POETRY (BAMYAN)

Image by Chatgpt AI (Monks building the Buddha statue in the 5th century CE in Bamyan, Afghanistan)

Bamyan*

By: Ghani Khan

Translated by: Nasser Yousaf

On one side, Nature's splendor

􀀁 on the other the wonders of Man

It has rendered me senseless:

􀀁 this ubiquitous blinding light

Nay, this is not Bamyan;

􀀁 this is Mount Sinai!

Hither the wonders of Nature

􀀁 hither the madness of Adam

Since both are adamant

􀀁 what a magic have they wrought!

Wherever your view extends

􀀁 mountains, nay there are flowers!

Each mountain is a river of colours

􀀁 not one, but many thousands

And yonder is the tale

􀀁 of Adam's love and his faith

There are lyrics of love in every cave,

􀀁 tales of love abound

There lies quietly in every cave

􀀁 a music of lights!

This desolate and forgo􀀥en land

􀀁 abode of my ancestors is this!

In quest of this ruined world,

􀀁 in quest of the Pashtun's glory

In quest of that doomed epoch,

􀀁 in quest of my martyred love

In quest of that charred house,

􀀁 in quest of that lost garden

I cry and keep crying from my heart,

􀀁 it sets me ablaze when I look at it!

*Bamyan is to the northwest of Kabul in Afghanistan