Palestinian author and intellectual Khalil Baydas (1873-1949) is often heralded as a pioneer of modern Palestinian literature. He is frequently highlighted in discussions of Palestinian identity and nationalism because of his activity in anti-British and anti-Zionist movements in the region. As a graduate of the Russian school in Nazareth, and later an administrator at the same institution, Baydas’ political and literary careers were heavily influenced by his lasting connections to Russia and Russian culture. This paper seeks to examine more closely Baydas’ use of the term waTan in his translations of Russian literature and his essays to trace his shift in identity - from Ottoman citizen to Arab Palestinian. Examining texts from various stages of his career shows a shifting understanding of the term waTan. Exploring this shift in his literary translations reveals some clear, yet unexpected, connections between Russian foreign policy in the Levant and the early expressions of nationalism in the region. When Khalil Baydas writes eloquently the importance of serving one’s waTan in his first literary translations, published in 1898, his enthusiasm for the concept of patriotic service to one’s homeland is clear. Ten years later, in his literary journal al-Nafa’is al-‘aSriyyah, we find him still declaring his love for his waTan, quite clearly defining himself in both cases as an Ottoman citizen. In the period immediately following the 1908 Ottoman constitutional reforms, when Baydas began his literary career in earnest, many Arab intellectuals in the Levant were thrilled with the new freedoms and possibilities granted them. Even during this early period, however, we find textual evidences that Baydas’ conception of al-waTan had begun to shift from a broad Ottoman identity to a more local Palestinian identity. Later in his career, he again emphasizes the concepts of patriotism and national identity in the translated novel “al-‘ursh wa-al-Hubb,” though by this time Baydas had become an outspoken advocate of independence from foreign rule and the establishment of modern Arab political structures. Through a close reading of Baydas’ literary translations, this paper investigates the shifting meaning of the term waTan evident in Baydas’ writings. I argue that Baydas’ shift to Arab/Palestinian conceptions of al-waTan begins much sooner than has been assumed by many scholars of Palestinian nationalism. In doing so, his writings highlight the understudied influence of Russian culture on developments in the Levant before World War I.