JAFRA Story

In Palestine in the 1930s and in a village called Kweikat near Acre, Ahmad Aziz was known to compose and sing

colloquial poetry. Ahmad fell in love with Rafiqa, his cousin on his father’s side. He named her Jafra because she

was plump like the daughter of the sheep, which is called Jafra in Arabic. Jafra was 16 and Ahmad was 20. Ahmad

proposed to Jafra and she accepted to marry him. Within a week of their marriage, Jafra fled her home and ran to

her mother and told her that she was not happy with Ahmad. The mother who cared so much for her only

daughter, insisted that Ahmad divorces Jafra and her request was granted. Later on Jafra married her other

cousin on her mother’s side. When Ahmad lost hope in regaining Jafra he became lovesick and spent his time

composing more poetry and music about Jafra. By then, his songs had spread like wildfire in Palestine, and

in Arab region ,it became the symbol of Palestinian heritage

He sang:
Jafra, O people, may you bury me
then step on my grave and a river of water shall flow
Jafra, O people, she calls for her uncles
I won’t marry your son even if you broke my bones
If marriage were forcibly done in Islam
I shall throw myself in the sea to the fish in the water
Jafra, O people, she brings water from the well
She stares with her right eye and winks with the left
If I had a few hours to live, O uncle, I shall kidnap her
And run with her to the valleys to the east of Tiberias
Ahmad collected his songs in a book titled “Jafra”and gave himself the name “The Shepherd of Jafra.”