The importance of poetry is not measured, finally, by what the poet says but by how he says it.

Sometimes I feel as if I am read before I write. When I write a poem about my mother, Palestinians think my mother is a symbol for Palestine. But I write as a poet, and my mother is my mother. She's not a symbol.

The stars had only one task: they taught me how to read. They taught me I had a language in heaven and another language on earth.

If the Olive Trees knew the hands that planted them, Their Oil would become Tears.

When I passed the age of 50, I learned how to control my emotions.

The Palestinians are the only nation in the world that feels with certainty that today is better than what the days ahead will hold. Tomorrow always heralds a worse situation.

We have to understand - not justify - what gives rise to this tragedy. It's not because they're looking for beautiful virgins in heaven, as Orientalists portray it. Palestinian people are in love with life. If we give them hope - a political solution - they'll stop killing themselves.