A poem of Great Ahmad Shah Baba

[graveyardofempires]

ستا د عشق له وينو ډک سوه ځېګرونه
ستا په لاره کې بايلي زلمي سرونه

تا ته راسمه زړګی زما فارغ سي
بې له تا مې انديښنې د زړه مارونه

که هر څو مې د دنيا ملکونه ډير سي
زما به هېر نسي دا ستا ښکلي باغونه

د ډهلي تخت هيرومه چې را ياد کړم
زما د ښکلي پښتونخوا د غرو سرونه

د رقيب د ژوند متاع به تار په تار کړم
چې په تورو پښتانه کا ګوزارونه

د فريد او د حميد دور به بيا سي
چې زه کاندم پر هر لوري تاختونه

که تمامه دنيا يو خوا ته بل خدا يې
زما خو خوښ دي ستا خالي تش ډګرونه

احمد شاه به دغه ستا قدر هير نه کا
که ونيسي د تمام جهان ملکونه

translation

By blood, we are immersed in love of you

The youth lose their heads for your sake.

I come to you and my heart finds rest

Away from you, grief clings to my heart like a snake.

I forgot the throne of Delhi
When I remember the mountain tops of my Afghan land

If I must choose between the World and you,

I shall not hesitate to claim your barren deserts as my own.

[BarakzaiAbdali]

Graveyard Wrorre,

This might be a different version...???

The version of the poem that I grew up with, the one on the cover of our parents' generation textbooks in Afghanistan was this version with slight wording differences, but important differences:

The wording from the Afghanistan school books in Zahir Shah's time reads:
Staa pa laraa key zalmae balaey saroonaa
The version you have here says:
Staa pa laraa key balaey zalmae saroona

Also, your version changes Ashraf to Hamid

A very important part is also left out in nearly all the translations, for some reason, online...

Lets come up with a proper translation... tell me what you think of this (there are likely some mistakes):

For the love of you, chests are bloodied;
For the sake of you, the youths lose their heads.
I come to you and my heart is relieved;
Away from you I have a heart ensnared by snakes, tis so grief laden.
I forsake the Delhi throne when I recall
My beautiful Pashtun abode's mountain peaks.
Whatever the number of my worldly domains--
Still, your beauteous gardens enchant me.
Life's adversary shall be rent asunder piece by piece
As Pashtun swords deliver upon it heavy blows.
Farid and Ashraf's era shall reign again [in me]
As I lay foundations of thrones along the many ways.
Given all the world on the one hand, and you on the other--
I choose your empty barren deserts.
Ahmad Shah shall not fail to honor thee
Even if he seizes all of the nations!

[BarakzaiAbdali]

I believe... that Ahmad Shah Abdali, God rest his soul, was referring to the Afghan golden eras of Farid (Sher Shah Suri) and Ashraf Hotak as I do not have the book with me now to see the footnotes.

[faye]

they are both beautiful and passionate.

[BarakzaiAbdali]

The most clever part of it is that the initial lines trick the reader pleasantly... you assume it is about to embark on your standard run of the mill love poem route... and it quickly swerves towards a rather deep expression of simplistic love for his environs.

[faye]

haha.. didn't trick me. i knew GOE wouldn't put up a standard love poem, lol.

[BarakzaiAbdali]

For the love of you, chests are bloodied;
For the sake of you, boys-nearly-men lose their heads.
I come to you and my heart is relieved;
Away from you I have a heart ensnared by snakes, 'tis so grief laden.
I forsake the Delhi throne when I recall
My beautiful Pashtun abode's mountain peaks.
However many the number of my worldly domains--
Still, your beauteous gardens enchant me.
Life's adversary shall be rent asunder piece by piece
As Pashtun swords deliver upon it heavy blows.
Farid and Ashraf's era shall reign again [in me]
As I lay foundations of thrones along the many ways.
Between all the world on the one hand, and you on the other--
I choose your empty barren desert wastelands.
Ahmad Shah shall not fail to honor thee
Even if he seizes all of the countless nations!

[BarakzaiAbdali]

I think the above is the closest translation I can derive that attempts to preserve even a fraction of the original's beauty. The original Pashto is charged with eloquence and meaning that are hard to preserve in translation.

[randolph85]

is there a definitive version of his poems? all i have read are online but i am hoping there is something a little more concrete, like rahman baba's book.

[sahil112]

Graveyard Wrorre,

This might be a different version...???

