Amany El-Sawy, I’M AHED

Amany El-Sawy, I’m Ahed. The Text of the Play.

Amany El-Sawy, I’m Ahed. Abstract of the Play.

Amany El-Sawy. Biographical Note.

 

I’M AHED[1]

Scene 1

 [The setting: a lavish villa, with a fruitful garden, built with colorful stones as if it’s from heaven facing a splendor sea. A girl[2] stands looking at the sea from the window of her room. The girl sees another girl, adolescent, walking, humming a moving tune; she sits at the shore; her face is pale, tainted with frustration and anger; she starts to sing bitterly the Palestinian national anthem; her beautiful voice seems like a spontaneous overflow of nightingales roaming freely, mingling with the sea spray, strikes the girl standing behind the window.]

The Girl: [startlingly] Ahed

Ahed: [sings passionately]

فدائِي فِدَائِي فِدَائِي

يَا أَرْضِي يَا أَرْض الجُدُود

فِدَائِي فِدَائِي فِدَائِي

يَا شَعْبِي يَا شَعْب الخُلُود

بِعَزْمِي وَنَارِي وَبُرْكَانِ ثَأرِي

وَأَشْوَاقِ دَمِي لِأَرْضِي وَدَارِي

صَعَدْتُ الجِبَالَا وَخُضْتُ النِّضَالَا

قَهَرْتُ المُحَالَا عَبَرْتُ الحُدُود

بِعَزْمِ الرِّيَاح وَنَارِ السِّلَاح

وَإِصْرَارِ شَعْبِي بِأَرْض الكِفَاح

(فِلَسْطِينُ دَارِي فِلَسْطِينُ نَارِي)

فِلَسْطِينُ دَارِي ودرب انتصاري

فِلَسْطِينُ ثَارِي وَأَرْضِ الصُّمُود

بِحَقِّ القَسَم تَحْتَ ظِلِّ العَلَم

بِأَرْضِي وَشَعْبِي وَنَارِ الأَلَم

سَأَحْيَا فِدَائِي وَأَمْضِي فِدَائِي

وَأَقْضِي فِدَائِي إِلَى أَن تَعُود

فِدَائِ [3]

The Girl: Hello Ahed! [Ahed stops singing] I’m happy you are here. Your voice is beautiful. [Ahed is silent and doesn’t reply to her] Ahed, why are you sad? Ahed, why are you silent? You always look miserable. Why/

Ahed: [violently] because you are here.

The Girl: [Puzzled] why does my presence upset you? [Ahed is silent and doesn’t answer her back] Ahed, I didn’t do anything distress you.

Ahed: [Humming with agony]

فدائِي فِدَائِي فِدَائِي

يَا أَرْضِي يَا أَرْض الجُدُود

فِدَائِي فِدَائِي فِدَائِي

يَا شَعْبِي يَا شَعْب الخُلُود

The Girl: [Anxiously] Why are you mad at me/

Ahed: ASK YOUR FAMILY.

The Girl: What do they know? I didn’t do anything, and they didn’t tell my anything about you, Ahed. What do they know; I ought to know. What should they say to me/

Ahed: ASK THEM ABOUT MY FAMILY.

The Girl: What’s about your family? [Ahed doesn’t reply] Tell me Ahed, what does my family know? what’s wrong with my family/

Ahed: [Angrily] USURPERS. They are usurpers.

The Girl: Usurpers?  What did they take from you? What did they usurp?

Ahed: My SOUL. [Ahed cries with pride] they took my soul, grabbed my land, [looks at the villa] raped my house/

The Girl: My family? Your soul? Ahed, I can’t understand you. How could they take your soul and you are alive. You breathe, Ahed. And, this is your land. You live here. I always see you here. Where is your house?

Ahed: [Ahed looks at the villa and sings]

فِلَسْطِينُ دَارِي ودرب انتصاري

فِلَسْطِينُ ثَارِي وَأَرْضِ الصُّمُود[4]

The Girl: Ahed, I can’t understand you. I always see you here, sitting by the shore and singing your nice song which I don’t understand. Ahed, I want to sing your song. Teach me its words. I don’t understand it/

Ahed: Ask your family about this song. Ask them about my song.

The Girl: I want to sing like you. And sing this song

Ahed: But your family will never let you sing my song.

The Girl: Why?

Ahed: They hate this song.

