"On his birth a creation was born.
An inspiration that stems from his soul.
Destined to write,
sweet words of the creative"
(Katherine MacDonald)
An inspiration that stems from his soul.
Destined to write,
sweet words of the creative"
(Katherine MacDonald)
Well, the world is certainly becoming a smaller place. I'm a small town girl from Newfoundland, Canada. The population of my home town is about five thousand people. Up to this point, I've never really had any travel experience, nor have I published any of my poetry. But through a website called 'www.postpoems.com' I was introduced to a renown Afghani writer named Afzal Shauq. As we both have poetry posted on this page, he had taken the time to comment on some of my work. To return the favor, (out of sheer politeness) I decided to visit his page as well. To my surprise, I discovered the works of a passionate man, a caring man, a great man. Although we have different styles of writing, our ideals are very much the same. Over time, we developed a friendship. We wrote back and forth to each other, commenting on one an others work. I was so impressed with his writing, and he so impressed with mine, that we decided to work on this project together, with the goal of emitting our ideas to the rest of the world....
Even as a young child, Afzal Shauq knew what he wanted to be. When the regional commissioner of his area asked about his ambitions, Afzal Shauq replied...
"I want to be a great man".
Not even really knowing the true meaning of 'greatness', an overwhelming feeling came over him that day. It was from then on he felt ignited to pursue the energy that he felt inside. That day the commissioner said to him..
"good luck son".
There were many paths Afzal Shauq could have chosen, such as engineering, or the field of medicine. His parents and teachers tried to steer him down that path, all the while, he felt restricted. There was too much energy bursting inside him. Feeling frustrated and confused by their ideas of what he should be, he continued to work towards what he really wanted in life.
It was in 1969, as a young adolescent Afzal's only way to connect with the world was through a newspaper, and a radio. His interest in the rest of the world, religion, color and geography had become an obsession. He wanted to learn as much as he could through international channels and articles. If the paper wasn't delivered at his door, he had to rely on textbooks which, to his dismay, had outgrown with time.
Afzal earned several Laurels for his soccer team at the Degree College Lora Lai. It was a great passion of his, and often exhausted himself as Captain of the team.
It was around this time when Afzal Shauq discovered his passion for poetry. To his sheer luck, he had an acquaintance of Prof. Rab Nawaz Mail, who was a teacher and a renown poet of Pashto (Afghani Language) and Urdu. The Professor recognized Afzal's talents and gave to him his guidance. In August of 1975, Afzal wrote his first Pashto poem (what he calls ghazal). Upon reading it Prof. Rab Nawaz Mail encouraged him to write in free verse. It would be a much better way of conveying his message to the outside world.
Much of Afzal's success comes from the Professors early guidance. He started attending Literary recitation gatherings, usually organized by talented poet Saeed Gohar, romantic poet Syed Kher Muhammad Arif and short story writer, Haji Mirza Khan Pechi. It was there he met Sohail Jaffar and Mehmood Ayaz, who he quickly became friends with. Together they poured over ideas to write about. As he poured his heart out on the paper, he was discovering his unconscious mind, a world of dreams and found their an image of his ideal. He desperately tried to find that ideal image in reality around him but remained unsuccessful. As a poet, he was rising and winning but in his search, he was continuously defeated; always left wondering ...
'Shall I ever behold the face of my ideal?'
He read faces around him, he could even read the veiled emotions behind those faces, he searched, questioned, wondered... but his ideal face eluded.
In 1986-87 the first book of Afzal Shauq had been published. Written in Afghan language of Pashto, the book was titled 'Shladaley Amail'. At the same time he was also doing a program by the name of a 'Amail' from Quetta Radio Station Pakistan as anchor and script writer. The program was very popular and had a huge audience. The Radio Program was directed by a very successful broadcaster Agha Muhammad Kasi.
'Shladaley Amail' (Broken necklace) brought Afzal his real first taste of success. He became the poet of realities, adding innovating ideas. Even still, his soul felt unquenched. He had to over come racial and geographic boundaries. And a tempting question passed through his mind often...
