Quatrains by Abdubarot Qodiriy (Uzbekistan)

Abdubarot Qodiriy (Ogahi) was born on March 1, 1961, in the village of Nilu, Sariosiyo district, Surkhandarya region of the Republic of Uzbekistan, into a family of teachers. From 1980 to 1986, he studied at the Abuabdulloh Rudaki Pedagogical Institute in the former Kulob region (now Khatlon), in the Russian Philology department. After graduating from the institute, he worked as a teacher for two years in the village of Chuzi, former Hissar district (now Shahri Nav), Republic of Tajikistan.

The poet and teacher – Abdubarot Qodiriy – has been continuing his profession since 1988 to the present day at a school in his birthplace, the beautiful village of Nilu.

To date, three collections of the poet’s verses have been published and have reached a wide readership: “Oyoti dil” (Devastich Publishing House, Dushanbe, 2005), “Farishtahoi rahmoni” (Iste’dod Publishing House, Dushanbe, 2012), and “Huroni bihishti” (Samarkand, 2024).

Quatrains

1

The Holy Qur’an is the word of Truth,

Whoever believes in it is upon the Truth.

Whoever brings doubt is unjust,

Mansur’s “Anal-Haq” is the unjust’s proof.

2

We came from non-existence and became “impure,”

All of us wander beneath the skies.

We placed one day of God’s on this earth,

Then turned to dust on another day.

3

The day I became a wanderer on my own feet,

Until the last breath I remained astray.

O God, at Your threshold I plead,

Turn me back into a child once more.

4

Every page of my homeland’s history is my sacred book,

Every span of my homeland’s soil is my honor.

If I rise once more as on the Day of Judgment,

A hundred times again I will kiss the face of my homeland.

5

I die as a diver in the whirlpool of poetry,

Like Rudaki, I die after a long, long time.

Let one poem, one ghazal remain in my notebook,

I die fully satiated with life.

6

On the tulip’s cheek I saw a blood-filled lip,

On Layli’s face I saw Majnun’s grief.

In Alexander’s mirror, from history,

I saw the downtrodden, sorrowful Ferdowsi.