The Girl: No. my family like music. My aunt is a famous singer; she has many albums. Sarit Hadad. Do you know here? [Ahed looks with disgust] I’m very proud of my aunt. She was crowned the best female singer of the 2000s. I like her song “Light a candle” [Ahed throws a stone in the sea] All of us Ahed are very proud of auntie Sarit. She won the singer of the Decade of our loved home Israel/

Ahed: [puts her hand on her ears] SHHHHHHHHHH. Stop. I don’t want to hear anything about you or your family. You are my enemies. All of you/

The Girl: No, Ahed. We aren’t enemies. And we are not friend. So, let us be friends. You have a magical voice. I’ll let my aunty help you. You should apply in the singing contest. Sarit is a jury in the inaugural season of The Voice of Israel. I’m sure she will love your voice.

Ahed: I hate her voice. I hate all your monstrous voices. I hate you all/

The Girl: Why?

Ahed: [Intensely] ASK YOUR FAMILY.

The Girl: But my family doesn’t know you. [Ahed smiles bitterly and sings]

Ahed:

بِعَزْمِي وَنَارِي وَبُرْكَانِ ثَأرِي

وَأَشْوَاقِ دَمِي لِأَرْضِي وَدَارِي

صَعَدْتُ الجِبَالَا وَخُضْتُ النِّضَالَا

قَهَرْتُ المُحَالَا عَبَرْتُ الحُدُود[5]

The Girl: Ahed, talk to me. [Ahed doesn’t answer her back and wants to leave] Ahed, won’t you ask me about my name? Ahed: No

The Girl: Why? I want to be your friend. My name is/

Ahed: SHHHHHHH. I don’t want to know anything about you. You are my worst enemy/

The Girl: [Starts to be angry] I didn’t do anything to upset you

Ahed: [Throws a big stone in the sea and sighs with awe] you didn’t, but your family and relatives did.

The Girl: What did they do?

Ahed: They killed my family, they/

The Girl: No. I can’t believe you. We live in peace. My family didn’t/

Ahed: This is not your land. This is not your place. Go and ask them about my people, my land, my pride

The Girl: Your pride? I can’t understand; they don’t know you/

Ahed: They know everything. They know they are usurpers. [Ahed holds her scarf and waves it singing:]

بِحَقِّ القَسَم تَحْتَ ظِلِّ العَلَم

بِأَرْضِي وَشَعْبِي وَنَارِ الأَلَم

سَأَحْيَا فِدَائِي وَأَمْضِي فِدَائِي

وَأَقْضِي فِدَائِي إِلَى أَن تَعُود[6]

The Girl: [Grasp Ahed’s scarf] I like your scarf. Can I take it? I like its colour. I will take it to be your friend.

Ahed: We will never be friends, never. [Ahed starts singing]

يَا أَرْضِي يَا أَرْض الجُدُود

فِدَائِي فِدَائِي فِدَائِي

يَا شَعْبِي يَا شَعْب الخُلُود[7]

[The Girl holds her mobile and records Ahed’s song]

Ahed: You should ask for my permission.

The Girl: Your song is captivating; I want to keep it with me forever and I want to learn its words. I want to sing this wonderful song.

Ahed: You will never sing this song

The Girl: I will.

[Ahed exits; the girl listens to the song on her mobile; she tries to repeat the words, but she doesn’t know]

The Girl: I don’t feel the words; I can’t sing; Ahed should have helped me. I feel the words are heavy and I can’t remove my tongue. I can’t sing; I can’t talk. [She runs hysterically to the villa, searching for her parents and sisters; screaming fearfully, but she doesn’t find anybody in the villa. She goes again to the shore and screams to be heard by anybody, but nobody appears. She is alone on stage. There is a green spectrum approaches her as if it penetrates her body; then it disappears. The girl hears a distant voice. She recognizes it to be Ahed’s striking voice; she screams again, but no one responses.]

Ahed’s voiceover: [Indistinctly]

سَأَحْيَا فِدَائِي وَأَمْضِي فِدَائِي

وَأَقْضِي فِدَائِي إِلَى أَن تَعُود[8]

[The girl screams and her rough noise intermingles with the smooth flow of Ahed’s pleasing voice. Both voices coalesce into a loud note of siren, and then the audience hears a strong bomb blasts.]

