Ashura in Contemporary Poetry of Afghanistan: A Case Study of Qahar Asi

Ashura, as a great and unique event, has always been in the center of attention of Persian literature poets. All poets, ranging from Kisai Marvazi to the poets of our time, have addressed this event from an angle.
Aside from the individual characteristics, the poet's view of Ashura is subject to his life era in terms of cultural, political, and social conditions. Ashura and its teachings are among the most important issues manifested widely in the contemporary poetry of Afghanistan.
The current paper aims at investigating how Ashura events are reflected in contemporary Afghan poetry; it also deals with the case study of the impact of Ashura concepts on the poetry of Qahar Asi, an Afghan Sunni poet.
The research is a theoretical study whose data was obtained in a library method and was done in a descriptive-analytical way.
Studying the contemporary poetry of Afghanistan with the aim of investigating the effect of Ashura on it, one can find that apart from the lyrical aspect and the emotional layer of the events of Ashura, reflected in the elegies and love towards Imam Hussein (A.S.) and his companions, the epic and didactic layer of the Ashura uprising and concepts such as courage, freedom-seeking and not giving in to abjection are prominent components of resistance poetry of Afghanistan.
Also, analyzing Qahar Asi's poetry, it can be concluded that Asi used Ashura concepts to counter despotism in his time and presented the Ashura uprising as a role model to save Afghanistan.
‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌The political, social and cultural situation in a society is undoubtedly the most important factor in the formation of literary genres in that society. Contemporary Afghanistan has always been affected by civil wars and foreign invasion; and fear and threat have always dominated people's lives.
Such a situation naturally leads to the formation of literature of resistance. The poetry movement in such a time moves towards freedom-seeking and anti-tyranny role models; and relying on the people’s religious and pure belief, the poets address the redemptive role models and their goals in an effective way. Therefore, the presence and influence of Ashura in the poems of contemporary Afghan poets is very conspicuous.
The impact of the Ashura uprising on the contemporary poetry of Afghanistan is not limited to Shia poets; Sunni poets consider Imam Hussain (A.S.) as a role model for seeking freedom and fighting against oppression and have addressed this event from different viewpoints.
In the meantime, Qahar Asi, one of the great Sunni poets of Afghanistan with a trans-religious perspective, introduces the uprising of Imam Hussein (A.S.) and the Yazidis war against him as two continuing paths. He believes that these two paths have their followers at any place and time and that the same division, depicts the chaotic and critical situation of contemporary Afghanistan.
Asi is a dissident and critical figure in the contemporary poetry of Afghanistan. As a committed poet, he is always dissatisfied with the conditions of his time and many of his concerns are expressed in the form of poems of resistance.
The spirit of such poems of Asi poems is interwoven with the aims and teachings of Ashura. He suffers from the problems of people all over the world, especially in Afghanistan, and introduces Ashura as the savior version of mankind. Thus, it is very important to study the reflection of the aims, teachings, and concepts of the Ashura uprising in his poetry.
Therefore, the perspective of Ashura in the contemporary poetry of Afghanistan is quite different from that of poets such as: Kisai Marvazi, Sanai, Nasir Khusraw, Abdul-Qādir Bedil and Mohtasham. This viewpoint may even be different than the perspective of contemporary non-Afghan poets.
Contemporary Afghanistan has always been involved in devastating civil wars and foreign invasions, which has pushed poets to focus on the epic aspect of the Ashura uprising and the concepts of anti-suppression, freedom seeking, and avoiding abjection more than the tragic aspects of it.
Among contemporary poets, Asi – who is known as the Poet of Freedom – wishes to see his people and land free and to achieve this dream, he chooses Imam Hussain (A.S.) a role model. Towards the end of his life, Afghanistan’s civil wars started, which also brought about religious tensions.
Despite being a Sunni, Asi introduces the messages and goals of Ashura as the way to freedom and getting out of the existing situation of his time. In other words, Asi has used Ashura for to awaken his society.
In this article, first, the impact of Ashura on contemporary Afghan poetry has been studied and numerous examples have been provided, and then, Asi's poetry has been analyzed with regards to Ashura uprising (goals, messages, role models, etc.)