THE QUATRAINS OF KHALILULLAH KHALILI

Khalilullah Khalili

Octagon Press, London, 1981

A major contemporary Sufi poet of Afghanistan, Khalili was a refugee of the Russian invasion in 1979 and died in 1987. In addition to poetry, he is author of over 20 standard works on history, literature and philosophy. This selection of his Quatrains, in a trilingual Persian, Arabic and English edition has been hailed in the Arab, Central Asian and Far Eastern worlds of thought and literature as a masterpiece, and represents the presentation of both traditional and contemporary themes within the classical idiom.

The Slaughter of Man is claimed to be 'politics'
The destruction of the world is said to be 'wisdom'
And under the guise of goodwill towards mankind,
They wrought havoc; this is competence!

Pour on wine! As yet, none has found it boring,
It is an old friend of whose company the heart never tires...
--The Quatrains of Khalilullah Khalili © 1981 by Octagon Press.