Scene 2

[The Girl is in her bed shivering, putting her hand on her throat and trying to speak but couldn’t. No one is in her room; the villa is empty. The girl sees the same green spectrum she saw in the previous scene by the beach. She screams and her cries fill the room, and all of a sudden Ahed’s smiling face appears. Ahed sings quietly her anthem; then she raises her voice. The girl screams noisily; Ahed sings loudly. The more the girl screams, the more stridently Ahed’s song is. The green spectrum radiates reflecting Ahed’s bright face. The more radiant the room is, the happier Ahed’s face becomes.] 

Ahed: [loudly] scream; לִצְרוֹחַ; اصرخي

[the Girl’s scream is deadening; it fills the stage with its unbearable noise. Then, a dead silence conquers the stage. The girl stops screaming; the green spectrum disappears. A distant voice is heard. It’s Ahed’s voice, singing Fayrouz’s famous song “زهرة المدائن” (the flower of the Cities)].

لأجلك يا مدينة الصلاة اصلي
لاجلك يا بهية المساكن يا زهرة المدائن
يا قدس يا قدس يا قدس يا مدينة الصلاة أصلي
عيوننا إليك ترحل كل يوم ترحل كل يوم
تدور في أروقة المعابد
تعانق الكنائس القديمة
و تمسح الحزن عن المساجد
عيوننا إليك ترحل كل يوم ترحل كل يوم
تدور في أروقة المعابد
تعانق الكنائس القديمة
و تمسح الحزن عن المساجد
يا ليلة الإسراء يا درب من مروا إلى السماء
عيوننا إليك ترحل كل يوم وانني أصلي[9]

Scene 3

[The same setting: the Girl’s room. Sarit Hadad worriedly enters the girl’s room which is very dark.]

Sarit: Hannah, my dear Hannah. What happens to you? Where is my brother? Where are Rebecca and the kids? Why are you alone my dear little Hanna? [Sarit is shaking Hannah because she doesn’t reply.] Why are you silent? Speak Hannah.

[Hannah cries and puts her hand on her throat. She fails to utter any word. She gives her mobile to Sarit and lets her listen to Ahed’s song. The green spectrum appears and Sarit’s face all of a sudden becomes shut.]

Sarit: [Icily] Ahed. [Hannah is surprised that her aunt, Sarit, knows Ahed’s voice. Hannah is puzzled and gesturing to her aunt to know more about Ahed.]

I know Ahed. She has the most powerful voice I’ve ever heard. I still remember her voice which rocked the whole stage. All of the juries were thrilled by her voice. She deserved to be “The Voice”. [Sarit sighs] but she didn’t.

Hannah: [Gestures] why?

Sarit: A bomb blasted. I remember this black day. All the people were screaming, but Ahed kept singing.

Ahed’s voiceover:

الطفل في المغارة وأمه مريم وجهان يبكيان

الطفل في المغارة وأمه مريم وجهان يبكيان

يبكيان لأجل من تشردوا

لأجل أطفال بلا منازل

لأجل من دافع وأستشهد في المداخل

و أستشهد السلام في وطن السلام

و سقط العدل على المداخل

سقط العدل سقط العدل سقط العدل على المداخل

حين هوت مدينة القدس

تراجع الحب وفي قلوب الدنيا أستوطنت الحرب

وحين هوت مدينة القدس

تراجع الحب وفي قلوب الدنيا أستوطنت الحرب

الطفل في المغارة وأمه مريم وجهان يبكيان وأنني أصلي[10]       

 

Sarit: The Theatre, at that day, was very dark after the bombing, but Ahed’s eyes were twinkling like the shimmering stars flashing across darkness. All of us were terrified running scarily like rats, frightened to be bombed but Ahed was secure and still like a well-established statue. She was lofty and majestic like the olive trees we burned.

Hannah: [With a very low hoarse voice] Burned?

Sarit: Yes, burned. We did more and more. We strangled the birds and darkened the sun.

[Hannah tries to speak, but she couldn’t; Sarit lightens many candles in the room and sings in Hebrew her “Light a candle” song in order to break the darkness of the rooms and their souls. The green spectrum reappears and intermingles with and extinguished the lights of the candles. Ahed’s voice can be heard clearly and it is blended with Sarit’s voice which is faded once Ahed’s voice is heard. Ahed’s song is like a thunder which shakes the whole place.] 

