Ibrahim Tuqan

Ibrahim Tuqan is a Palestinian poet known for his nationalist poetry. His defense of land and attack on the British occupation through verse made him a literary pioneer and a cornerstone of Arabic poetry.

Ibrahim ‘Abd al-Fattah Tuqan was born in 1905 in the Palestinian city of Nablus when Palestine was still under Ottoman jurisdiction. He was born to ‘Abd al-Fattah Tuqan and Fawziyya Amin ‘Asqalan. The Tuqan family had its roots in politics, as many of its members held positions in Nablus’s government in the 18th and 19th centuries.1 During that time, the family produced governors, mayors, clergymen, judges, and officers.

One of eight children, Tuqan was exposed to Arabic literature and poetry from an early age. His mother enjoyed reading and listening to Arabic epics; his grandfather composed his own zajal (recited or sung) poetry. His father encouraged his extensive study and recitation of the Quran. His older brother Ahmad exposed him to both classical and modern Arabic poetry. And he read Arabic poetry with his younger sister, Fadwa, who went on to become a famous poet in her own right.

For his primary schooling, Tuqan attended the Rashadiyya al-Gharbiyya school in western Nablus. He was there for four years until 1915 and the beginning of World War I.2 At 14, Tuqan moved to Jerusalem to attend St. George’s School in East Jerusalem for his secondary education. There, he studied Arabic literature and poetry with Palestinian nationalist and scholar Nakhla Zurayaq.

It was sometime during these years that Tuqan contracted a stomach ailment that would grow more severe throughout his life.

Once Tuqan completed secondary school in 1923, he went on to study literature at the American University of Beirut, from which he graduated in 1929 with a bachelor’s degree in literature. During his sophomore year, Tuqan published his first poem titled al-Mumarridat (The Nurses) in Beirut’s daily paper al-Ma‘rad. The poem became well-acclaimed in Lebanon and thus, he began his career as a poet.3

After graduating from university, Tuqan held several teaching positions. In 1929, he had been working for almost a year as a professor of Arabic literature at An-Najah National University in Nablus when a massive uprising broke out in Palestine.

This uprising, known as the al-Buraq Uprising or thawrat al-Buraq, was one of the earliest events that inspired Tuqan to compose nationalist poetry. What began as demonstrations in late August of 1929 over disputes between Palestinian Arabs and Jews over access to the Western Wall ended in violence that involved British authorities. Over 100 Arabs were killed or wounded by British Mandate police, and even more were accused of murder and sentenced to death.4

Tuqan composed one of his famous poems during this period, the ode al-Thulatha’ al-hamra’ (Red Tuesday), which he read at the annual school commencement in commemoration of three participants in the uprising who had been executed just 10 days earlier. In the poem he depicted their brutal execution and the setting of their death, dividing events into the few hours it took the men to be killed.

Tuqan’s poetry continued to give expression to the Arab struggle against the British. In Palestine, his words were part of the soundscape during the 1936–39 Great Palestinian Revolt. His style became known and admired for its penetrating clarity and conciseness. In brief stanzas, he puts into words the historical experience, suffering, hope, and determination of an entire people.

Tuqan’s poetry not only created solidarity among the Palestinians but also rallied Arabs elsewhere against British occupation.

While mainly known for his nationalist poetry, Tuqan’s poetical oeuvre was far more extensive. He wrote love poems, panegyric poetry, and poetry in praise of different Arab countries.

In 1930, Tuqan returned to the American University in Beirut where he was a professor of Arabic literature. At the end of his second year there, however, he resigned to return to teach at his childhood Rashidiyya School in Jerusalem.

His increasing stomach illness and surgery in 1933 forced him to stop teaching for two years, during which he composed and published nationalist odes.

In 1937, Tuqan’s family arranged his marriage with Samia ‘Abd al-Hadi, whose family was prominent in the West Bank.5 Together they had a son, Ja‘far, and a daughter, ‘Urayb.

