POETRY

LEADER, AN ALLEGORY BY GHANI KHAN

Translation: Nasser Yousaf

'If you do not interfere in politics, politics will eventually interfere in your life,' Vladimir Lenin.

This translation of 'Leader,' a Pashto poem by Ghani Khan is not meant to demean those politicians who consider politics to be a noble vocation. It must, nevertheless, seem to have been aimed at the demagogues whom the celebrated Pashtun poet appears to have taken to the launderer.

We find demagogues, the self-righteous, opinionated in all fields of life, not merely in politics.

I have already published translations of twenty five Pashto poems of Ghani Khan. 'Leader,' by the same poet wasn't included in that work. 

Translation is a dicey job; it risks distorting or belittling a great piece of literary work. However, some works of literature are too absorbing or enticing not to be shared widely.

'Leader' is most definitely an allegory. Ghani Khan, like all great poets, was a keen observer of Nature and the animal kingdom. The instant case is an example of that kind of observations. 

Here, one finds Ghani Khan appalled at how human beings can unwittingly imbibe all the bad things in some of the animals. This bafflement inspires him to posit the demagogues along with them in this allegorical poem.

.....لیډر......

د کارغه خوله کړه   ژبه ده مار کړه

 Fetch the mouth of the crow

 And the tongue of the snake

دچرګی عقل کړه   زړه د سیار کړه 

Get the wit of the chicken 

And the heart of a jackal 

مرے د سپی کړه   چه ښه غپار کړه 

Take the throat of the dog

That must bark very shrilly

ضد د کچر کړه    غرور  په بار کړه

Get the stubbornness of the mule

Load it with tonnes of arrogance 

 

خټه د  کلی       ډېران دښار کړه 

Gather mud from the village

And the midden of the city

بیا چرته ړوند    کو لال یو یارکړه 

Look out then everywhere

For a blind potter to befriend 

تا له به نوے     لیډر تیار کړه

He will cast from it all

A new leader to behold