Majid Naficy: Kabul

But larks have not forgotten to fly
And grass still sprouts from the earth of Kabul
And rivers are replenished by the snows of Pamirs
And the groves of Samangan are filled with sounds of birds.

.

Tahmineh will stand by the road
Unveiled, with gleams of joy in her eyes
And Rostam will dismount Rakhsh.
He’ll see no ordeal facing him
But love, love, only love.

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Thus the cannons will go silent
And the tanks rust under the green moss
And the soldiers return to their garrisons
And the turbaned to their temples
And the children to their desks
And the country girls will come to the city
Shouting in the alleys:
“Flowers! Flowers! Flowers!”

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And the old poet of the city of Toos*
Will look toward the east
From the balcony of his garden
And say in the sweet words of Dari:
“Ah, Kabul! Do not suffer any longer
Or shed your blood in vain.
Roodabeh will untie her hair again.
It falls from her high balcony
And Zal will rise to his love”.

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November 13, 2001

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* Ferdowsi of Toos is the great Persian epic poet who wrote Shah Nameh
a thousand years ago, in which Roodabeh, the daughter of the king of Kabul gives
birth to Rostam, the greatest Iranian mythical warrior.

Copyright 2021 Majid Naficy

Majid Naficy is the author of many books in English and in Persian, including Father & Son (Red Hen, 2003).

Lake Qargha, Kabul