March 2006

In Afghanistan in the 20th century, as in Persia until recently, a predominantly oral culture has long mingled with an established, elaborate literary tradition, both religious and secular, including prose and verse forms of verbal art. . . . Read More

Hamza Shinwari was, undoubtedly, a great trend-setter in Pukhto ghazal. The dominant and powerful trend that he had set up was the painting of his nostalgic identification with the universal concept of Islamic mysticism. He had taken excessive benefits from the local terms and idioms of age-old customs and traditions of the Pukhtuns . . . Read More