'What are the factors and elements that divide, anatomically alike humans into groups, nations and sects?'
In 1992 he officially toured Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand and availed himself of the opportunity to closely observe the societies other than his.
Travel then became a new passion of his. Traveling different countries he observed and recorded his different experiences from East to West and North to South. He tried discovering factors that parted the Eastern way of life and the Westerns code of living ; differ whites from the colored. He has question in mind that...
" Why it's commonly said that the west is best and the east is beast?"
He determined to find the mystery of the division of humanity into the first, second and third world countries. As a result of the devious behavior of the west, a travel log was published under the name of 'Aowa Gama Mazal' (Seven Steps Journey) in 1996. The literary critics then knew him as a post modernist travelogue writer.
Afzal scheduled traveling to three or four countries each year. 1996 brought was a very memorable and rewarding opportunity of road travel with dozens of international tourists. He was fortunate enough to observe from very close quarters the culture and the social system of fourteen European countries, England, Wales, Scotland, France, Belgium, Holland (The Netherlands), Germany, Monaco, Liechstenstien, Switzerland, , Austria, Italy, San Marino and Spain.
Through his travels he had mind-expanding experience, living with people from different parts of the world, getting to know their ways and behavior. He came to understand the gaps between the western world and his own part of the world. He was neither a politician nor a polemist devising slogans and harangues. In his efforts to bridge those gaps, he could only use his creative energies as a poet, transforming his ideas, messages and hopes in poems and verses, with a heartfelt desire that his words touch the millions of hearts around the globe and bring them together. He kept writing poems with a wish that my ideas become harbinger of a new dawn, a color of peace, a hue of love.
He wondered what can make men aware of their predicament and incite them to work towards the perfection of humanity; in complete harmony with natural laws of mutual tolerance, peace and love.
In 1997 during a travel to Cairo Egypt, Afzal met the love of his life. There he met the ravishing and immensely talented Dr. Ouahiba Sakani. Impressed with her beauty and intelligence, he was head over heels in love with her. And for once he felt that the eluding face of his ideal had at last taken a shape of her person. That was when he felt completed. That all that he had accomplished had come down to this.
Through his experiences with his love life, a new novel was born 'Paroni Makhuna' (The faces of yesterday) that was published in 2006. The English translation of which will soon be available. He translated the novel into easy English by himself, while Prof. Ernanie-I-Pepito of the Philippines has been working at the improvement of the manuscript. Since 2006 the project is receiving final touches by Alley Boling.
In 2003, another book of poetry emerged, named 'Pa Latun Sta Da Sarey' (In Search of your face). This book is a collection of thoughts from travel experiences, true love, the desire to create a fair humanity and more. His pain is poured onto the pages, as he writes about civilization, and the betterment of fellowman. With the publishing of book the literary critics has started calling him, Traveler-poet... Selani.
Two more travelogues were published in 2004 and 2005, revealing experiences from Europe. 'Mazal Pa Wauro Bandi' (Journey on the snow) and 'Da Lmer Da Kalli Pa Lor' (Towards the town of sun rise) were the names of the books. They were actually a sociological study of European life, rather then a narration of simple travel experiences. His search, ventures and probe, all lead him to the conclusion that man has revolutionized himself, since his creation but only in a negative way. Where the denizens of the modern world have progressed much outwardly; they have been gradually deteriorating inwardly, reducing themselves to the brutality of animals. Behind the sophisticated face of civilization, lies a corrupted soul with the ugliest of potentials.
Like much of the world, Afzal was flabbergasted by the 9/11 incident. But in his state of frustration and mental hysteria, he was comforted by the presence of another lover of humanity. He had met an American friend, Alice Alley Ann Muhaphay... Alley Boling. She was impressed with his literary approach, innovative ideas and creative skills, and took up translating his poetry into English. She urged the need of bringing out the ideas of universal concern in a language understood by the most around the globe. A voice rising from the east could now be heard by the West.
