Alaa.