The version of the poem that I grew up with, the one on the cover of our parents' generation textbooks in Afghanistan was this version with slight wording differences, but important differences:

The wording from the Afghanistan school books in Zahir Shah's time reads:
Staa pa laraa key zalmae balaey saroonaa
The version you have here says:
Staa pa laraa key balaey zalmae saroona

Also, your version changes Ashraf to Hamid

A very important part is also left out in nearly all the translations, for some reason, online...

Lets come up with a proper translation... tell me what you think of this (there are likely some mistakes):

For the love of you, chests are bloodied;
For the sake of you, the youths lose their heads.
I come to you and my heart is relieved;
Away from you I have a heart ensnared by snakes, tis so grief laden.
I forsake the Delhi throne when I recall
My beautiful Pashtun abode's mountain peaks.
Whatever the number of my worldly domains--
Still, your beauteous gardens enchant me.
Life's adversary shall be rent asunder piece by piece
As Pashtun swords deliver upon it heavy blows.
Farid and Ashraf's era shall reign again [in me]
As I lay foundations of thrones along the many ways.
Given all the world on the one hand, and you on the other--
I choose your empty barren deserts.
Ahmad Shah shall not fail to honor thee
Even if he seizes all of the nations!

i like this translation so much its very very beutifull!!!


derrrrrraa mananaaaaa wroraaa :D

[BarakzaiAbdali]

i like this translation so much its very very beutifull!!!


derrrrrraa mananaaaaa wroraaa :D

No problem wrorre, thank you for your kind commentary. I finalized this same version and think its as accurate a rendering as I can give:

For the love of you, chests are bloodied;
For the sake of you, boys-nearly-men lose their heads.
I come to you and my heart is relieved;
Away from you I have a heart ensnared by snakes, 'tis so grief laden.
I forsake the Delhi throne when I recall
My beautiful Pashtun abode's mountain peaks.
However many the number of my worldly domains--
Still, your beauteous gardens enchant me.
Life's adversary shall be rent asunder piece by piece
As Pashtun swords deliver upon it heavy blows.
Farid and Ashraf's era shall reign again [in me]
As I lay foundations of thrones along the many ways.
Between all the world on the one hand, and you on the other--
I choose your empty barren desert wastelands.
Ahmad Shah shall not fail to honor thee
Even if he seizes all of the countless nations!

[kakargirl]

No problem wrorre, thank you for your kind commentary. I finalized this same version and think its as accurate a rendering as I can give:

For the love of you, chests are bloodied;
For the sake of you, boys-nearly-men lose their heads.
I come to you and my heart is relieved;
Away from you I have a heart ensnared by snakes, 'tis so grief laden.
I forsake the Delhi throne when I recall
My beautiful Pashtun abode's mountain peaks.
However many the number of my worldly domains--
Still, your beauteous gardens enchant me.
Life's adversary shall be rent asunder piece by piece
As Pashtun swords deliver upon it heavy blows.
Farid and Ashraf's era shall reign again [in me]
As I lay foundations of thrones along the many ways.
Between all the world on the one hand, and you on the other--
I choose your empty barren desert wastelands.
Ahmad Shah shall not fail to honor thee
Even if he seizes all of the countless nations!

Mashallah ,A.lala now its pure perfection.

[Darweshkhel]

@ graveyard thanks for the poem and @ barakzai for the translation...

Loy Ahmad Shah Baba loved poetry, he himself has written thousands of poems. Abdulhay Habibi has compiled a Diwan which can be found here:
http://www.pashtunforums.com/pashto-...-deewan-11401/

The Ahmad Shah Baba Diwan was published long time ago in AFG and still can be found there in bookstores. Since I couldnt find it on the net I will upload my own book which I bought in Kabul.
Peace

[graveyardofempires]

Manena darwesh jana

[kakargirl]

My Love for Afghanistan



Bloody chests are full of land-love-affair Youths sacrifice heads, and call it only fair.


Relief comes to me when I come to you Anxiety snakes in my heart when I am far from-you.


No matter the increase in lands I capture It's the beauty of your gardens I'll never forget.


Discard I the magnificent throne of Delhi When I remember the summits of Afghan mountains.


The legacy of Hamid and Farid times returns When I run victorious all around.


Ahmad Shah will not forget your legacy Even if he conquers the world in whole.


If the universe comes into either hand I'll prefer your bare and naked deserts