At the first stage of the process he translated his poems into simple English himself. Then Dr. Ouahiba Sakani Afzal revised them. Famous freelance Romanian writer Ms. Andreea Sarcani shared her part in composing and compilation. In the last steps the manuscript was finalized by Alley Boling and translation of his poetry in American English was published in 2006, under the title of 'Twist of Fates'. The book is now available around the world in print and can be found on international sites including....
www.khyberwatch.com / www.khyber.org
http://afzalshauq.bloguna.tolafghan.com
www.authorsden.com/members/afzalshauq
www.articlesbase.com/afzalshauq / www.amazon.com
and readers can also get the book "Twist Of Fates" translated by Alley Boling with direct link as...
All his poems added to "Twist Of Fates" and some more new available in the international sites below too and readers can have approach to read his poems free..
www.postpoems.com / www.allpoetry.com / www.ilovepoetry.com
www.poetrypoem.com / www.neopoet.com / www.fanstory.com
The 'Twist Of Fates', further has translated into Chinese language under the title 'Ming Yun De Zhua Zhe' by a prominent Chinese writer / poet Liuli from Benxi. Not only that but Afzal Shauq's most of poems have been translated into Arabic, Persian, German, Urdu, French, Spanish, Romanian, Balgharian and Russian too and available online in different international sites.
'Bridging The Gaps', is the book written and compiled by Nazish Zafar which contains the worldwide critiques on the poetic thoughts of Afzal Shauq and his work has been assessed as an extra ordinary task for promotion of peace. That's why he was titled by many scholars in their articles as "The Peace Wisher"... So that I being a peace dreamer poetess and writer also intended to high light the heartfelt thoughts of Afzal Shauq and after doing a lot of hectic search, now my book about his rich work is near to be published in my country under the title 'The Peace Wisher' and hundreds of short and long critiques or appraisal notes have been added to the book.
At present, an American senior and known poet Heather Wilkins has also published a book let with title 'Embassador Of Peace' and in the said book, she intentionally tried to support the Afzal Shauq's theory of 'Love Based Peace' openly with a lot of pleas and logics. She also wrote dozens of poems for Afzal Shauq to make him disclosed like an open book to worldwide readers. The book is also available on line in few of international web sites free of reading cost.
The complete literary work of Afzal Shauq has also appreciated in his mother tongue Pashto / Afghani and rewarded with few National awards too. Hundreds of articles and appreciation notes can be found in national and international magazines and his work has projected in both print and electronic media inside and out side his country. Being a Pashtoon literary celebrity, his whole books and work has professionally assessed and critiqued by a famous short story writer and outstanding Pashto poet Syeda Haseena Gul in a book 'Afzal ... Afzal Shauq' and Professor Rashid Kundi, who is a known scholar has also wrote a book 'Afzal Shauq ... Ek Taasur' which is a tribute to Afzal Shauq in Urdu language and the Professor has declared Afzal, a high profiled writer and poet.
Because of Afzal Shauq's effort to project his ideas to one and all of the world, he is now recognized as a global poet. The response to his work has become overwhelming, and beyond any expectation. He now realizes the true meaning of 'greatness'. It isn't the recognition or the fame, it his creation of ideas, knowing a fellow man's mind, and being remembered in the next generation to come.
"How an Afghan/Pashto poet of third world became a poet of globe?"
Maybe this question will raise different points in the readers of the poetry world but non of a single individual will ever negate the peace willing dreams of Afzal Shauq as his main factor being a successful poet. Yeah... I being his poetry friend may generalize with proud that the "love based peace" has much strength then any other basics of life even and no doubt, my friend Afzal Shauq is capturing the hearts of readers around the world being a well known poet of peace. Let me add for him at the end from the core of my heart that,
Dear Afzal Shauq..!! you are truly right to say... " a friendly smile is the best weapon of war to fight with" and sure you won the war I think and succeeded to be the heart beat of all with your following belief and famous say .... "Culture, location and beliefs; all vanish with love!"
Katherine MacDonald
Newfoundland / CANADA.
*****
Essay by afzal shauq
Read 555 times
Written on 2009-10-11 at 22:27
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An inspiration that stems from his soul.
