Dr. Refaat Alareer with Dina Suhail Al-Ejil at her graduation in 2023. Photo provided by Suhail Al-Ejil

If I had known
it was the last time I’d see you,
I would never have looked away,
never let my thoughts drift
from the warmth in your words—
your congratulations
for our graduation,
your golden advice
to sail and fight,
your boundless sincerity,
your unending generosity.

If I had known
it was our final meeting,
I would have told you
you were my compass,
my quiet guide.
I would have taken
a thousand photos—
not to preserve your image
but to keep you close
in the quiet war of absence.

If I had known
it was the last time
I’d hear your voice,
I would have spoken endlessly
of the luminous realm of my dreams,
the future I dared to imagine,
and how tongue-tied I was
to reveal my words.
I would have told you
that poetry and Shakespeare
were my favorite courses
and lit up my days.

But they—
they stole you from us
without mercy.
Even in my darkest thoughts
I never imagined
that moment would be
the last photo,
the last goodbye.

Yet you live on,
you’re still here.
You’re still with us—
in every kite that soars
through trembling skies,
in the stars that whisper
through the night,
in every wave of Gaza’s sea
that echoes your voice—
back to the shore,
like the tales
you never finished telling.

Dr. Refaat was a source of inspiration to We Are Not Numbers from its inception in 2014 and conducted workshops for several cohorts of writers; many WANN writers also attended his classes at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he taught comparative literature and creative writing. He was targeted and killed by Israel on December 7, 2023.

Read his  poem, If I must die. Read tributes to Dr. Refaat.