Poetry of the modern-day region called Afghanistan has ancient roots, which is mostly written in

Dari Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī ...

and

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...

. Afghan poetry relates to the culture of Afghanistan and is an element of

Afghan literature Afghan literature or literature of Afghanistan refers to the literature produced in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Influenced by Central and South Asian literature, it is predominantly written in two native and official languages of Afghan ...

History

The region called

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

nowadays was noted for its poetic language even before the

Islamic conquest of Afghanistan The Muslim conquests of Afghanistan began during the Muslim conquest of Persia as the Arab Muslims migrated eastwards to Khorasan, Sistan and Transoxiana. Fifteen years after the Battle of Nahāvand in 642 AD, they controlled all Sasanian doma ...

in the 7th through 11th centuries. The

Pata Khazana Pata Khazāna ( ps, پټه خزانه, translation=The Hidden Treasure) is the title of a manuscript written in the Pashto language. According to its discoverer, the script contains an anthology of Pashto poetry, which precedes the earliest known ...

, if authentic, contains

Pashto poetry Pashto literature ( ps, ) refers to literature and poetry in Pashto language. The history of Pashto literature spreads over five thousands years having its roots in the oral tradition of tapa. However, the first recorded period begins in 7th cen ...

written as far back as the 8th Century. Some of the famous poets who were born or lived in the region of present-day Afghanistan include

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ( fa, جلال‌الدین محمد رومی), also known as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (), Mevlânâ/Mawlānā ( fa, مولانا, lit= our master) and Mevlevî/Mawlawī ( fa, مولوی, lit= my ma ...

Ferdowsi , image = Statue of Ferdowsi in Tus, Iran 3 (cropped).jpg , image_size = , caption = Statue of Ferdowsi in Tus by Abolhassan Sadighi , birth_date = 940 , birth_place = Tus, Samanid Empire , death_date = 1019 or 1025 (87 years old) , d ...

Khushal Khan Khattak Khošāl Khān Khaṭak (1613 – 25 February 1689; Pashto: خوشال خان خټک), also known as Khushal Baba ( ps, خوشال بابا), was a Pashtun poet, chief, and warrior. Khushal Khan served the Mughal Empire protecting them fr ...

, Rahman Baba,

Ahmad Shah Durrani Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahm ...

Timur Shah Durrani Timur Shah Durrani (; prs, ;), also known as Timur Shah Abdali or Taimur Shah Abdali (December 1746 – May 20, 1793) was the second ruler of the Afghan Durrani Empire, from November 1772 until his death in 1793. An ethnic Pashtun, he was the s ...

, Shuja Shah Durrani,

Ghulam Muhammad Tarzi ''Sardar'' Ghulam Muhammad Khan Tarzi (born Kandahar, April 30, 1830 – 1900/1901) son of ''Sardar'' Rahim Dil Khan (and grandson of ''Sardar'' Payinda Khan Mohammadizi or ''Sardar'' Payinda Muhammad Khan) was a ruler of Kandahar. He was a P ...

, Ghulam Habib Nawabi,

Massoud Nawabi Massoud Nawabi (1954–2010; Persian: مسعود نوابی-; alternative spellings: Masood Nawabi) also known as Ustad Nawabi, was an Afghan poet, writer, Director as well as a cultural personality, founder of Educational Committee for Afghan Re ...

Homaira Nakhat Dastgirzada Homaira Nakhat Dastgirzada ( prs, حمیرا نکهت دستگیرزاده) (17 May 1960 - 4 September 2020), best known as Nakhat, was a well known Afghan poet. She wrote numerous pieces of Persian literature that were "very lyrical, with a lot ...

and many others. The nation also has a number of female poets, such as

Rabia Balkhi Rabia Balkhi, also known as Rabia al-Quzdari (or Khuzdari) was a 10th-century writer who composed poetry in Persian and Arabic. She is the first known female poet to write in Persian. A non- mystic poet, her imagery was later transformed into ...

, 17th century

Nazo Tokhi Nāzo Tokhī (نازو توخۍ), commonly known as Nāzo Anā ( ps, نازو انا, "Nazo the grandmother"), was an Afghan poetess and a writer in the Pashto language. Mother of the famous early-18th century Afghan king Mirwais Hotak, she g ...

, and others. Due to political unrest and wars in the country, many women poets have remained hidden. Today, there are very few established young Afghan women poets like

Afghan American Afghan Americans ( prs, آمریکایی‌های افغان‌تبار ''Amrikāyi-hāye Afghān tabar'', ps, د امريکا افغانان ''Da Amrīka Afghanan'') are Americans of Afghan descent or Americans who originated from Afghanistan. ...

''Sajia Alaha Ahrar'', a student at the

University of Mary Washington The University of Mary Washington (UMW) is a public liberal arts university in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the Fredericksburg Teachers College, the institution was named Mary Washington College in 1938 after Mary Ball Wash ...

in the United States, wrote a poem in 2010 entitled "Desire for World's Peace".

Styles

References

External links

Afghanland - Poetry
Afghan literature Persian literature Education in Afghanistan

Afghan poetry {{Afghanistan-stub

History

Styles

See also

References

External links