It was during this time, in the early 1930s, that the British Mandate government in Palestine established a government-run broadcasting station headquartered in Jerusalem. The Palestine Broadcasting Service (PBS) officially began operations in 1936, providing stations dedicated to music, entertainment, and news.6

Even though the British started the initiative, their main concern was controlling the circulation of news and providing stations that communicated in English, Hebrew, and Arabic, which they believed to represent the main ethnic groups in Palestine. Apart from that, there was no clear British guidance or policy on how the service should run. This, coupled with the fact that the 1936 Great Palestinian Revolt broke out less than one month after the service was launched, meant that the PBS, at least the Arabic section, fell under Palestinian leadership: This role initially fell to Tuqan.

After somewhat recovering from his illness, Tuqan was appointed to a post in the newly founded Arabic section of Jerusalem Radio in mid-February 1936. For four years, he devoted himself to broadcasting.

The radio programming for the Arabic section was unique, as the station was designed to serve three different linguistic communities each in its own language. Only the news and government announcements were translated exactly word for word. This also meant that the Arabic service could be opened to other regional communities through Egyptian, Syrian, Lebanese, and North African stations. According to one archival study of the PBS,

This had a distinct result, according to the study: “While the PBS did not create the conflict between Arab Palestinians and Zionists, it reflected and magnified it, becoming an outlet for the articulation of Palestinian and Zionist national identities.”8 And who better to offer expression to this articulation than Tuqan?

One of Tuqan’s achievements while in this role was preserving classical Arabic as the main form of speech in radio broadcasts. But competing advocacy to start using colloquial Arabic eventually won, and Tuqan was dismissed from his job in 1940.

Soon after, his stomach condition worsened and he was forced to return to Nablus, where he died prematurely a few days later at the French Hospital.

In 1934, while in Beirut, Tuqan wrote what would become his most famous ode: Mawtini (My Homeland), which spoke of the love and attachment to one’s homeland and the desire to be free and live with dignity. The ode was put to music by composer Muhammad Flayfil and spread throughout the Arab world. Mawtini became so famous that it was adopted as the unofficial Palestinian national anthem from 1936 to 1996, and later also as the Iraqi national anthem after the US invasion of 2003.

In the poem, the speaker is addressing his homeland, praising its natural beauty. The speaker promises to sacrifice himself to free it, for death is better than living in subjugation. He ends with the hope that his homeland will once more be glorious and rise above its enemies.

Some of its words include:

Tuqan died on May 2, 1941, and was buried in Nablus. He was 36 years old.

The Palestine Liberation Organization posthumously awarded Tuqan the Jerusalem Medal for Culture, Arts and Literature in January 1990. His life was also the subject of an Iraqi TV series, “Ibrahim Tuqan.”

Even though he didn’t live a long life, he left behind him a wealth of words that captured Palestine and its people. Tuqan’s poetry essentially centered around land: it spoke of those who belong to it, praised those who loved it, mourned those who were expelled from it, and condemned those who betrayed it.

Mala’ikat al-rahma [Angels of mercy], 1924

Mawtini [My homeland], 1925

Naziha, 1927

Karithat Nablus [The catastrophe of Nablus], 1927

al-Zahratan wa-l-sha‘ir [Two flowers and a poet], 1929

Mawsim al-Nabi Musa [The season of Nabi Musa], 1930

al-Thulatha’ al-hamra’ [Red Tuesday], 1930

al-Gharam al-awwal [First love], 1931

“Ibrahim Touqan.” All4Palestine. Accessed April 15, 2025.

“Ibrahim Tuqan.” Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question. Accessed April 15, 2025.

“Mawtini: My Homeland.” Sarah Ahmad (blog). Accessed April 15, 2025.

“The Palestine Radio, 1936–1948: The Contradictory Effects of a Government-Run Station.” Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question. Accessed April 15, 2025.

“The Revolutionary Poet: Ibrahim Tuqan.” [In Arabic.] Al Jazeera, May 2, 2023.

Rubinstein, Danny. “The Ballad of Ibrahim and Mary.” Haaretz, October 20, 2005.

Stanton, Andrea L. “This Is Jerusalem Calling”: State Radio in Mandate Palestine. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2013.

[Profile photo: British Mandate Jerusalemites Facebook page]