Haroon Bacha

د سیند د سپینو شګو نه می جوړ کړ یو محل

This is a special presentation of three greats - the poetry, the voice and the music. Ghani Khan writes, Haroon Bacha performs and Homayun Sakhi plays the rubâb.

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The Prison Dream (2)

This song by Fiza Fayaz is inspired by Ghani Khan's The Prison Dream. Khan Abdul Ghani Khan, of course, was the son of Bacha Khan and this poem was written during Ghani Khan's political incarceration at Hyderabad Jail in 1948.

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I dream, I dream, and seek for it some answer from the world.
I lie and rest my head on the beloveds lap;

I dream that I set off like a butterfly;
Fly round a narcissus and skim past a jasmine;
Circle the necklace round the beloveds delicate neck
And hail her, invisible, with silent greetings.
I dream, and seek for it some answer from the world
I dream...

I dream that I set out shrouded in a zephyr;
Go to my darlings side as a vision of love;
Hang before her eyes like a desert dream,
And lose in one jangle the riches of my life.
I dream, and seek for it some answer from the world
I dream...

I dream of an evening at a garden full of flowers
Red eyes of the cupbearer with wine in ruddy hands;
Fingers on a sitar in elation like Khayyams,
Gently turning over it the sweet fable of love.
I dream, and seek for it some answer from the world
I dream...

I dream, I dream, and seek for it some answer from the world.
I lie and rest my head on the beloveds lap;
I dream...

Written by Ghani Khan in Hyderabad Jail 1948
Translation by: ghanikhan.wordpress.com

The Prison Dream (1)

Khob winam alama ka e sok rakri maana

Prot yem sar mi ayekhe da khpal yaar pa zangana
I dream o wise ones, if (only) someone gives me the meaning
I rest my head here, on my beloveds lapGhani Khan

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Poppies: Love and Peace

The poppy is a curious symbol of war and peace, sleep, death, remembrance and love. It is also, without doubt, connected in our minds with our opium production, recreation and ruin. As we lead up to Armistice Day, today, my interpretation is mostly positive.

The poppy has been used in classical poetry - John Alexander McCrae's poem, In Flanders Fields, is perhaps amongst the best known war poems.

The poppy theme appears in a poem by Ghani Khan, celebrated artist, Pashto poet, and son of Bacha Khan. It appears here, in its English version.

A Poppy Flower
by Ghani Khan

In a desert, once, on a hunt did I find,
With a radiant smile, a flower so fair;
Sadly, I approached and sighed, “Ah! Of my kind
Are you too – a hapless flower from a beloved’s hair.
Frail fingers wouldn’t take you to a soft face so close,
Nor would you be kissed by lips delicate and rose.”
With a silent smile the flower replied, “Don’t lose heart!
This desert I wouldn’t give up for the gardens of Iran,
A solitary I am here while legions are there,
Amidst this cursed soil I stand apart.
In this gray desert, a flamboyant flame of divine light am I,
Beauty’s silent song, a miracle from the sky.
In your garden, there are thousands of flowers like me –
A nameless droplet in a nameless sea.
You too, in your desert, don’t feel forlorn,
To behold you at last shall come a sore

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