Osama and the flute of the devil
* A Grammer Of The Pukhto, Pushto: Or Language Of The Afghans, Raverty, H.G., London, 1860
* Poems from the Diwan of Khushâl Khân Khattak, MacKenzie, D.N, London, Allen & Unwin, 1965
* Notes on the Tarikh-e-Murassa, Plowden, Maj.
* Settlement Report of Bannu, Thorburn
This text, in turn, comes from a Wikipedi page on the Afridi Tribal Flag posted by a user named Afghan Historian. Who has an enviable library.
Sadly enough, Wikipedia notes “The factual accuracy of this description is disputed” — although it’s not clear by whom.
*
There are interesting references in the scholarly footnotes to the Afridi flag to “Qais Abdur Rashid & his Bani Israel lineage which is from the Ancient Royal House of Israel” and to “the messianic dedication of Afghans that spread Islam through kings and Sufis throughout India”…
The idea that the Afghans are descendants of the “lost tribes” of Israel is explored in the Jewish Virtual Library here. As to the Afghans’ “messianic dedication” — I’m not clear exactly what the word messianic means in this context, but it’s an interesting word choice in any case.
*
When I first looked up this image on TinEye, my image-search engine of choice, the only version it reported was from the site of Forsane Alizza, a now-disbanded group in France whose leader claims to preach only non-violence:
Je vous préviens dès maintenant que je n’ai ni armes, ni explosifs, ni drogues, ni même quoi que ce soit d’illégal. Si cela venait à arriver, soyez intelligent réfléchissez et souvenez vous que depuis sa création et jusqu’à la fin, Forsane Alizza use et n’usera, que de sa liberté d’expression et son droit à manifester contre des lois injustes et illégal au vu des droits de l’homme. D’ailleurs toutes nos actions sont non violentes et elles le resteront.
while the security police claim to have found weapons in his house.
The Forsane Alizza video, from which the snazzy image directly above was taken, shows members practicing martial arts and painball games…
*
And how’s this for an illustration of Bach’s BWV 566, the C Major Toccata and Fugue — and the death of American pop culture?
To sum up: what’s all this about? Why pair Bach with bin Laden, the Afridi, the demise of superman and all the rest?
*
I don’t want to leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.
If you want to see what it’s like to hear Gustav Leonhardt conducting the Kyrie from the B Minor Mass juxtaposed with images of bin Laden, you’ll find that here. You may, of course, prefer the Herreweghe version, with another variant of his album cover with the face of Christ as the accompanying visual…
And for Marie-Claire Alain performing Bach, sans the Afridi, may I recommend this hour long recital, which I just happened upon myself thanks to this post?
Page 3 of 3 | Previous page
J.ScottShipman:
May 9th, 2012 at 6:39 pm
Hi Charles,
.
The hour long recital is divine. Thanks for sharing!
.
What, if any role do “night songs” have in what you describe. It is my understanding that the semiliterate in Afghanistan use these songs to tell stories…I believe we had a brief correspondence last year on this topic.
Charles Cameron:
May 9th, 2012 at 9:30 pm
.
Hi, Scott:
.
I’ve heard of “night letters” — but not night songs.
.
This, from Asia Times Online, is interesting & relevant:
For Taliban poetry & song, the best of my refs is probably this one [.pdf].
J.ScottShipman:
May 11th, 2012 at 5:18 pm
Hi Charles,
.
Thanks for the correction!
Charles Cameron:
May 12th, 2012 at 3:37 am
Most welcome, Scott. Glad you liked the Marie-Claire Alain, too.
##http://www.starlive.gr/##:
May 2nd, 2014 at 6:16 pm
Woah this weblog is wonderful i really like reading your posts. Stay up the good work! You know, many persons are searching round for this info, you could help them greatly.