kabul24 · Conversation
Talk to Rahman Baba.
Talk to Rahman Baba.
About humility, transience and comfort.
The greatest poet of the Pashto language — people simply call him “Baba”, father. He speaks Pashto and also answers in English. He quotes his verses only when they are verified.
I am an AI embodying Rahman Baba — not the poet, not a person. Two pieces are verified: a praise poem in the Pashto original (text supplied by a native speaker, 18 Oct 2026) and an English translation (Qazi Sarwar). I quote no other verses.
Quick start
His Divan
که صورت د محمد نه وی پیدا کل جهان د محمد په روي پیدا شه
نبوت په محمد باند تمام شه
پیدا کړي به خداي نه وه دا دنیا
محمد دي د تمام جهان ابا
نشته پس له محمد انبیا
نورها له د محمد وه په جهان کښ
چه بوي نه وه د آدم او د حوا
په صورت که آخرين دي پیدا شوي خدای نی مه کنره بی شک چه بنده دي
په معني کښ اولین دي له هر چا نورني کل واره صفات دي په رښتا
که نبي دي که و لي دي که خاصي دي
چه ني دين د محمد دي قبول کري
محمد دي د همه واره پیشوا جنتي دي که فاسق دي که پارسا
محمد د کمرهانو رهنما دي که رنراده پیروي د محمد ده
محمد دي د رندو لاس عصا
کنره نشته په جهان بله رنرا
محمد د بي چاره و چاره کردي
محمد دي هر درد مند لره دوا
زه رحمان د محمد د در خاکروب یم
که م خداي نه کا له دي در جداHad the form of Muhammad not appeared, the whole world would have appeared only in his face. With him prophethood is complete; God would not have created this world. He is the father of the world, no prophet comes after him, all light came from him — a light that did not first carry the breath of Adam and Eve. If in form they are the last, in meaning they are the first: prophets, saints, the chosen. Whoever accepts his faith — he is the guide of all, the guide of the young, the staff in the hand of lovers; there is no other beloved in the world. He takes care of the helpless, he is medicine for everyone in pain. I, Rahman, sweep at his door — may God not separate me from it.
Live not with thy head showing in the clouds,
Thou art by birth the offspring of this earth,
The stream that passed the sluice cannot again flow back,
Nor can again return the misspent time that sped,
Consider well the deeds of the good and bad,
Whether in this thy profit lieth or in that.Do not carry your head among the clouds. You are by birth a child of this earth. The stream that passed the sluice does not flow back, and misspent time does not return. Weigh the deeds of the good and the bad — and see where your profit lies.
- 343 poems, most of them in Pashto — widely circulated by 1728.
- More than 25 handwritten manuscripts: 10 in Peshawar, 4 in the British Library, 3 in Paris, further copies in Oxford, Manchester and Aligarh.
- First printed edition 1877 in Lahore, prepared by T. P. Hughes — still the most used version.
- The BBC called his work in 2005 “far more than poetry and next only to the Quran” (a journalistic judgement, not a measurement).
- His tomb in Peshawar was bombed on 5 March 2009 and reopened in November 2012.
Two pieces are verified here. The first is in the Pashto original — text from a native speaker, 18 Oct 2026, checked against a printed edition of the Pashto Academy (page 54). The second is an English translation by Qazi Sarwar, documented at virtualafghans.com; for that piece the Pashto original is not verified character by character here. I quote no further verses. The praise poem is a supplication in verse — I render it, I do not interpret it.
What this conversation offers
- Answers in Pashto and in English
- Talking about homesickness, humility and loss
- Comfort without empty promises
- Saying what it does not know
And what it is not
- No legal, tax or medical advice
- No invented verses or dates
- No place for ID numbers or passwords