If One Day A People Desires To Live

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Tunisian poet Abul Qassem Al-Shabi’s famous poem: “The Will of Life” reads:
“If, one day, a people desires to live, then fate will answer their call.
And their night will then begin to fade, and their chains break and fall.
For he who is not embraced by a passion for life will dissipate into thin air,
At least that is what all creation has told me, and what its hidden spirits declare…”
Translated by Elliott Colla.


An Egyptian man shouted anti-government slogans before setting himself on fire in Egypt today Monday. Another man also dissatisfied with his government set himself on fire in Mauritania.

Despair may have led these individuals to believe that copying Mohamed Bouazid would lead to change. Two weeks ago, Bouazid set fire to himself in the southern Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid after police prevented him from selling his vegetables, sparking anti-government riots that toppled Zein El Abideen Ben Ali’s regime.

Last week’s protests in Algeria subsided when the government retracted on price hikes. Anti-government protests in Jordan and Libya have continued. Demonstrations against price hikes took place in several Palestinian cities. The Yemenis also protested in support of the Tunisians.

In the past, we have seen individuals or political parties leading revolts and rebellions.
In Tunisia’s case, the angry masses led the change. The move was popular and secular. It is interesting to see that protests that followed in some parts of the Arab world were not led by the Islamists.

Could the Tunisia uprising have emboldened the ordinary Arab who shares the same economic grievances and absence of democracy?

Events in Tunisia sent shock waves beyond the Tunisian borders.

Has the level of anger in the Arab world reached a limit? One has to follow the outpour of comments on face book and twitter to read the sentiments of the younger generation across the Arab world. Abul Qassem al-Shabi’s poem may never have been as popular as it was last week.