Abd al-Karim al-Karmi (), (1909–11 October 1980), known as Abu Salma (), was a famous

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

Arab

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. He was born in

Tulkarm Tulkarm or Tulkarem (, ''Ṭūlkarm'') is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the West Bank, the capital of the Tulkarm Governorate of the State of Palestine. The Israeli city of Netanya is to the west, and the Palestinian territories, Palestinia ...

and was a member of the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...

. He was the recipient of several awards and was chairman of the General Union of Palestinian Writers and Journalists until his death.

Biography

Abu Salma was born in 1909 in

. He studied law and worked in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

until April 1948. He then moved briefly to

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

and then to

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. He also worked briefly for

Palestine Broadcasting Service The Palestine Broadcasting Service (PBS) was the state-owned radio broadcasting station that operated from Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine (now Israel and Palestinian territories) with the main transmitter in Ramallah. It operated from March 1936 u ...

(PBS). He was a participant in the

1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine A popular uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against the British administration, later known as the Great Revolt, the Great Palestinian Revolt, or the Palestinian Revolution, lasted from 1936 until 1939. The movement sought i ...

, and his verses about the revolt circulated in the local press as well as orally among Palestinians. He is the brother of Hasan Karmi, Mahmoud Al-Karmi and Abdul-Ghani Al-Karmi.

Works

Poetry * ''The Exile'', 1953. * ''Songs of My Country'', 1959. * ''Children's Songs'', 1964. * ''My Brush Is from Palestine'', 1971. * ''Collected Works'', 1978. Prose * ''The Struggle of the Arabs of Palestine'', 1964. * ''The Works of Ahmad Shakir al-Karmi: Literary, Critical and Fictional'', 1964. * ''Shaykh Sa‘id al-Karmi'', 1973.

Death

He died of

sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

on 11 October 1980 in

George Washington University Hospital The George Washington University Hospital (GWUH) is a short-stay hospital in Washington, D.C. affiliated with the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Since 2022, the hospital has been wholly owned and operated ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Awards and honors

* 1978: Lotus International Reward for Literature, by The Association of Asian and African Writers, it was given by the

president of Angola The president of Angola () is both head of state and head of government in Angola. According to the constitution adopted in 2010, the post of prime minister is abolished; executive authority belongs to the president who has also a degree of l ...

Agostinho Neto António Agostinho Neto (17 September 1922 – 10 September 1979) was an Angolan Communism, communist politician and poet. He served as the first president of Angola from 1975 to 1979, having led the MPLA, Popular Movement for the Liberation of ...

for him. * 1980: Order of Palestinian revolution, by the president of the Palestine Liberation Organization

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

. * 1990: Order of Jerusalem for Culture, Arts and Literature, by the president of the Palestine Liberation Organization

. * 2015: Order of Palestine for Culture, Science and Arts, by the president of the State of Palestine

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas (; born 15 November 1935), also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Mazen (, ), is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the President of the Palestinian National Authority, P ...

References

External links

Abd al-Karim al-Karmi

Link to poem of "We Will Return", Abu Salma, 1951
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salma, Abu 1909 births 1980 deaths Palestinian male poets People from Tulkarm Palestinian refugees 20th-century Palestinian poets 20th-century Palestinian male writers Palestinian jurists Palestine Liberation Organization members Karmi family Members of the Palestinian National Council Arab people in Mandatory Palestine