Poems of Olimjon Qodir (Tajikistan)

Olimjon Qodir (Olimjon Qodirov) was born on December 14, 1976, in the village of Safedmun (formerly Kapali), Tajikobod District. He completed his secondary education at School No. 13 in 1991 and graduated from Vocational-Technical Lyceum No. 39 in 1994. In 2005, he graduated from the Faculty of Philology of the Tajik National University, and in 2009, he earned a degree in Economics from the Tajik State University of Commerce.

From 2012 to 2016, he served as Head of the Administrative and Facilities Department of the Writers’ Union of Tajikistan.

Between 2018 and 2020, he worked in the Department of Folk Arts of Shohmansur District, as well as in the Municipal Services Administration of Shohmansur District in Dushanbe.

Since 2020, he has held the position of Deputy Director for Administrative Affairs at the Rudaki Institute of Language and Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan.

He has been awarded certificates of appreciation by the Republican Committee of the Trade Union of Culture and Information Workers of Tajikistan, the primary organization of the People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan “Khiradmandon” at the National Academy of Sciences, and the Rudaki Institute of Language and Literature.

Olimjon Qodir is the author of two poetry collections, Navoi Dil (2009) and Dar Chorsuyi Zindagi (2012). He also compiled and published the book Nuri Khirad in commemoration of the 600th anniversary of Abdurahmon Jami.

Deeply devoted to poetry and literature, he continues to write and publish his works. His poems have appeared in numerous literary journals and periodicals. He is also active on social media, where readers and admirers share his poetry through a group dedicated to his work.

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HOMELAND

Homeland, you are my soul and your own soul,

You are the light of my mind and my faith.

You are the beginning and the end of my being,

You are the cure and the healing of my pain.

Homeland, you are always my pride,

You are my fragrant paradise.

You are the source of the water of life,

You are the glory of wisdom and dreams.

Homeland, you are the pearl and the heart of the earth,

You are my precious treasure.

You are peace and calm of the heart,

You are the home of shining happiness.

Even if all doors are open,

The door of paradise and faith is you.

You are pure and clean like a mother,

Forever the mother of my soul.

Your name is always on my lips,

You are kind and simple words.

You are the school of honor and dignity,

You are pride and conscience.

O homeland, the house of fortune and destiny,

You are my support and all I have.

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WISH

We are Iranians, Turanians, Vakhshis and Gelonians,

From Bukhara, Marv, Chach, Kabul and Rasht.

One golden land, one pure blooming soil,

Together in one home — the people of Samanids.

We have been tested and seen in wars,

In kindness we are kind, in anger like storms.

We are one soul, one ancient lineage,

One people across many lands.

We are one nation, pure and without flaw,

From ancient times, people of faith.

We know science and art,

We are cultured like Jami.

We are Balkh, Khwarazm, Shiraz, Kerman,

We are one unity.

Whoever tries to divide us knows not himself,

We are branches of one tree.

For centuries we are united,

Wherever we are — we are people of wisdom.

Whoever speaks of this homeland,

We are Iranians, Turanians, Khatlonis, Baghlonis.

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IT IS IN A DREAM

Between me and you there is only a tale in a dream,

Or a dream spoken beside the water.

In drunkenness I seek you instead of wine,

In sobriety they call me restless.

Lost on the road, I search for you,

You do not know — love is a rare treasure.

My only task is to nurture you in my heart,

You do not see — tomorrow will be bright.

You are like the seasons, changing with warmth and cold,

Your cold heart is still troubled.

O God, I am in love, I know neither beginning nor end,

Blessed is the moment when love arrives.

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LIFE

Life is a storm and we are like straw,

Life is rain and we are like dust.

Life is a cloud in this world,

We are carried by every flood.

Life is like the shadow of death,

We follow that shadow.

When life becomes a fruitful garden,

We find peace within it.

Life is a raging sea,

We are fish caught in a net.

Life is a place of longing and dreams,

We have not seen hope for a new day.

Life is cold and warm,

And we are the light and fortune.

Life is the world of the living,

And we follow after them.

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