Saturday, March 13, 2010

Dear Lord of the Oppressed

Dear Lord of the Oppressed:
Lend me Your All-Hearing Ears,
And hear my silenced cries
Lift from me these heavy burdens
Of constant, heaving sighs
Which I have been hauling
Since the dawn of my demise

Instill back into me the breath of existence
The privilege of which I have been denied
For a time untold
Raise me high so that I may pray to reach You
And permit me to wail to You the anguish
Of a people I uphold
Allow me to beseech You to have mercy on us
So that we may be redeemed
Of this bottomless well of miseries
Lend me just a moment of Your infinite Time today
As I weep to You the terrifying circumstances
Thrown upon a people who have been cunningly led astray

The realities of a destroyed future and a forbidden today
Have forced us to abandon our land and kiss our soil away
We’ve become foreigners in a country that claims us its own
In a distant soil where we’re drowning in oceans of dismay

We are told it’s a sin to shed tears of pity, it’s a sin to complain
But we’ve suffered beyond what the mind can think
And tolerated more than what our experiences can explain
There are unmentioned thoughts that must be suppressed
For they are far worse than small complaints can express
But we’ve lost our senses, our path to success
And we have turned into a sad, pitiful breed
We’ve seen chopped limbs and beheaded loved ones
And our wells flood with the tears we bleed

Dear Lord of the oppressed:
Lead us into gardens where serenity will reign
Where our infinite sorrows might start to wane
Guide us back to the land that gave birth to us,
Now blown away by vicious storms of oppression,
Storms that were sent by the demons of tyranny
That left my people in chains of depression
Grant us permission
To embrace our soil’s fragrance once more
And, once more, taste the gentle gush of its breeze
So that we may be intoxicated in its motherly scent
And at last be cured of this gruesome disease
Pour upon us a much-needed rain of mercy and peace
And wipe away from my wretched people
These sweats of subjugation caused by centuries of unease

Dear Lord of the Oppressed:
Let stand strong our shattering mountains
That were once our major source of strength
Let flow the calm, crystal rivers of our mighty land
So that they may wash away our tears of pain
Tears that have been buried in specks of sands
Let, also, bloom the flowers of our fertile land
So that we may plant a future of stability,
One that has been long over-due,
And ignite for ourselves flames of security

Our prayers go unanswered, our screams go unheard,
But as our strong faith compels us to be patient and pray,
We ask You to kindly confer upon us, once again,
Our crowns of honor upon which we once used to sway

~ Me
Sunday, May 31, 2009


Also in Sahar.

15 comments:

  1. Qrratugai kamaal dy karay.....Pir

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  2. Wonderful!.......so simply written but at the same time so exact and for a person like me who have witnessed the sufferings of a once beautiful "Valley"........I would simply say "Thank You" for expressing the feelings of many unspoken....Keep up your great work!!!

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  3. Dera khushala shum che staso khwakh sho, Khugman! (Khugman? What does that mean? :O)
    Staso dera, dera manana! Kor mu wadaan!

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  4. Shanu/Qrratugai
    (Dasey noom mo khwakh karrae che banda hasey muskae krree...:))
    Khugman: da bal da khugo/ghamoono che ehsaas wee cha sera....."empathetic"(hope u understand)........Da Allah pa amaan!

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  5. Ahhh! Poha shum oss :)
    LOL @ the comment on Shanu/Qrratugai :P

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  6. Mung kala kala dalta 'taa' ukoo kho taso kho bekhee sa nawey shai na dae likale.....:(
    Hope everything is OK but its very important that good writers like yourself spare few moments to write so that lazy/couch potatoes like us could enjoy......:)

    Na seriously taso dher kha likai.....keep up the writing spirit alive.

    Pa dranawee!

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  7. LOL @ "taa"! :D
    Sa nawee taaza na wu nan saba, jo zaka Qrratugai sa ghali ghali ghunte da. lol
    I have a few pieces I'll be posting here within the next day or two. I've a poem on my Swat and then on something else related to Pukhtuns that I should posting soon, ka khairee.
    So do keep visiting :)
    Manana for your encouragement!
    Khudey mu khushala larai!

    And LMAO @ "lazy/couch potatoes like us"!

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  8. Wonderful!......da kho da khushalai khabara da che you'll be posting few new pieces....umeed dae che shahkaar ba wee laka staso da dagha nazm 'Dear Lord of the Oppressed' pa rang.

    Ao da khabara "I have a poem on MY SWAT...."; Da zamung Swat taso kala pa khpal noom likalae, Swat kho ka khair wee da tolo Pukhtano dae....:)....just kidding cherta mind na kai.

    Will be visiting for your latest poem......no che mayoosa mo na krrey gwarae.

    Allah mo pa khpal amaan kay sata!

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  9. Ohooo ... now you've got me all worried. I don't know if I've lived up to your expectations with this other poem :P "Dear Lord of the Oppressed" is the best I could ever come up with, and none will ever reach its level, I dread!
    Kho za khair dey, Khudey ba raata khair kee no.

    And, yes, Swat belongs to all of us - but she and I've decided it's best I call it my own, LOL. Just a personal contract between her and me, you see, haha.

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  10. Ali Rahmat WaraichMarch 16, 2010 at 1:49 PM

    Very moving prayers expressed beautifully in a poem. Aamin

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  11. Thank you very much, Ali! Your kind thoughts are very much appreciated!

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  12. Salam Zarki khori,
    It is assumed that Balbala is black in colour in our pashtu literature. I dont know exactly it is true or fake. Black colour is not encouraged for female in our literature...as said in tappa or charbaita...Halak chi toor shi lawangeen shi...Genay che tora shi bangri de kharsawina...
    I really appriciate ur deep thinking and strong language skills for the poem..Dear Lord of oppressed...I thought that I am suffering alone but now I admit that every Afghan is suffering far from thier homeland having the same grief... and our grief is almost unbarable but due to our strong faith we should be patient... ateeq

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  13. Thanks for dropping by and pa khair, Ateequllah wrora!

    I appreciate your comment :)

    As for the part about "balbala" and how it signifies "black" ... hmmm... what's wrong with the color black? So what that a "tora jenai" has to sell bangri? lol. What's wrong with a tora jenai, mara?

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  14. Qrratu, MashAllah that was beautiful, love it.

    p.s. I like the the anonymity msg

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  15. LOL :D Yeahhhh!!!
    Thanks, Jaan, for your comment! Khushala osa!

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Dare to opine :)

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