Darwish's Horse

Progress of the horse. Was my first time drawing on an A3-sized paper, or rather a board.

The start of my trace out

Darwish's Horse by Everitte Barbee on Etsy that's worth $656.58 SGD - The image of a horse in this piece is created using only the Arabic text from the love poem "Take my Horse and Slaughter It" by Mahmoud Darwish. The text is written in the Diwani Jali script. Every word in the poem is written and no words are repeated. Darwish's name and the title of the poem form the design in the bottom right of the piece. An English translation of the poem by Fady Joudah can be seen below:

You, and not my craze with conquest, are my wedding.
I left to myself and its match in your devil self
the freedom to comply with your demands,
take my horse and slaughter it,
and I will walk like a warrior after defeat
without dream or sense..
Salaam upon what you desire of fatigue
for the captive prince, and of gold for the maidens
to celebrate the summer. And salaam upon you
abounding with suitors of every jinn and man,
for what you've done to yourself for
yourself:
your hairpin breaks my shield and my sword,
and your shirt button bears in its glare
the secret word of birds of every sort,
take my breath the way a guitar responds
to what you demand of the wind. All of my Andalus is within your hands, so don't leave a single string
for self-defense in the land of my Andalus.
I will realize, in another time,
I will realize that I have won with my despair
and that I have found my life, over there
outside itself, near my past
take my horse and slaughter it, and I will carry myself dead and alive,
by myself...