Khatir Afridi

Khatir Afridi (Pashto: خاطر اپریدے ‎) was born as Misree Khan in 1929, at Landi Kotal, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan near the border of Afghanistan, and died on August 24, 1961. Misree Khan was born to Afridi parents of the Zakka Khel clan. He was a prominent poet of the Pashto language but died young. He left behind a son, who has compiled all of his father's work into a volume.

Khatir was a few days old when his father died but his grandfather and uncle reared him very well and raised him like a son# Khatir, unfortunately, could not go to school# He took up a job at the Khyber Rifle's camp as a gardener and later on entered the line of private business. But he was fond of poetry and he learned to compose verses to the tunes of the rabab which was played by the maestro, Bagh-i-Haram, a resident of Malikdeen Khel who lived very close to Khatir.

Qayum Kausar Afridi, his closest companion, once said, "One day I asked Khatir to give me his manuscript so that I could preserve it# I kept it with me till his only son, Javed Khan, grew up and was able to publish it. Khatir dressed simply and would carry a pistol with him according to the tribal tradition. He always wore a black turban but was a polite and calm person. His poetry is simple and spontaneous."

---

One of his poems is:

khe ##shola## deera chi inkar de o kro—

zama da wara umar kar de o kro—

khalak chi nakha ooli gori warta—

ta chi makh pet kro no gozar de o kro—

ze la se ne wayem chi dagh day pa zre—

te la peghor kri chi deedar de o kro—

zama da zre daghona hala shmara—

ka da de khpeli khanda shmar de o kro—

khatira ze de ta na cha ori yrm—

war ba de rashi kho ka war de o kro—

and

zra pa de na da che nawala makh da.

che kam ye khwakh she hagha khkola makh de.

makhona der de kho da makh ma khwakh da.

wallah pa tolo ke watala makh da.

sajid ali afridi

Sado Khel