The Insane Sufi

Trans­la­tion of a Pash­to poem by Syed Bahaud­din Majroh
Name of book: Na-ash­na San­dari (Stranger’s songs)
Name of the poem (in Pash­to): Sar­toor Malang

Youth does not know
That there exists an old Hakeem of wis­dom – the insane Sufi
He exists and that is why – bat­tle with igno­rance con­tin­ues
He is that mighty Hakeem…
Who destroyed tyrants like Changez
Who sur­vived the blood­thirsty fist of Hitler
And con­front­ed dark ter­ror of Stal­in
Entered pris­ons and dark dun­geons
Freed him­self from this dark ter­ror
Yet this lover
Fol­lowed his love – Free­dom
Did not sur­ren­der
To tyran­ny, injus­tice and pow­er
Fol­lowed his love to burn­ing hell

Be there kings or mighty Emper­ors
Hitlers or Stal­ins
All have one rival
This one mighty Hakeem of wis­dom

His wis­dom brings him trou­bles always
Rest­less dreams, wor­ries and dis­tress

Youth nev­er tries
To find and lis­ten to old sto­ries
Wise Hakeem says:
When there is youth and youth­ful spir­it
When human face has human­i­ty behind it
When there is com­pas­sion, tol­er­ance and kind­ness
When there is free­dom and sym­pa­thy
When there is san­i­ty and ratio­nal­i­ty
Then blind obe­di­ence does not exist
No need for act­ing or pre­tend­ing
No class or sta­tus

Once a great pow­er rose
That made its pres­ence felt every­where
Erect­ed big palaces
Brought down old idols
This great pow­er was – cri­tique and wis­dom
It start­ed a new era
Awak­ened the deep asleep
Cured the sick­ness of super­sti­tion

And when the old blind obe­di­ence…
Was left dumb and speech­less
It went on to make new idols
While else­where peo­ple
Ques­tioned and researched
The foun­da­tions of old knowl­edge
But here…
Blind faith, bias, racism…
Souls deep asleep
It would say:
For­get old Sufis and their shrines
There are new lead­ers
With mag­i­cal pow­ers
And new books
So close your eyes, bow in pros­tra­tion
Accept, obey and do not ques­tion

From Zoroast­er, Bud­dha to Brah­man
In past and present
These cus­to­di­ans of blind faith
Lead­ers and chief­tains
With their log­ic, speech­es and songs
Only preach blind obe­di­ence, closed eyed pros­tra­tions
But do not allow ques­tions…

And I walk towards the ocean
With these old for­got­ten sto­ries, tales and songs
To sink them all