Hannah: Aunti Sarit, I’m afraid

Ahed’s voiceover:

الغضب الساطع آتٍ الغضب الساطع آتٍ الغضب الساطع آتٍ وأنا كلي ايمان

الغضب الساطع آتٍ سأمر على الأحزان

الغضب الساطع آتٍ وأنا كلي ايمان

الغضب الساطع آتٍ سأمر على الأحزان

من كل طريق آتٍ بجياد الرهبة آتٍ

من كل طريق آتٍ بجياد الرهبة آتٍ

و كوجه الله الغامر آتٍ آتٍ آتٍ

الغضب الساطع آتٍ وأنا كلي ايمان

الغضب الساطع آتٍ سأمر على الأحزان

الغضب الساطع آتٍ وأنا كلي ايمان

الغضب الساطع آتٍ سأمر على الأحزان

من كل طريق آتٍ بجياد الرهبة آتٍ

من كل طريق آتٍ بجياد الرهبة آتٍ

و كوجه الله الغامر آتٍ آتٍ آتٍ

لن يقفل باب مدينتنا فأنا ذاهبة لأصلي

سأدق على الأبواب وسأفتحها الأبواب

و ستغسل يا نهر الأردن وجهي بمياه قدسية

و ستمحو يا نهر الأردن أثار القدم الهمجية

الغضب الساطع آتٍ بجياد الرهبة آتٍ

الغضب الساطع آتٍ بجياد الرهبة آتٍ

و سيهزم وجه القوة سيهزم وجه القوة سيهزم وجه القوة

البيت لنا والقدس لنا

البيت لنا والقدس لنا

و بأيدينا سنعيد بهاء القدس

بايدينا للقدس سلام

بايدينا للقدس سلام

بايدينا للقدس سلام

بايدينا للقدس سلام

للقدس سلام آتٍ

للقدس سلام

للقدس سلام آتٍ

للقدس سلام آتٍ ات ات ات[11]

Scene 4

[Sarit opens the window of Hanna’s room; she sees iron bars surrounding the garden. The sea is turned into cinder; the smell of the ashes is suffocating. Hannah is coughing.]

Sarit: I can’t breathe. [She tries to open the door of the room, but it is locked] we are imprisoned, Hannah. I need to go out. I want to go home; my babies are waiting for me. [She, fiercely, tries to open the door.] Noooo, I have to go now. We are trapped here Hannah.

Hannah: I can’t breathe auntie. I’m suffocated. We will die here. [Hannah stands by the window, and with a wretched tone] where is the sea?  I can see only ashes, dust, corpses.

Sarit: people are running, screaming/

Hannah: Dying/

Sarit: Chaos

[A red spectrum appears and Hannah screams.]

Scene 5

[The stage is black; nothing can be seen. Nevertheless, Sarit’s sigh can be heard: a sigh of fear, loss and hopelessness.]

Sarit: [can’t be seen because of the dense darkness] My babies. Will they have the same destiny? Will my babies be homeless orphans? Will they live roam the lands searching for a shelter? Oh my babies. [Cries and with a moaning voice] Anna [screams] Abigail. My babies. Ahhhhhhhhh; I will come. I will come to play with you; I won’t be late. Bring your toys. I will not let them cry. You won’t be taken from your warm beds. You will be protected in my hug and will never know the word ‘camps’.  They die there. They don’t have toys. They can’t play. They cry. They don’t drink their favorite hot chocolate; instead, they drink their brackish tears which never quenched their thirst. I will come and won’t be late. I’m buying you the fancy Barbie house you want. Warm . Spacious. Luxurious. [She lowers her voice] safe. Yes safe. It’s as safe as our house. [With a broken sigh]  Their house. No no no; they live in camps. They don’t have houses; we took their houses; we slept in their beds; we grabbed their toys; we ate their chocolate; we raped their smiles; we suffocated their freedom. We perched on their souls imprisoning them as dark refuges in their tapered camps; we made them hollow. They are hollow but their eyes become brighter. Eyes sparkle and forebode as the heavy lightning preceding a tempestuous thunder. We are mere muffled monsters, living in darkness. Where are the candles? They have to be lit. I’m suffocated Anna; I’m dying dear Abigail. I can’t breathe. [Screams] Hannah. Where are you Hannah? [Hannah is roaring]  Hannah, we have to leave the house; candles ought to be lit.

Scene 6

[The stage is empty and lit. The floor and walls are white. All is white. A nice voice of Passeriformes is heard; many birds appear flying and twittering over the stage. Ahed enters in a white dress; she appears as an angel, flying across the stage with her white large wings, singing:]

Ahed:

Fly me to the moon

Let me play across the stars

Let me see what spring is like on Jaffa and Acre

Fly my heart with song and let me sing forevermore

In Jerusalem

All we worship and adore

In other words, listen to my song

In other words, come and let’s play by our shore

[Ahed’s voice starts to fade, and the voice of the sea waves is overheard vibrantly.]