Destined to write,
sweet words of the creative"
(Katherine MacDonald)
AFZAL SHAUQ'S LITERARY LIFE STORY / Katherine MacDonald
"On his birth a creation was born.An inspiration that stems from his soul.
Destined to write,
sweet words of the creative"
(Katherine MacDonald)
Well, the world is certainly becoming a smaller place. I'm a small town girl from Newfoundland, Canada. The population of my home town is about five thousand people. Up to this point, I've never really had any travel experience, nor have I published any of my poetry. But through a website called 'www.postpoems.com' I was introduced to a renown Afghani writer named Afzal Shauq. As we both have poetry posted on this page, he had taken the time to comment on some of my work. To return the favor, (out of sheer politeness) I decided to visit his page as well. To my surprise, I discovered the works of a passionate man, a caring man, a great man. Although we have different styles of writing, our ideals are very much the same. Over time, we developed a friendship. We wrote back and forth to each other, commenting on one an others work. I was so impressed with his writing, and he so impressed with mine, that we decided to work on this project together, with the goal of emitting our ideas to the rest of the world....
Even as a young child, Afzal Shauq knew what he wanted to be. When the regional commissioner of his area asked about his ambitions, Afzal Shauq replied...
"I want to be a great man".
Not even really knowing the true meaning of 'greatness', an overwhelming feeling came over him that day. It was from then on he felt ignited to pursue the energy that he felt inside. That day the commissioner said to him..
"good luck son".
There were many paths Afzal Shauq could have chosen, such as engineering, or the field of medicine. His parents and teachers tried to steer him down that path, all the while, he felt restricted. There was too much energy bursting inside him. Feeling frustrated and confused by their ideas of what he should be, he continued to work towards what he really wanted in life.
It was in 1969, as a young adolescent Afzal's only way to connect with the world was through a newspaper, and a radio. His interest in the rest of the world, religion, color and geography had become an obsession. He wanted to learn as much as he could through international channels and articles. If the paper wasn't delivered at his door, he had to rely on textbooks which, to his dismay, had outgrown with time.
Afzal earned several Laurels for his soccer team at the Degree College Lora Lai. It was a great passion of his, and often exhausted himself as Captain of the team.
It was around this time when Afzal Shauq discovered his passion for poetry. To his sheer luck, he had an acquaintance of Prof. Rab Nawaz Mail, who was a teacher and a renown poet of Pashto (Afghani Language) and Urdu. The Professor recognized Afzal's talents and gave to him his guidance. In August of 1975, Afzal wrote his first Pashto poem (what he calls ghazal). Upon reading it Prof. Rab Nawaz Mail encouraged him to write in free verse. It would be a much better way of conveying his message to the outside world.
Much of Afzal's success comes from the Professors early guidance. He started attending Literary recitation gatherings, usually organized by talented poet Saeed Gohar, romantic poet Syed Kher Muhammad Arif and short story writer, Haji Mirza Khan Pechi. It was there he met Sohail Jaffar and Mehmood Ayaz, who he quickly became friends with. Together they poured over ideas to write about. As he poured his heart out on the paper, he was discovering his unconscious mind, a world of dreams and found their an image of his ideal. He desperately tried to find that ideal image in reality around him but remained unsuccessful. As a poet, he was rising and winning but in his search, he was continuously defeated; always left wondering ...
'Shall I ever behold the face of my ideal?'
He read faces around him, he could even read the veiled emotions behind those faces, he searched, questioned, wondered... but his ideal face eluded.
In 1986-87 the first book of Afzal Shauq had been published. Written in Afghan language of Pashto, the book was titled 'Shladaley Amail'. At the same time he was also doing a program by the name of a 'Amail' from Quetta Radio Station Pakistan as anchor and script writer. The program was very popular and had a huge audience. The Radio Program was directed by a very successful broadcaster Agha Muhammad Kasi.
'Shladaley Amail' (Broken necklace) brought Afzal his real first taste of success. He became the poet of realities, adding innovating ideas. Even still, his soul felt unquenched. He had to over come racial and geographic boundaries. And a tempting question passed through his mind often...
