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Quatrains of Khalilullah Khalili
Khalili, a major contemporary Sufi poet of Afghanistan and a refugee of the Russian invasion in 1979, died in 1987. In addition to poetry, he is author of over 20 standard works on history, literature and philosophy. This selection of his Quatrains, in a trilingual Persian, Arabic and English edition, has been hailed in the Arab, Central Asian and Far Eastern worlds of thought and literature as a masterpiece, and represents the presentation of both traditional and contemporary themes within the classical idiom.
- GenresPoetry
86 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1981
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 21, 2015
"We are the actors and spectators on life's stage,
Perplexed in our work, bewildered at the riddle of the universe;
We are but small puppets in the hand of Time,
Dancing to the tunes of others!"
Actual rating: 3.5
My dad works for the government and occasionally has to go to the Middle East for a year. This year he was stationed in Afghanistan, and met the author's son, Massoud Khalili, who had served as the Afghanistan Ambassador to Turkey, Spain, and India. So being an awesome father, my dad got me this lovely little book of Afghani poetry (which is famous there) and also got it autographed in both Afghani and English. :)
While I've always wanted to get into poetry, I've never gotten around to it. This book was a good introduction. All of the works were short and clear, but it didn't take away from the power of their messages. Most of them consisted of life and death themes, or enjoying youth while it lasts.
Since this book was extremely short, I guess my review is warranted to be the same. I'd recommend it to readers who enjoy poetry, especially those who appreciate international works or shorter poems.
Perplexed in our work, bewildered at the riddle of the universe;
We are but small puppets in the hand of Time,
Dancing to the tunes of others!"
Actual rating: 3.5
My dad works for the government and occasionally has to go to the Middle East for a year. This year he was stationed in Afghanistan, and met the author's son, Massoud Khalili, who had served as the Afghanistan Ambassador to Turkey, Spain, and India. So being an awesome father, my dad got me this lovely little book of Afghani poetry (which is famous there) and also got it autographed in both Afghani and English. :)
While I've always wanted to get into poetry, I've never gotten around to it. This book was a good introduction. All of the works were short and clear, but it didn't take away from the power of their messages. Most of them consisted of life and death themes, or enjoying youth while it lasts.
Since this book was extremely short, I guess my review is warranted to be the same. I'd recommend it to readers who enjoy poetry, especially those who appreciate international works or shorter poems.
January 11, 2023
If the gates of hope are shut before me,
Yet there is death, like a crack in the wall!
I'm very grateful that I was able to get a glimpse of Afghan poetry despite not being able to read the language these texts were originally written in. I'm glad there exist translations despite the possibility of exact intentions and worldplay being changed or lost in the process of translating it.
But judging from a brief foreword of Afghan poet and scholar Khalilullah Khalili himself in this publication, I'm assuming he had a bit of an influence on that process which gives me some confidence that these English versions are fairly close to the original expression at least.
As the title makes clear, this is a collection of quatrains by one of the most famous writers in Afghan history. They all reflect on life, many of them being about the passing of time, about aging, death and love. Some of them are even funny, at least to me, like one mentioning the joy of breaking a law.
Some of them are very clever like the one comparing the moon from a sentimental ("everlasting light") and a scientific perspective ("dark planet").
My favorite phrase though might have come from a poem about the fact that we are all the same in death, where we become servants to the worms.
February 2, 2017
In four short sentences, the author able to capture my attention. Beautifully written.
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July 30, 2011a refreshing thoughful experience, he brings about the best of sufi poem ina very beautiful and acessible way.
July 27, 2011
He has a way of turning life's truths into poetry..
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews