Haidari Wujodi

Haidari Wujodi was an Afghan poet and scholar who primarily wrote mystical and Sufi poetry in Persian language throughout his life. He wrote numerous books, of which fourteen to fifteen were published. He also used to write columns for domestic newspapers aimed at literature. He was born in 1939 in a small village in Panjshir's Rukha district, in north of Afghanistan. He had only a six grade education. He left Panjshir for Kabul and lived there until his death on 10 June 2020. He started his literary career at the age of fifteen, when he was introduced to a group of poets by Sufi Ashqari, a bookbinder. He later joined a public library and worked there for many years. He also served in the Afghan Army for six years and did administrative work for the government. He was influenced by the works of Rumi, Hafez, Saadi, and other classical Persian poets. He also admired the modern poets of Iran and Afghanistan, such as Parvin E'tesami, Nima Yooshij, Khalilullah Khalili, and Ustad Laal Pacha. He wrote poems in various forms, such as ghazals, rubaiyat, qasidas, and masnavis. He also wrote prose works, such as essays, critiques, and biographies. Some of his notable books are: The Role of Hope, Purple Love, Meeqath Sessions, Quartets and Couplets, Displaced Moonlight, Moments in Water and Fire, Blue Voice, and Glory to the Resistance. ³ He died of COVID-19 on 10 June 2020, in Kabul, Afghanistan. He was mourned by many Afghan intellectuals, writers, and politicians. He was regarded as one of the most prominent and influential poets of Afghanistan. ²