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آسمان خالیست The Skies are Empty
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آسمان خالیست
The Skies are Empty
احمد ظاهر
Ahmad Zahir
Translated from the Farsi by Farhad Azad
آسمان خالیست، خالی، روشنانش را که بُرد؟
The skies are empty, who took away its light?
تاج ماهش، سینهریز کهکشانش را که بُرد؟
The moon's crown, the galaxy's jewels, who took them?
باغبان تنهاست، تنها، گرد او جز خار نیست
The gardener is alone, abandoned, surrounded by thorns
بیدمشکش را، گلش را، ارغوانش را که بُرد؟
His willow, his flowers, his judas-tree, who took them?
May 1979, Kabul
At a private event, Ahmad Zahir recorded this song two weeks before his death. He composed it in protest against the totalitarian Khalq government. The Khalqis killed him and framed it as a car accident.
The lyrics are from famed Iranian poet Simin Behbahani سیمین بهبهانی.
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The Impressions of Ustad Mohammad Aziz
By Farhad Azad
From the October - December 1999 issue of Aftaab Magazine
Ustad Mohammad Aziz was born in Kabul in 1915. From an early age, he showed an interest in drawing. As a young man, he studied art and graduated from the Sanahi School of Art in Kabul. After graduation, he became a teacher at Ghazi High School. Soon after, he became principal of Technical High School.
In 1950, he advanced his art and photography education by studying in the United States. Upon his return to Kabul, he was appointed Deputy Director of Kabul Museum. As Deputy Director he ventured on expeditions with French and other European archaeologists and made many discoveries. Later on in his life, he devoted his time in the Ministry of Education to develop programs in the fight against illiteracy. Ustad Mohammad Aziz was the recipient of a number of awards in art and in photography as well.
His paintings were mostly in an impressionistic manner in the medium of watercolor. These paintings depict rural scenery and portraits of rural people. In many of his portraits of rural people, it is the eyes, which are most distinguishable: uncertain, melancholy and full of uneasiness and anguish. This is perhaps a genuine depiction of the subjects and of their lives and the society in which they reside. Of the works of Ustad Mohammad Aziz that remain, most are in the hands of family members who brought them out of Afghanistan to the West.
However, there are some works of photography and paintings that remain in Kabul. During his lifetime he sold many of his works to European and American patrons. As a result, his paintings are in private collections around the world.
Although his children left Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion, he remained there due to poor health. Leaving an impressive legacy behind, in fall of 1990, Ustad Mohammad Aziz passed away in his native Kabul.
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