A Permanent Engagement Poem by Sadiqullah Khan

I picked the bust of Nefertiti, the beautiful one,
From Egypt, and heard of Gilgamesh from Babylon,
A Mayan calendar. I chanted the Vedas, and sat
With Buddha. I companied Lao Tzu, and became
Pupil to Confucius. I wined with Li Po, and
Talked about goat-gods, of the Tibetan Himalayas.
Trained by Yogis, in the art of meditation.
I read the Suspended Poems, and dreamt
Sitting at Suffah, I traveled with the wayfarers,
With the ones who carried swords, by the side
Of warrior kings, plunderers, and met the captured
Concubines. I dined on most sumptuous dinners.
I drank from the cup of Hafiz, and lived the Ghalib way.
I acted the Bard, and met Shams-e Din, the wanderer
I was a Maulvi, and been through the polemics
Of Sheikh al- Akbar. Through the musical raptures of Sanai.
Averroes, and Avicenna, and the retro Al-Ghazali,
A Wahabi Jihadist to a Bolshevik Communist.
I crossed over to Mediterranean, to negotiate terms -
With the erstwhile Greeks. A permanent engagement.
And their best seconds, the Romans in statecraft.
Voltaire is waiting, and with Rousseau I had a handshake,
My next destiny is, if granted leave earlier, the great
Renaissance, world wars, and seeing my ‘beloveds',
In France, Britain, lastly in The City upon the hill,
May be to travel to Italy, before I retire to a quiet corner.

Sadiqullah Khan
Peshawar
June 14,2014.