Afghan Girl Gjertrud Schnackenberg (bio) Sharbat GulaSteve McCurry, 1984 As if broken in uponBy the spirit of God,She turns to look. Daughter,From a psalm of King David.Happened upon In a refugee tentIn Nasir Bagh,In a temporary encampment In the North-West Frontier ProvinceOf western Pakistan,During a breathing spell in war. A lost flight out of EgyptBrought to a halt in 1984At the edge of Peshawar. A girl the colorOf sawdust shavingsFrom the cedars of Lebanon, And a glance, inadvertently granted:An onslaught of greenIn Kodachrome 64. [End Page 41] A glance King David could have seen,Looking up "at the turnOf the year, the time when kings Had gone forth to battle"—As if, looking up, he had foundThe child of a slain Philistine, Standing no further from himThan the length of an arrow.Standing her ground. ________ Light green sea glassWashed up on a shoreIn Canaan, The music of Psalm 33,Unfaded: He hathGathered the waters of the sea Into jars. He layeth upThe ocean depthsIn storehouses— Found, hoarded, tradedInto landlocked AfghanistanFrom the treasury of David. ________ The photographer saidIt was a kind of "blue-green-gray"—The gray tint [End Page 42] Fugitive, tent-lit,An illusory pane of glass, flash-seenThen vanishing Among the steep, dark-greenQuarry walls of a refugee tent.A shade of gray evolved As camouflage, far westOf Nasir Bagh, among the gray peaksGuarding Persepolis: A clutch of Persian Eagle eggsWind-accosted in a nestBuilt on a precipice. ________ In a glance,An overhanging senseOf Pashtun magnificence, The unalterable codeOf asylum for the enemyAnd hospitality for the stranger Without expectationOf return, however destituteThe circumstance. A glance that is at once hostageAnd its ownImmeasurable ransom, bestowed In the poverty of a campBy a twelve-year-oldWith a grave, Islamic courtesy. Translucent planesOf yellow-litBlue-gray-green— [End Page 43] A roughed-out chunkOf aquamarine,Unpolished, uncut, Its presence first hinted atBy a visible planeOf microcrystalline, Recently clawedFrom the gem-bearing pegmatiteIn the cliffs of Nuristan, As if her people had opened a veinIn a quarry they dugIn the kingdom of God. The gem, unloosenedFrom the granite's gripWith delicate hand-tools, Is washed repeatedlyOf its enclosing grit and clay,With expert care. Though nothing can wash awayIts blue-gray-green.Because Allah has stored it there. ________ In Sura 3:44Of the noble Qur'anThe archangels cast lots To determine which of themWould be entitled to care for her.The child, Maryam. Found here at the momentAn angel has offered her waterTo sip from his palm. [End Page 44] Green marble chippedFrom the quarriesOf Lashkar Gah And set into mortarIn the turquoise glazeOf the mosque at Kandahar Where a glimpse before purdahTessellates in the wallsAnd startles the angels of Allah, His Messengers disarmedBy a suddenly broken lawIn the mosaic. A gaze older than Islam,More archaicThan the precepts it violates. ________ Wild olive branch,Carved in the idol workshopOf Azar. Even Ibrahim was disarmed.Even he, breaking the idols,Kept this one unharmed. ________ A Hadith tellsOf the archangel Gabriel'sRefusal to set foot Into the Prophet's tent,Because the angel was certainThat, though unbeknownst [End Page 45] To Mohammed, an imageWas housed within—Perhaps a picture Woven in a threadbare cushionOr faded in a curtainLong unnoticed, half forgotten, Among the Prophet'sScant possessions.But so accursed are pictures In the Qur'an that evenMohammed—blameless,Awaiting the angel's dictation— Even he was left to wait,Unvisited, while GabrielLingered, unable to enter Because no image that is "madeAs an act of creation,"May be displayed Or stored out of sight,Beheld, or kept unseen,Either secretly or unawares— On the Internet, a true believerInquires: is all photographyAgainst religious law? The rulings of the...
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Feb 1, 2017
Layal Fahed + 5
Open Access
