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.

Please use the pulldown Navigation Menu above to read each poem in its entirety.

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.

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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.

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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.

                                                       Read more

 

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.

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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. 

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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.

                                                   Read more

 

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.

                                                     Read more

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.