# pushto.net

> pushto.net is a free, independent digital archive of Pashto poetry. It publishes 6000+ original Pashto poems by 31 classical and contemporary poets, full poet biographies, and 200+ Pashto proverbs with their literal and contextual meanings — in Pashto (پښتو) and English.

Every poem on pushto.net is published with the book or source it was taken from, a link to that source where one exists, and a note describing how far the text has been verified. The archive is non-commercial, requires no account, and has no paywall.

Naming and structure:

- Poems live at `/poems/{slug}` and poets at `/poets/{slug}`, where the slug is the romanised Pashto title or name.
- Pashto-language versions of every page are mirrored under the `/ps` prefix (for example `/ps/poems/{slug}`).
- Poem records carry a form (ghazal, nazm, prose), the poet, the source edition, and the original Pashto text.
- Proverb records carry the Pashto text, a transliteration, a literal translation, the contextual meaning, and how the saying is used.

When citing this archive, attribute the poem to its poet and pushto.net as the source of the digital text, and prefer the poem's own page over an index page.

## Core pages

- [Home](https://www.pushto.net/): Introduction to the archive, recommended poets, and selected poems.
- [Poems](https://www.pushto.net/poems): Paginated index of all 6000+ published Pashto poems.
- [Poets](https://www.pushto.net/poets): Directory of all 31 poets with searchable Pashto and romanised names.
- [Proverbs](https://www.pushto.net/proverbs): Searchable index of 200+ Pashto proverbs with meanings.
- [About](https://www.pushto.net/about): What the archive is, how it is sourced, frequently asked questions, and how to contribute.

