The Old Chinar Tree

There is a holy hush
And stillness at sunrise
On Dal lake
And at this time of the year
A sharp sting of cold at dawn.
As the sun emerges
A million shimmering leaves
Of soft-gold, red and mauve
Set the valley ablaze.

Here, I have heard countless stories
Moody young men reciting their love poems
Farouche maidens nursing secrets
And old men still praying for miracles.

They all come here, young and old
Muslim, Hindu and Sikh.
I embrace them all.
They are part of me
And I am part of them.

Tulips and daffodils
Have given their beauty to this fragrant land
Poets have extolled its beauty
Rulers have fallen in love with it
The Mughal Emperor
Exclaimed
“If there is paradise on earth
It is here, it is here, it is here.”

Now melancholy hangs over everything.

Something has changed.

I hear guns and explosions
Screams in the night
Desperate women crying
And blinded young men
Sobbing in helplessness and anger.

There is talk of total war
With total weapons.
It is a madness that has settled
Over this land.

Gory and bloody stories are heard
That are not worthy
Of the great faiths of this region.

The liberals,
The pride of the land,
Look the other way
Or find it easier
To cheer on the violent hatred.
They are setting aside
Millennia of wisdom,
What is unique to them,
For what is base and ugly.

The righteous voices of
Ahimsa and Gandhi
Are drowned
In the din.

The UN, the Ummah,
The champions of humanity,
It seems no one
Really cares for suffering
Or justice.

But here I stand.
I am the tree of life
And life is in me.
One thing I know,
And that is the one thing I need to know,
I will be standing here
Long after the intruders have gone.

At dusk
As the world falls into a hush
I hear the call to prayer
Floating like a feather
Gently over the lake

As it fades
In the distance I hear,
Carried over the water,
The liquescent voice of a maiden
Softly singing the sad song
of a son-of-the-soil:
Jiskhaakkezameer me haiaatish-e-chinar,
Mumkinnahikisard ho wohkhaak-e-arjumand
This land carries in its conscience the fire of the Chinar,
That celestial fire will never die down.

Akbar Ahmed