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 forgotten 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