31 January, 2026
Along with the Muslims of Afghanistan, I wish you Ramadan Mubarak. Afghanistan is under siege, with no country willing to recognize the government and with its billions of dollars of assets frozen.
I asked my friends in the government why they didn‘t anticipate the freezing of their assets by the US. It never crossed their minds, they said, that someone making a truce under the eyes of the world would turn around and stab them in the back. Having lived in the West, I would have made the same mistake, having heard for years the mantra of human rights, women‘s rights, freedom, justice, etc. What would Thomas Jefferson have thought of Joseph Biden when, in 1776, he wrote in the US Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that their Creator endows them with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
If only Biden could be faithful to the constitution and include ordinary Afghans in the definition of ‘all men,’ things would be different. Salam Bin Razik writes in his essay *Nuddi (stream)*:
”تم نہیں جانتے کہ بعض اوقات دشمنی بھی تمہارے ظرف کا پیمانہ بن جاتی ہے“
Don‘t you know that sometimes, your enmity becomes a measure of your Zarf (magnanimity)?
Hashim Nadeem writes in his novel *Parizaad*:
”دشمن ہو تو ظرف والا ہو۔ کم ظرف دشمن خدا دشمن کو بھی نہ دے“
In the words of Rahat Indori:
میں نے اپنی خشک آنکھوں سے لہو چھلکا دیا
اک سمندر کہہ رہا تھا مجھ کو پانی چاہئے
صرف خنجر ہی نہیں آنکھوں میں پانی چاہئے
اے خدا دشمن بھی مجھ کو خاندانی چاہئے
As a humanitarian worker, I am disgusted to see how Joe Biden wants to settle a score with the government of Afghanistan by pushing innocent men, women, and children into abject poverty and excruciating suffering. Having lived in the US for eleven years, I know that this is not the character of the majority of Americans. I have learned that most good things in life come at a price. Afghans have defeated NATO, the world‘s most powerful military alliance, and now they are paying the price!
The following verses of Kazim Hussain come to mind:
اپنے قاتل سے الجھنے کا ارادہ کر کے لو
گ کہتے ہیں خلاؤں سے الجھ بیٹھا ہوں
تیری دہلیز پہ جھکنے کا سوال آیا تھا
میں زمانے کی اناؤں سے الجھ بیٹھا ہوں
جو غریبوں کا دیا پھونک کے تھم جاتی ہے
ایسی کم ظرف ہواؤں سے الجھ بیٹھا ہوں
عرش والے مری توقیر سلامت رکھنا
فرش کے سارے خداؤں سے الجھ بیٹھا ہوں
People ask me what difference I can make at such a critical crossroads of history? My answer is: ―maybe very little!‖ But that is not why I am here in Afghanistan. I am here because, on the Day of Judgment, Allah (SWT) will not ask me whether I changed the world or not; instead, He (SWT) may ask me what I did of what I could have done. To answer this question, I am away from my home and my loved ones. I urge you also to ask yourself this question this Ramadan!
کتنا آساں تھا ترے ہجر میں مرنا جاناں
پھر بھی اک عمر لگی جان سے جاتے جاتے
جشن مقتل ہی نہ برپا ہوا ورنہ ہم بھی
پابجولاں ہی سہی ناچتے گاتے جاتے
اس کی وہ جانے اسے پاس وفا تھا کہ نہ تھا
فراز اپنی طرف سے تو نبھاتے جاتے
شکوه ظلمت شب سے تو کہیں بہتر تھا تم
اپنے حصے کی کوئی شمع جلاتے جاتے
For you who cannot be here, relax; I am working hard to make your presence felt! Please forgive me for being carried away. I just wanted to say Ramadan Mubarak.
Please keep me in your prayers.