Scene 7

[The stage is bursting with olive trees; it’s all green. Ahed is sitting amongst the trees collecting olives, reciting her passion in Arabic:]

انا عهد وانا على وعد اصون حبات ترابك يا بلادي

انا عهد صامدة شامخة لا يهزني جرزان الاراضي

انا عهد وانا علي وعد لا امحي اسمك من فؤادي

انت الفؤاد وانت اللأهات وانت عشقي المتنامي

انا اسمي عهد وانت في اسمك كل الأماني[12]

Voiceover:  

فدائِي فِدَائِي فِدَائِي

يَا أَرْضِي يَا أَرْض الجُدُود

فِدَائِي فِدَائِي فِدَائِي

يَا شَعْبِي يَا شَعْب الخُلُود[13]

The curtain falls with the Palestinian flag 

 

[1] Ahed is the name of a Palestinian activist who is famous for her courage in confronting the Israeli soldiers.

[2] Will be addressed in the paly as “The Girl”.

[3] The English translation of the anthem is as follows:

Warrior, warrior, warrior

O my land, ancestors’ abode

Warrior, warrior, warrior

O my folk, folk o’ eternity

With bravery arm’d, the burning in my vendetta

Thirst in my blood fo’ my land, my home

Wars I’ve fought, mountains I’ve climb’d

I’ve conquer’d the impossible, o’ frontiers cross’d

With the will o’ winds, fire o’ weapons

And grit o’ my nation o’ struggles

(Palestine, my home, thou art my fire(

Palestine, my home, path o’ my triumph

Palestine, land o’ brace and o’ my strife.

By thy oath under the shade o’ thy flag

By my land and nation, the pain that burns

As a warrior I shall live and remain as such

As a warrior I shall die, until my country returns

O Warrior!

 

[4]  Palestine is my home and my victory path

Palestine is my revenge and the land of persistence

 

 [5] With my resolve, my fire and the volcano of my revenge

The longing of my blood to my land and home

I have climbed the mountains and fought the wars

I have conquered the impossible, and crossed the boarders

 

[6]  I swear under the shade of the flag

To my land and nation, and the fire of pain

I will live as a revolutionary; I will go on as revolutionary,

I will perish as revolutionary until I will be back

 

[7]  Oh my land, the land of the forefathers

my sacrifice my redeeming my redemption

Oh my people, oh people of eternity

 

[8]  I will live as a revolutionary,

I will go on as revolutionary,

I will perish as revolutionary until I will be back

[9] It is for you O splendid home, O flower of the cities

O Jerusalem O Jerusalem O Jerusalem O city of the prayer

Our eyes are set out to you everyday

They walk through the porticos of the temples

Embrace of the old churches

And take the sadness away from the mosques

O night of Al asra O path of those who left for the sky

Our eyes are set out to you everyday and I pray

 

[10] The child is in the cave and his mother is Myriam

two faces crying

For those who roamed

For the children without a house

For those who resisted and were martyred at the gates

And the peace was martyred in the homeland of the peace

And the law tumbled at the gates of the city

When Jerusalem city fell

Love left and in the heart of the world the war was settled

The child is in the cave and his mother is Myriam two faces crying

and I pray

 

[11] The glaring anger is arriving and I am sure of it

The bright anger is arriving, I will command the grief

From everywhere, it will arrive riding the steeds of fear,

As if the overwhelming face of God it will arrive

The gates of our city will not be locked anymore so I am going to pray

I will knock the gates and I will liberate them

My face will be cleaned by the holy water of the Jordan river

And the effects of the barbarism of the past will be erased O Jordan River

The glaring anger is arriving riding the steeds of the fear

And will defeat whom is in power

This is our home and Jerusalem belongs to us

And in our hands we will celebrate the splendor of Jerusalem

by our hands the peace will return to Jerusalem

 

[12] I’m Ahed, and I promise to protect the grains of your soil, my country

I’m Ahed, steadfast and lofty won’t be shaken by earth’s rats

I’m Ahed and I have a promise that I will never erase your name from my heart

You are the heart, you are the awes, and you are my growing love

My name is Ahed and you have all the hopes in your name

 

[13]  Warrior, warrior, warrior

O my land, ancestors’ abode

Warrior, warrior, warrior

O my folk, folk o’ eternity