by Farid Behbud
KABUL, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Eighty-year-old Afghan poet and writer Haidari Wojudi who has spent most of his life as a government official, can still easily run his job as an assistant to the Afghanistan Public Library.
Born in 1939 in Rukha district of northeast Panjshir province, Wojudi studied in religious schools, locally known as madrassa, before being enrolled in a primary school in 1947.
The 80-year-old known mystic received Islamic education from his father Mavlana Shafiullah, who was also a religious scholar, but due to unexpected physical disability, he failed to continue his official education. After that, Wojudi came to Kabul and started companionship with a number of poets and mystics in the capital.
Over time, poetry and mysticism became the most important part of his life, and Wojudi gradually reached maturity in poetry and became a successful sonneteer.
He was given his service certificate in 1963 after a few months in the army, as poor health prevented him from completion of military service.
He then started work at Afghanistan poets' society within the then ministry of education, but the ministry did not last long and closed after three months.
Wojudi resumed work at the country's directorate of public libraries since 1964, and became head of a number of the country's literature organizations.
Today, Wojudi is still working as a government contracted employee in the public library office in Kabul, after multiple times of retiring and being reinstated.
Wojudi has published 14 books since 1970, and has published over 60 articles on mysticism and other topics in various newspapers and magazines, but he hoped he could publish all his articles and essays collectively within "a good book."
"I now plan to publish a collection of my poems," Wojudi told Xinhua.
He declined to comment on war and peace in his country. When asked repeatedly, he said "the current war and peace in Afghanistan are meaningless."
