"I can only hope that the day will soon come, especially in English, when Darwish's night and dream, jasmine and almond blossoms are seen for what they are: the private lexicon of a singular and eternal, timeless voice in the history of human literature."---- Fady Joudah

"Internationally recognized Palestinian poet Darwish, who died in 2008, writes lyric poems about uprootedness, exile, love, and the idea of death, which seems to throb between his lines... In what is likely his last collection, Darwish writes in a clear, simple, and yet elusive language charged with sharp visual images and vibrant musical beats... Though Darwish is a cultural icon among his people who has contributed much to shaping the Palestinian identity and consciousness, this work showcases his ability to recharge his language and reach for universal themes ... Darwish's transformative language delights."--Library Journal

"Almond Blossoms and Beyond, first published in Arabic in 2005 and newly translated by Mohammad Shaheen, [...is] a complex counterpoint between the personal and the political, the poetic and the poetological (poetry about poetry), the reflective and the polemical, the real and the surreal. These shifts are rapid but graceful, a grace that is well captured by Shaheen's translations... a carefully, almost symmetrically structured collection ... beautifully produced."--Electronic Intifada