'What are the factors and elements that divide, anatomically alike humans into groups, nations and sects?'
In 1992 he officially toured Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand and availed himself of the opportunity to closely observe the societies other than his.
Travel then became a new passion of his. Traveling different countries he observed and recorded his different experiences from East to West and North to South. He tried discovering factors that parted the Eastern way of life and the Westerns code of living ; differ whites from the colored. He has question in mind that...
" Why it's commonly said that the west is best and the east is beast?"
He determined to find the mystery of the division of humanity into the first, second and third world countries. As a result of the devious behavior of the west, a travel log was published under the name of 'Aowa Gama Mazal' (Seven Steps Journey) in 1996. The literary critics then knew him as a post modernist travelogue writer.
Afzal scheduled traveling to three or four countries each year. 1996 brought was a very memorable and rewarding opportunity of road travel with dozens of international tourists. He was fortunate enough to observe from very close quarters the culture and the social system of fourteen European countries, England, Wales, Scotland, France, Belgium, Holland (The Netherlands), Germany, Monaco, Liechstenstien, Switzerland, , Austria, Italy, San Marino and Spain.
Through his travels he had mind-expanding experience, living with people from different parts of the world, getting to know their ways and behavior. He came to understand the gaps between the western world and his own part of the world. He was neither a politician nor a polemist devising slogans and harangues. In his efforts to bridge those gaps, he could only use his creative energies as a poet, transforming his ideas, messages and hopes in poems and verses, with a heartfelt desire that his words touch the millions of hearts around the globe and bring them together. He kept writing poems with a wish that my ideas become harbinger of a new dawn, a color of peace, a hue of love.
He wondered what can make men aware of their predicament and incite them to work towards the perfection of humanity; in complete harmony with natural laws of mutual tolerance, peace and love.
In 1997 during a travel to Cairo Egypt, Afzal met the love of his life. There he met the ravishing and immensely talented Dr. Ouahiba Sakani. Impressed with her beauty and intelligence, he was head over heels in love with her. And for once he felt that the eluding face of his ideal had at last taken a shape of her person. That was when he felt completed. That all that he had accomplished had come down to this.
Through his experiences with his love life, a new novel was born 'Paroni Makhuna' (The faces of yesterday) that was published in 2006. The English translation of which will soon be available. He translated the novel into easy English by himself, while Prof. Ernanie-I-Pepito of the Philippines has been working at the improvement of the manuscript. Since 2006 the project is receiving final touches by Alley Boling.
In 2003, another book of poetry emerged, named 'Pa Latun Sta Da Sarey' (In Search of your face). This book is a collection of thoughts from travel experiences, true love, the desire to create a fair humanity and more. His pain is poured onto the pages, as he writes about civilization, and the betterment of fellowman. With the publishing of book the literary critics has started calling him, Traveler-poet... Selani.
Two more travelogues were published in 2004 and 2005, revealing experiences from Europe. 'Mazal Pa Wauro Bandi' (Journey on the snow) and 'Da Lmer Da Kalli Pa Lor' (Towards the town of sun rise) were the names of the books. They were actually a sociological study of European life, rather then a narration of simple travel experiences. His search, ventures and probe, all lead him to the conclusion that man has revolutionized himself, since his creation but only in a negative way. Where the denizens of the modern world have progressed much outwardly; they have been gradually deteriorating inwardly, reducing themselves to the brutality of animals. Behind the sophisticated face of civilization, lies a corrupted soul with the ugliest of potentials.
Like much of the world, Afzal was flabbergasted by the 9/11 incident. But in his state of frustration and mental hysteria, he was comforted by the presence of another lover of humanity. He had met an American friend, Alice Alley Ann Muhaphay... Alley Boling. She was impressed with his literary approach, innovative ideas and creative skills, and took up translating his poetry into English. She urged the need of bringing out the ideas of universal concern in a language understood by the most around the globe. A voice rising from the east could now be heard by the West.
