6th May is officially considered as Pen-Day in Calendar of Afghanistan, also in the UNESCO calendar. The pen as a symbol stands for human civilization, struggling against illiteracy, better learning conditions for the up-coming generations, and cultural development.
Pen Day is an opportunity to remember the dignity of the pen as the writers have dedicated their lives to promoting the culture and art of this country. In interviews with The Kabul Times, a number of writers say that it’s the pen that prevents us from ignorance and help us learn more and more.
“The pen has the highest position in Islamic culture as the Almighty Allah swears by the pen what it writes,” said Ustad Mohammad Haidar, a writer from Maimanagi Gallary. He said if somebody died and left pen and paper (books) behind, he would be saved from the hell.
According to Ustad Haidar, the biggest force in the modern world is the pen; therefore, we should value the people as it can end the illiteracy and ignorance in the country. Pen is the guardian of thoughts of knowledgeable figures, the connecting loop of Ulamas and connecting bridge between past and future. It is an instrument that connects human beings from point of time and location.
It is not the instrument only to write or get education with, but the history of human civilization has begun with the pen that has spiritual value among different religions in the world, particularly in Islam.
Meanwhile, Aristotle also considered the pen as a previous instrument as he said: ‘Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom’.
A pen is very simple, inanimate object, yet it plays all the possible roles on daily basis. Pens are good for anything and everything, from writing a signature for a billion-dollar business transaction or scribbling a doodle on a post it note.
A pen is not only an invention of plastic, metal and ink somehow transfer liquid inside a cartridge to writing on a paper; it is much more than that. It is a tool used by the brain, hands, and the imagination to copy and physically transform lifeless ink into expressions of our minds and hearts. A pen helps us to find our voice. Pens have become one of the most important parts of our life. When the pens and the writers put the people in the light, illiteracy and ignorance will disappear and the minds of the people will be enlightened, then the people will stop fighting and make peace, and the people of our country will live in a safe environment.
Qarizada
We value pen to say no to illiteracy & ignorance
