The night was neither cold nor freezing It was neither dark nor light and brilliant They had filtered the air from dust And had driven gold nails into the lapis dome of the night On the wings of thought traveled I from this oasis On a long road beyond thought On the other side of the earth’s borders Beyond the limits of planets Amidst galaxies Galaxies of milk Galaxies of light Far away in distant climates Traveling I was, I was pushing ahead to find the heaven That is under the feet of mothers¹ I was going to search in that heaven For my mother whose abode is in paradise To ask her questions For the answers of which my mind was thirsty To ask her about mother and motherhood About love and purity I was heading on and on There I saw and angel on my path There were two loads on her two wings One of joy and one of sorrow She said I am taking these for mankind One for when they become mother, father One for the time when they lose their mother I asked her to show me the way to the heaven-my destination She said this is it, only a little further I arrived at a gate of pure gold A bright and pure light was shining from within A pleasant guardsman Halted me with great tact And said: “Where are you heading? With such fervor, such excitement I said, “I am searching for the land That is under the feet of mothers” Laughed he: “You are searching for paradise.” Here where you have arrived is only the beginning.” This is the area for hardworking God-fearing worshippers Pass by a few other gates and you would Reach where mothers are inside At another gate another gatekeeper said This is the region for lovers It is the heaven of mystics Another guardsman said Just before reaching the Apostles On your right There is a gate of diamond Its knocker is from pure ruby You want to proceed there The ruby of the knocker was the color of my Heart’s blood Its echo like the sound of my heavenly mother Who was reciting the Koran They opened the gate Looked me all over And said:” You are not a mother What business do you have at Mothers’ Heaven? You do not deserve to be here Return to you earthly chores of Eating, sleeping and lusting Return to your lowly earth” Ashamed and shivering said I: I do not have any document of residency here I have come to visit my mother My mother’s brilliant features showed from the door She opened her arms And took my wishful head in her two hands And threw a long glance at my eyes She said: “My son, the light of my eyes What is it you want to ask me?” Said I: “Mother, what was in the crème of your being By which you raised me What magic was therein? Mother, all that love, That you weaved into the matrix of my being All that faith and purity That you taught me through your pure milk You called me to humanity Taught me to be true You sowed the seeds of patriotism in me You wished me comfort and prosperity All that love, all that kindness Where did you get them all?” Said I: “Mother, your state Next to that of God is worth prostration From whom did you learn that throughout life When you were alive and when you had passed away Whenever pain I felt whenever pain I feel By calling your name and that of God You gave me solace, you give me solace The pains you took The cities you built² Who had taught you?” She said, my beloved don’t you know That I too had a mother? A flood of tears washed our eyes And a flood of light shrouded us And when I opened my eyes There was nothing Only the voice of my mother who was saying; “I too had a mother.
1. A popular saying in Dari language. 2. In south-central Asian cultures it is said that raising a child is like building a city.