The revolution is not a monopoly… it’s not your possession or mine. Who owns it is the one whose chest, one day, falls on barbed wire, or whose eye is blinded by a bullet and does not cry.
- Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi
Quote and picture of Abdel Rahman el-Abdnudi on a wall on Champollion Street in downtown Cairo. El-Abdnudi is one of Egypt’s most famous colloquial poets. He writes in “spoken” Egyptian Arabic instead of formal, Classical Arabic or fusha.
In December, el-Abdnudi wrote a poem entitled “The Prisoners’ Laughter” in solidarity with activist and blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah who was in prison at the time. He has written several other poems during the current uprising, including “The Midan.” Here is a link to a blog for a course entitled “Translating the Revolution” taught by Samia Mehrez at the American University in Cairo last spring. They’ve included several translations of “The Midan.”
