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In Memory of Poet Muhammad Della
In the final text, I mentioned something akin to a eulogy for the soul as I mourn my poet friends:
Whenever a poet dies, I remember that I am still alive,
And that my role is near, near.
Perhaps friends were not given the chance to read their poems in my unexpected eulogy.
And here is poet and critic Muhammad Della departing unexpectedly from his friends, leaving behind "his strange knight" and his expanding critiques of the poems of his friends and his own texts. Muhammad Della departs like poets do, leaving the big question raised: Do poets die with the departure of their bodies? I do not believe that a poet can die. Should I console myself and my friends with this thought? I don’t think so because poets remain; we see the impact of the sacred fire in their books and texts, they are revived repeatedly.
What binds me to Abu Yazid is not little, but it is enough to consider him a friend, as we share poetry and the craft of writing. When Ziad Khadash informed me of the news, he came with a strong warning, devoid of softness, a single striking sentence: "Della has died." I felt as if something within me shook; another poet leaves us, and I read his obituary. I spoke with Ziad in a phone call, and a brief conversation ensued about Della. He had been ill for a while, which I did not know, and Khadash was surprised, "Isn’t he your friend?" Yes, he is my friend, but my bad habit still accompanies me of isolating myself and not inquiring about friends’ well-being.
During one of my visits to the Ramallah International Book Fair, held at the National Library at that time, I spent a long time at the fair and wished to stay overnight. I searched for accommodations provided by the Ministry of Culture, but I could not find any. Della graciously offered to host me, considering his home to be mine, with a warm, genuine welcome reminiscent of what I know in our Palestinian villages. I didn’t want to burden him and spoil his night and solitude, so I preferred to return to the village.
I did not meet Della again except in the hallways of the fair, at the "Dar Al-Azbakeya" corner, which he established and manages. Later, he participated in signing my collection "On the Edge of Poetry... There is Love and There is Death" at Hanthala Cafe with dear ones: Hassan Abadi and Dr. Ahmed Rafiq Awad, and a group of friends attended, including Ziad Khadash himself. This took place on March 18, 2023.
It was a beautiful literary meeting, resembling a literary family gathering the nation from end to end; it was indeed filled with love. The friend Della showed me myself in the light of what he discussed regarding my collection and its aesthetic values. In that meeting, I sat close to Della, and we had not previously shared such a space.
After discussing the collection, Della called me two or three days later to invite me to "Al-Azbakeya" for a poetry evening for the collection and its author, along with our friend from Haifa, lawyer Hassan Abadi. I informed poet Della that Hassan was traveling, and we would arrange the matter upon his return, but some commitments disrupted that meeting, unaware that illness was lurking around the poet, gnawing at his days slowly.
However, this was not everything. Ziad Khadash returned to me, writing about Muhammad Della’s collection "Elegy of the Strange Poet," considering it a model "for the love text in the scene of Palestinian poetry" (Oman, 1/8/2025). He asked me to share my opinion in this article, wanting me to write about my experience in writing love texts. I was certainly happy to participate, for I was in the company of friends Khadash and Della. Fortunately, I own Della’s collection, which I received from Al-Ra’aa Library in Ramallah, unaware at that time of his translation of the title "Elegy of the Stranger Knight."
On December 3, 2024, my dear Kawthar Al-Zayn hosted poet and critic Muhammad Della on her program "The Cultural Salon." I listened to the interview, certainly, to discover among its threads that he was not only a poet and critic but also a translator. Fate had it that I spoke with Hassan Abadi, who informed me that poet Ihsan Mousa Abu Ghosh had gifted him a copy of his collection "A Tear Deceives Its Shadow," translated into English under that title by Muhammad Della.
And not only that, but Muhammad Della, in addition to his three titles of poet, critic, and translator, adds .
Firas Haj Muhammad | Palestine
