By Asad Afghan
O radiant pages of history, open your lines once more. Upon this soil, every stone has been steeped in the blood of sacrifice, and every breeze carries the memory of heroes. Here the clash of swords has long been a hymn to freedom, and the echoes of warriors still resound through the mountain passes.
From Mirwais Nika to Ahmad Shah Baba, this land has nurtured men whom foreign cannon could never silence. For the sake of faith, honor, culture, and dignity, they brought mighty empires to their knees. Babur’s artillery, the vaunted pride of the Mughals, and the black colonialism of the British alike were shattered by the powder of Afghan resolve. Never has this nation accepted the yoke of servitude, nor yielded its neck to the chains of slavery.
When the armored legions of the Soviets roared into the mountains, it was the young sons of these peaks, armed with little more than light weapons and burning hearts, who broke the power of a global superpower. The blood of martyrs became the dew that nourished the blossoms of independence.
And when America and NATO, with all their weight and wealth, descended upon this land, they too were humbled. Their billions of dollars, their advanced arsenals, their proud technologies, all crumbled before the cry of Allahu Akbar that rose from Afghan mujahidin. Once again, the soil of this homeland was stained crimson with the blood of freedom.
In that struggle stood Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid, the ascetic yet unyielding leader, who raised the banner of defiance with nothing but the strength of his faith. With unmatched vision he saw more clearly than nations, awakening hearts and guiding them with the light of victory. After him, the martyr Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansoor, may Allah accept him, took up the same path. With his lifeblood he led his people, fanned the flames of resistance, and gave his life to protect religion and honor.
This is a land consecrated by martyrs. The defiance of Mirwais Nika is sung by the winds that sweep across Spin Ghar. The sword-strokes of Ahmad Shah Baba still reverberate in the fervent spirit of Kandahar. The names of today’s mujahidin are etched forever in the golden lines of history.
O young generation! You are the heirs of those who made the strongest powers of the world kneel. The blood of warriors runs in your veins, and the fire of valor burns in your heart. That spirit must now live on in other arenas, the fields of knowledge, of learning, of the pen.
If once your weapon was the rifle, today it is the written page. If once your fortress stood on the mountain peak, today it rises in the halls of the university. Yet never let the call of honor and dignity fade. Let the heroes of our past be our guiding stars, let faith light our steps, and let us guard forever the sanctity of religion and homeland. For this is the land of the selfless, where every wave swells into an ocean of valor.