Rhymes of Blood and Jasmine: Selected Translated Poems

Rhymes of Blood and Jasmine is far more than a bilingual poetry collection; it is a poetic and cultural testimony that merges lyrical beauty with critical depth. Spanning over five decades of creative expression, Dr. Hilmi Zawati weaves verses charged with spiritual and romantic love, exile, memory, resistance, and identity. Symbols like jasmine, oranges, figs, and blood evoke a sense of homeland, sacrifice, and longing, forming an emotional tapestry rooted in the Palestinian experience. What makes this collection truly singular is its self-translation-a rare act that unites author and translator into a single poetic voice. Zawati transcends conventional translation by recreating the essence of his Arabic poems in English with unmatched emotional and stylistic fidelity. His bilingual artistry breathes life into both texts, allowing them to resonate across languages and cultures. This work speaks to a broad audience of readers, scholars, poets, translators, and students of translation studies, comparative literature, Palestinian history, and Arab diaspora cultures. It asserts translation as a form of cultural sovereignty-rejecting distortion, simplification, and marginalisation, while affirming the enduring presence of Arab poetic tradition within global literature. Rhymes of Blood and Jasmine is not just to be read-it is to be lived. A poetic bridge between languages and worlds, it revives silenced memories and restores the voice of love and homeland with grace, dignity, and truth.