Cultural Heritage of Afghanistan

A ‘Falak’ Song. A story and oral tradition capturing the mysticism, friendship, and misery of remote mountain life on both sides of the Oxus River in Afghanistan and Tajikistan

This is a ‘Falak’ song by Mir Dawlat from the Shpoon village of Kuf Ab district, formerly part of Darwaz district in Badakhshan province. In the song, Mir initially remembers the name of God and his Prophet Mohammad. He evokes the feeling of happiness at being able to see his guest friends, and shares a profound sense of hospitality. He then allows his song to translate into 'moans and groans' of pain, which is traditional for most 'Falak' songs.
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The secrets of flowers, the memories of pain, and the road to peace. A poem constructed in Faizabad, yet a message for all

Originally from Khwahan district but currently based in the provincial capital of Faizabad in Badakhshan, Mohamaddin Khwahany, who was the former head of Culture and Information Directorate in Badakhshan, shares his philosophic views in the form of a poem.
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My land: a story of gratitude for the natural, beautiful, but fading gift given to us, and of our failure to appreciate it fully

Jandal Khan Zahid is a poet from Obaghn village of Shekay district in Badakhshan, who allows poetry to guide his reflections on his homeland. His story demonstrates a gratitude to the land he belongs to and was provided with, yet conveys his disappointment in its citizens who have not done enough for it, or who have failed to serve it.
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A poem to explain what makes the village and sounds of Larom (in Darwaz) so special

In this poem, Shir Ahmad Danishyar talks about what makes his home village, Larom, so special. The poem introduces us to a number of locally used words and terms unfamiliar not only to other Afghans, but even to other people from Badakhshan.
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‘The Blind Eye’ – can a poem without pain be poetry?

‘The Blind Eye’ is a story of love, pain and understanding by Mirza Abdul Latif Nahif, from Obaghn village of Shekay district in Badakhshan, Afghanistan. The story says that a man without understanding will be like a blind eye, that a life without love would be like a kindle with no light, and that a poem without pain will fail to carry meaning and shine bright.
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Shor Chai or Sheer Chai?

A local food and tradition from the province of Badakhshan in northern Afghanistan. It is still said that a Badakhshani can live without anything, but not without Shor Chai…
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