At the first stage of the process he translated his poems into simple English himself. Then Dr. Ouahiba Sakani Afzal revised them. Famous freelance Romanian writer Ms. Andreea Sarcani shared her part in composing and compilation. In the last steps the manuscript was finalized by Alley Boling and translation of his poetry in American English was published in 2006, under the title of 'Twist of Fates'. The book is now available around the world in print and can be found on international sites including....
www.khyberwatch.com / www.khyber.org
http://afzalshauq.bloguna.tolafghan.com
www.authorsden.com/members/afzalshauq
www.articlesbase.com/afzalshauq / www.amazon.com
and readers can also get the book "Twist Of Fates" translated by Alley Boling with direct link as...
All his poems added to "Twist Of Fates" and some more new available in the international sites below too and readers can have approach to read his poems free..
www.postpoems.com / www.allpoetry.com / www.ilovepoetry.com
www.poetrypoem.com / www.neopoet.com / www.fanstory.com
The 'Twist Of Fates', further has translated into Chinese language under the title 'Ming Yun De Zhua Zhe' by a prominent Chinese writer / poet Liuli from Benxi. Not only that but Afzal Shauq's most of poems have been translated into Arabic, Persian, German, Urdu, French, Spanish, Romanian, Balgharian and Russian too and available online in different international sites.
'Bridging The Gaps', is the book written and compiled by Nazish Zafar which contains the worldwide critiques on the poetic thoughts of Afzal Shauq and his work has been assessed as an extra ordinary task for promotion of peace. That's why he was titled by many scholars in their articles as "The Peace Wisher"... So that I being a peace dreamer poetess and writer also intended to high light the heartfelt thoughts of Afzal Shauq and after doing a lot of hectic search, now my book about his rich work is near to be published in my country under the title 'The Peace Wisher' and hundreds of short and long critiques or appraisal notes have been added to the book.
At present, an American senior and known poet Heather Wilkins has also published a book let with title 'Embassador Of Peace' and in the said book, she intentionally tried to support the Afzal Shauq's theory of 'Love Based Peace' openly with a lot of pleas and logics. She also wrote dozens of poems for Afzal Shauq to make him disclosed like an open book to worldwide readers. The book is also available on line in few of international web sites free of reading cost.
The complete literary work of Afzal Shauq has also appreciated in his mother tongue Pashto / Afghani and rewarded with few National awards too. Hundreds of articles and appreciation notes can be found in national and international magazines and his work has projected in both print and electronic media inside and out side his country. Being a Pashtoon literary celebrity, his whole books and work has professionally assessed and critiqued by a famous short story writer and outstanding Pashto poet Syeda Haseena Gul in a book 'Afzal ... Afzal Shauq' and Professor Rashid Kundi, who is a known scholar has also wrote a book 'Afzal Shauq ... Ek Taasur' which is a tribute to Afzal Shauq in Urdu language and the Professor has declared Afzal, a high profiled writer and poet.
Because of Afzal Shauq's effort to project his ideas to one and all of the world, he is now recognized as a global poet. The response to his work has become overwhelming, and beyond any expectation. He now realizes the true meaning of 'greatness'. It isn't the recognition or the fame, it his creation of ideas, knowing a fellow man's mind, and being remembered in the next generation to come.
"How an Afghan/Pashto poet of third world became a poet of globe?"
Maybe this question will raise different points in the readers of the poetry world but non of a single individual will ever negate the peace willing dreams of Afzal Shauq as his main factor being a successful poet. Yeah... I being his poetry friend may generalize with proud that the "love based peace" has much strength then any other basics of life even and no doubt, my friend Afzal Shauq is capturing the hearts of readers around the world being a well known poet of peace. Let me add for him at the end from the core of my heart that,
Dear Afzal Shauq..!! you are truly right to say... " a friendly smile is the best weapon of war to fight with" and sure you won the war I think and succeeded to be the heart beat of all with your following belief and famous say .... "Culture, location and beliefs; all vanish with love!"
Katherine MacDonald
Newfoundland / CANADA.
*****
Essay by afzal shauq
Read 555 times
Written on 2009-10-11 at 22:27
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