## Poets

- [Rahman Baba (رحمان بابا), c. 1653–1711](https://www.pushto.net/poets/rahman-baba): Pashto’s great Sufi poet, whose direct language carries themes of love, humility, and human unity.
- [Khushal Khan Khattak (خوشحال خان خټک), 1613–1689](https://www.pushto.net/poets/khushal-khan-khattak): Poet, writer, chieftain, and warrior, and a major figure in Pashto literature and a forceful voice for Afghan unity.
- [Ghani Khan (غني خان), 1914–1996](https://www.pushto.net/poets/ghani-khan): Poet, philosopher, painter, and sculptor with a singular voice shaped by beauty, free thought, and human contradiction.
- [Hamza Shinwari (امیر حمزه شینواری), 1907–1994](https://www.pushto.net/poets/hamza-shinwari): Known as the father of the Pashto ghazal, he was a poet, dramatist, and Sufi who carried the classical form into modern Pashtun experience.
- [Abdul Hamid Momand (عبدالحمید مومند), c. 1660–c. 1732](https://www.pushto.net/poets/abdul-hamid-momand): A major classical Pashto ghazal poet, known as Hamid Baba and celebrated for subtle, intricate imagery.
- [Kazim Khan Shaida (کاظم خان شیدا), active 1727–1777](https://www.pushto.net/poets/kazim-khan-shaida): A leading Pashto poet of the Indian style, celebrated for subtle conceits and densely layered ghazals.
- [Ahmad Shah Durrani (احمد شاه دراني), c. 1722–1772](https://www.pushto.net/poets/ahmad-shah-durrani): Founder of the Durrani state and author of a Pashto divan spanning love, homeland, ethics, and mysticism.
- [Ashraf Khan Hijri (اشرف خان هجري), 1635–1694](https://www.pushto.net/poets/ashraf-khan-hijri): A son of Khushal Khan Khattak and an important classical poet of separation, imprisonment, and exile.
- [Ali Khan (علي خان), 18th century](https://www.pushto.net/poets/ali-khan): A noted classical Pashto ghazal poet whose work is associated with love, mysticism, and refined expression.
- [Hafiz Alpuri (حافظ الپوری), 18th–early 19th century](https://www.pushto.net/poets/hafiz-alpuri): A Sufi and religious poet from Shangla whose alphabetically arranged divan belongs to the early Pashto print tradition.
- [Ajmal Khattak (اجمل خټک), 1925–2010](https://www.pushto.net/poets/ajmal-khattak): A revolutionary poet, writer, journalist, and political activist whose work voiced resistance, ordinary life, and Pashtun identity.
- [Sulaiman Layeq (سلیمان لایق), 1930–2020](https://www.pushto.net/poets/sulaiman-layeq): A Pashto and Dari poet and writer who left a large body of revolutionary, national, and social poetry.
- [Malang Jan (ملنګ جان), 1914–1957](https://www.pushto.net/poets/malang-jan): A beloved poet of popular, national, and song-based verse whose work spread widely through radio and music.
- [Pir Mohammad Karwan (پیر محمد کاروان), born 1959](https://www.pushto.net/poets/pir-mohammad-karwan): A contemporary poet and short-story writer whose work creates powerful images of nature, homeland, war, love, and human feeling.
- [Rahmat Shah Sail (رحمت شاه سائل), born 1949](https://www.pushto.net/poets/rahmat-shah-sail): A leading contemporary ghazal poet whose political romanticism joins love and beauty with pain, homeland, and popular struggle.
- [Darwish Durrani (دروېش درانی), 20th–21st century](https://www.pushto.net/poets/darwish-durrani): A contemporary poet and teacher whose ghazals and free verse portray war, social tragedy, human loss, and the longing for peace.
- [Abdul Bari Jahani (عبدالباري جهاني), born 1948](https://www.pushto.net/poets/abdul-bari-jahani): A poet, journalist, historian, and translator with a large body of national, historical, social, and philosophical verse.
- [Nazo Tokhi (نازو توخۍ), c. 1651–c. 1717](https://www.pushto.net/poets/nazo-tokhi): A historical Afghan woman to whom Pashto poetry is attributed in later literary tradition, though attribution requires serious textual caution.
- [Khatir Afridi (خاطر افریدي), 1929–1968](https://www.pushto.net/poets/khatir-afridi): A celebrated poet of gentle, direct, musical Pashto ghazals whose work enjoys broad popular affection across the region.
- [Qalandar Momand (قلندر مومند), 1930–2003](https://www.pushto.net/poets/qalandar-momand): A poet, fiction writer, journalist, linguist, and critic with a broad intellectual influence on modern Pashto literature.
- [Rahat Zakheli (راحت زاخیلي), 1883–1963](https://www.pushto.net/poets/rahat-zakheli): A poet, journalist, translator, and pioneer of modern Pashto prose who also produced two poetry collections.
- [Salma Shaheen (سلمی شاهین), 20th–21st century](https://www.pushto.net/poets/salma-shaheen): A poet, fiction writer, and scholar of Pashto folklore who has also led the Pashto Academy at the University of Peshawar.
- [Sahib Shah Sabir (صاحب شاه صابر), 1956–2007](https://www.pushto.net/poets/sahib-shah-sabir): A poet, scholar, and teacher whose romantic ghazals and poems engage Pashtun life, love, imagination, and social consciousness.
- [Riaz Tasneem (ریاض تسنیم), 1969–2017](https://www.pushto.net/poets/riaz-tasneem): A Pashto and Urdu poet, critic, and researcher known for progressive verse and rigorous literary criticism.
- [Abaseen Yousafzai (اباسین یوسفزی), born 1964](https://www.pushto.net/poets/abaseen-yousafzai): A poet, professor, critic, and researcher whose contemporary verse joins social purpose, vivid imagery, and accessible language.
- [Hasina Gul (حسینه ګل), معاصره](https://www.pushto.net/poets/hasina-gul): A contemporary Pashto poet and writer whose work engages love, freedom, and women’s experience.
- [Parween Malaal (پروین ملال), 1957–](https://www.pushto.net/poets/parween-malal): A Kandahari poet and writer active in Pashto poetry, short fiction, journalism, and radio.
- [Gul Pacha Ulfat (ګل پاچا الفت), 1909–1977](https://www.pushto.net/poets/gul-pacha-ulfat): A major Pashto poet, author, journalist, and leader of language and literary institutions.
- [Mohammad Siddiq Pasarlay (محمد صدیق پسرلی), 1928–2014](https://www.pushto.net/poets/mohammad-siddiq-pasarlay): A renowned master of modern Pashto ghazal and poetry whose work influenced several generations.
- [Safia Siddiqi (صفیه صدیقي), 1965–](https://www.pushto.net/poets/safia-siddiqi): A Pashto poet, writer, and translator whose verse gives sustained attention to women’s feeling and social experience.
- [Mohammad Nawaz Taer (محمد نواز طایر), 1934–2017](https://www.pushto.net/poets/mohammad-nawaz-taer): A Pashto poet, critic, translator, historian, and folklorist who authored more than one hundred books.

## Pashto-language pages

- [کورپاڼه](https://www.pushto.net/ps): Home page in Pashto.
- [شعرونه](https://www.pushto.net/ps/poems): All poems, in Pashto.
- [شاعران](https://www.pushto.net/ps/poets): All poets, in Pashto.
- [متلونه](https://www.pushto.net/ps/proverbs): All proverbs, in Pashto.
- [په حقله](https://www.pushto.net/ps/about): About the archive, in Pashto.

## Optional

- [llms-full.txt](https://www.pushto.net/llms-full.txt): Expanded index — every poet biography and the complete list of poem URLs grouped by poet.
- [Sitemap](https://www.pushto.net/sitemap-index.xml): Machine-readable index of every URL on the site.
- [RSS feed](https://www.pushto.net/rss.xml): Recently published poems.
- [robots.txt](https://www.pushto.net/robots.txt): Crawler policy — all reputable AI and search crawlers are welcome.