Poetic Uni-Verse
The poems presented here are as much for recitation as they are for contemplation in silence. Allow the thought to unveil the hidden meaning beyond the word play of language. Ponder perpetual perplexities, think, be.
These poems are presented in three categories: sections:
Re-Versed Revelations are reflections/renditions on the verses of the Qur'an and translations of the poetry of great Sufi thinkers.
Mirrored Perspectives presents the author's own poetry in the numinous and Sufi spiritual renditions.
Reflections on Life presents poems on worldly issues and addresses global disenchantment in poetic language.
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Re-Versed Revelations
Classical Pashto, Dari Persian, and occasionally Arabic thought versified as poetic renditions and reflections in modern lexicon is offered along side the original. Reflect upon the deeper layers of meaning inherent in the conceived thought.
Hearing Him Hum
(Reflections on the Opening Chapter of the Qur’an)
In the name of the Para-Cosmic Consciousness,
Whose Oneness of Being pens the verses
of perpetually unfolding multiplicities.
Whose Essence weaves
into every fiber of our existence
as the Wholeness of immeasurable timeless tomorrows.
From the Lips of the Divine
The Shrouding Enfold
When the sun enfolds in dark matter
and mourns the loss of light within
When the stars absorb their luminosity in perpetual fading
When the mountains vanish in hazy illusions
When a she-camel, forsaken in suffering,
sees reflections of birth-pains
in the endless mirages of the horizon.
In Contrasting Suspense
Like a river constantly running from myself,
It’s no wonder I am a treasure trove of pearls.
Death is harsh when life is defined by joy and pleasure
I rejoice in Beloved’s longing than in His union.
Like a child all my ignorance seems wisdom,
yet in ruinous worldly decadence I remain pure.
Rising in Meaning
The sun and my stars have risen
beyond the realm of form and through them
I have transcended to a higher state of meaning.
From where I will not return to duality
as I am lost in the pleasant perplexities of thought.
There I am immersed in the blissful hues of meaning
like a sugar cube dissolving into invisible being
I have attained to higher levels of meaning
by willingly abandoning the worldly life.
Mirrored Perspectives
Crystalline Confluence
A little mountain stream
poised in hesitance
on the cusp of a rocky ledge
to make its first jump
as a waterfall—
beauty fashioning itself
in puritanic liquid
crystalline confluence.
Dancing with the Divine
A thought is a deep sense of wonder
sustained in the suspense of silence
in which the divine reveals
to us and through us.
In the Prison of Perception
By Zaman Stanizai
In the prison of perception
in the mist of darkened seas
our shadows still project
a scribbly silhouette--
an "other'ed" face of god.
Reflections on Life
Whispers of the Desert Night Wind
Beyond the bloodshed and bombing,
beyond the rubble and ruins of homes and hamlets,
hidden identities rise from beneath
the weight of authoritarian secularism.
Life is measured in mere statistical body count.
bid as a zero-sum game,
and traded at discount in the Shi’a/Sunni marketplace
where the oblivion of the dead meets the deadline.
The Guernica of Kabul
Projected perceptions
on Shayrdarwaza’s Lion Gate precipice
stare at the logic of skewed perspective
that glares at its own image
etched in self-deception.
The illusion of righteousness
and the fog of ignorance
play Central Asia’s Great Game,
the Buzkashi:
Basra Has No Tears
This is Basra
the city, the woman, the inner eye,
all grieving the loss
under palm trees in a hospital courtyard
in the Arabian oasis of southern Iraq.
Hassan’s emotions hold Basra tightly
as he stands two feet away.
She nods to his whispers
in compliance,
her voice restrained by etiquette
and choked by grief.
In the Grip
The shadow of fear stares
at its own dark reflection.
The infinity of the nine clouds descend
between falling parallel columns.
The dreaded deed of doom
drowns in the dust of delusion.
Plumes of ash rise in gray
to cloud the mindscape in deception.
The yawning void lay bare and dis-ensouled.
A new myth is engraved
in the hallows of the subzero shaken ground.
America’s Summer Dream of 2011
Across the wilderness
just this side of the amber waves
on the rolling hills
near the foot of the purple majesties
America contemplates
a proposal of marriage with
Corporate Capitalism,
as she stands in deep thought
searching for her lost soul
in the dark reflections of time.