A book of poetry — by the Taliban?

Sunni Man

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Aug 14, 2008
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And you didn’t think there was a soft side to the Taliban.

A controversial new book has hit shelves in Great Britain that contains poetry written by members of the group or authors who seem quite romantically devoted to it. It's titled, appropriately enough, "Poetry of the Taliban."

The spot on my heart makes a candle like the sun
To watch the earth and skies with.

That’s just a taste of the verse two Western researchers stumbled on while perusing the Taliban’s web site. Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn, who have been living in Afghanistan for years, found the trove while they were working on a project called Afghanwire, an online resource they created to help foreigners understand what everyday Afghans were doing.

They noticed that new poems kept popping up on the Taliban’s site and kept clicking to find poems dating to the 1990s. They asked around to see if anyone was bothering to translate them to English.

No one was, so their translator went to work.

“The poems seemed part of our understanding of who the Taliban were. They meshed with what we’ve seen living in Kandahar – that it wasn’t enough to believe that the Taliban are fighting simply out of religious fervor,” Kuehn said. “There was a lot more to these guys.”

Beyond fighting, the poets penned odes to love, and to Afghanistan. They wrote about corruption in government and about NGOs that are failing to really help Afghans. They ruminated on money, loss of life, being a refugee and beauty.

There was a sun escorting your beauty
There was a moon with you and a great army of stars.
The ignorance of the dark turned to light when you came;
The army accompanying you dug into the chest of darkness.

Several of the poems sound like lines that Sacha Baron Cohen might say in his new movie “The Dictator.”

Your love aside, what else is there?
It is like approaching the desert.
Like the dust on your footsteps.
Look! The crazy one lay down.

Other poems are a little more direct:

I will murder all the enemies of your religion and prosperity,
I will gradually make you the holy necklace of Asia.

Response among Afghans to the book has been split, the researchers said.

“A lot of people thought it was strange that it was a couple foreigners working on a book about poetry by talibs [the Arabic word for students of Islam],” Strick van Linschoten said. “The feedback in intellectual circles in Kabul is [some think] that it’s great that we’re showing the international community another side to the Taliban.” Others in Kabul, they say, disagree with the book's publication.

The book's editors say the poetry provides insights into the group.

“They’ve said, ‘How can you publish the poems of people who have created problems for me and my ethnic group?’” Kuehn said. “One of my favorite questions is, ‘How can you humanize the Taliban?’ I always say, ‘They are human, right?’"

The researchers said they were able to meet at least one poet in real life – a university student.

“They are not demons from an outside world,” Kuehn continued. “Right or wrong. Agree or disagree with them. Hate them if you want, but they are still human.”

A book of poetry
 
Hey Sunni man, here is a poem I wrote about Allah. You can send it to your pals in the Taliban, and tell them I dedicate it to them..

Praise Allah

Praised be to Allah, the creator of all worlds,
Praise him for the desert, with its endless sea of dunes.
The only things to eat, bushes with spiky thorns,
The Sun a burning orb, to dry and bleach your bones.

Praise Allah for the mirage, of water that is not there,
Without such visions to lead them, many would despair.
But the mirage in the distance gives men strength to go on,
Even though when they arrive there, the oasis is gone.

No wonder dusty Arabs dream of gently flowing streams,
They read of Allah's heaven, and see it in their dreams.
They read of fruit trees laden, with the branches hanging low,
With youths to wait upon them, even thought it is not so.

Praise Allah for the camel, the walking desert ship,
Praise him for two hump camels, with a place to sit.
Praise him for one hump camels, that can carry slaves,
Sliding up and down the hump, destined for early graves.

Praise Allah for the cattle, and praise him for the Goats,
And praise him for instructions, in how to cut their throats.
Praise him for the science that created the first tent,
Saving Arabs from the sandstorms, which are often sent.

Most of all praise Allah for the many rules of war,
And clear instructions, in how to settle every score.
Praise Allah for the sword, to strike unworthy necks,
And his curse on unbelievers, so they may all be vexed.
 

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