Poem - A Thousand Splendid Suns

Kabul by Saib-e-Tabrizi

Ah! How beautiful is Kabul encircled by her arid mountains

And Rose, of the trails of thorns she envies

Her gusts of powdered soil, slightly sting my eyes

But I love her, for knowing and loving are born of this same dust

My song exhalts her dazzling tulips

And at the beauty of her trees, I blush

How sparkling the water flows from Pul-I Bastaan!

May Allah protect such beauty from the evil eye of man!

Khizr chose the path to Kabul in order to reach Paradise

For her mountains brought him close to the delights of heaven

From the fort with sprawling walls, A Dragon of protection

Each stone is there more precious than the treasure of Shayagan

Every street of Kabul is enthralling to the eye

Through the bazaars, caravans of Egypt pass

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs

And the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls

Her laughter of mornings has the gaiety of flowers

Her nights of darkness, the reflections of lustrous hair

Her melodious nightingales, with passion sing their songs

Ardent tunes, as leaves enflamed, cascading from their throats

And I, I sing in the gardens of Jahanara, of Sharbara

And even the trumpets of heaven envy their green pastures

Response:

The poem Kabul reflects the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns in many ways. In the poem Saib-e-Tabrizi speaks of how beautiful Kabul is even through the hard ship and treachery the city has sustained. How Tabrizi portrays the city is insightful. He writes that it should not be seen by the evil eye of a man, and how 'one could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs and the splendid thousand suns that hide behind her walls'. Mariam is like the city in this book. Rasheed protects her from the evil eyes of men, and does not allow her to exit the home without him. She is beautiful but no one can ever see. Multiple beatings from infertility and abandonment cause her to wear down, but she will always be the beautiful child that she once was. In this novel Mariam and Laila go through hardships, but when Laila leaves she is as beautiful as a flower, and as free as a bird. No matter how many times you try to crush Kabul, and destroy it's the people, and the pure beauty of the city that will always keep the memories of how it once was alive. You can abuse the land around you, but you can always remember what always brought you back. To this day Afghanistan is still a war zone, but it is a beautiful one. When there is no firing you can embrace the pure beauty of where you stand. When Laila gets away from Afghanistan she can remember the heart ache of Kabul and the joy the city held. She wants to be the one to help rebuild that joy so others can bask in it.