By Sheikh Shabir Kulgami
The Land of Smiles
All I see is a sea of smiling faces;
All I see is a rain of unclean hands
Heads are as soft as steel bars:
Hearts are as soft as stones
Honey they do talk, honey they do walk
And money they cry; money they hate not
Oh, they bite the hand that feeds!
Who are they? Who are they?
A chameleon would not know
Indeed light is evil and evil is light for them
While their fangs and swords are their treasure,
We and they are the banks of the Jhelum
And who’ll see them in marriage
Elephants can fly? That is a mirage,
Hounds may have velvet hands
Yet they appear in man’s shape
Out we are ne’er from the shackles
Out of sight O! Thee strangers
Venom has blinded them beyond compare
Slaves of darkness will sink too deep
Dogs they hobble but foxes really reap
And blood they suck, yet pass as saints
Passion for the transitory is a bottomless pit,
Rich in faces in a holy façade;
The path to riches is no fear.
By Sheikh Shabir Kulgami
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