The Heavy Burden of Ignorance
By Hayda Mohammadi
One day, I saw a woman, helpless and alone,
crying out loud, wandering, on her own.
We asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you this way?”
She said, “I cannot explain what made me go stray.”
“We saw that you were troubled since the day we met.”
She sighed, “This pain is not what I should’ve met.”
She spoke from her broken, heavy heart,
tears pouring like a storm, her grief tearing her apart.
This poor, lost woman, misled by unwise men,
year after year, gave birth again and again.
Unaware of the burden that time would unfold,
as her children grew, her poverty took hold.
Sometimes just one fool, blind and unaware,
can destroy a caravan with a single careless glare.
From one man’s ignorance, great damage is born—
A nation falls, broken, lost, and torn.
She said, “I have six children, three girls and three boys,
each with dreams far beyond these ruins and noise.
One wants to be rich, not this poor,
another dreams high, with ambitions that grow.”
“Each of them hopes for more than I can give,
in this harsh life we’re forced to live.”
We asked, “Why so many children, in this bitter fate?”
She said, “The ignorant preacher sealed my state.”
They said, “Bear children and paradise is yours,
the more you have, the greater your rewards.”
وزن سنگین نادانی
روزی زنی دیدم بیچاره و آواره
فریاد کنان نالان آواره آواره
گفتیم چی شد، چرا این گونه چرا آی
بگفتا نتوانم گویم، آخر چرا اینگونه
گفتیم از وقتی تورا دیدیم پریشانی و آواره
گفتا حق من این نبود
بلاخره به زبان آمد از درد عمیق قلب
آنچنان گریه کنان شبیه ابر غم
بگفتا او را هست شش فرزند سه پسر سه دختر
هریک ز وی دارند تمایلات فوق
یکی خواهد سرمایه دار باشد نه این گونه فقیر
دیگری خواهد چنان باشد و چنین
خلاصه اینکه هریک دارند تمایلات فوق
گفتیم چرا اینگونه و اینگونه
گفتا عالم بی دین نا آگاه و بی خرد
بگفتندش گر فرزند بدنیا آری تورا بهشتی باشد
گفتندش گر سه یا چهار بیشتر آری
تورا چندان برابر اجر باشد
این زن بیچاره و آواره از بی خردی به حرف این مردک
سال پی سالی فرزندی بدنیا آورد
ناخبر از اینکه چه خواهد بر سرش آمد
سال پی سالی هر کدام کبیر گشتن
بیشتر از قبل فقیر گشتن
گاهی فقد یک نفر بی خبر از جهان
میریزد به هم کاخ یک کاروان
از لغزش یک فرد نا آگاه
افتد به زمین ملت بی پناه
هایده محمدی
باحترام
19 year old Hayda Mohammadi lives in Afghanistan.
She’s a superwiser in the vaccination department in a WHO office and has previously taught school subjects online. While she didn’t get to graduate high school herself after grade 11, she has continued her learning through online classes.
Hayda writes poetry because it allows her to express her pain. Sometimes, she is amazed at how she’s managed to continue writing despite all the challenges she’s faced. Hayda is also a calligrapher. Her dream is to become independent so she can support her parents and look after herself.
