The Swallows of Kabul

“The Afghan countryside is nothing but battlefields, expanses of sand, and cemeteries. Artillery exchanges shatter prayers, wolves howl at the moon every night, and the wind, when it breathes, mingles beggars’ laments with the croaking of crows. Everything appears charred, fossilized, blasted by some unspeakable spell. Erosion grinds away with complete impunity, scratching, rasping, peeling, cobbling the necrotic soil, erecting monuments to its own calm power. Then, without warning, at the foot of mountains singed bare by the breath of raging battles, rises Kabul, or rather, what’s left of it: a city in an advanced stage of decomposition.”

This passage outlines the novel’s setting in the war-torn wreckage of Kabul. Environmental and constructed elements, such as buildings and mountains, juxtapose Kabul, a city that feels like a prison, with the physical violence of the Taliban. The wind is personified with sentient and human qualities—it “breathes” and “mingles.” Kabul is also personified, having the power to rise.

“And the women, despite wearing long veils and peering through netting, pirouetted in their perfumes like gusts of warm air. The caravan travelers of bygone days used to swear that they had nowhere and never, in all their wanderings, encountered such bewitching beauties. They were inscrutable vestals, their laughter a song, their grace a dream of delight.”

The text depicts a nostalgic time in the years before the Soviet invasion. These years are described as peaceful, fun, and happy. The text uses a simile, where something is compared to something else using “like” or “as”—in this case, the movement of women to “gusts of warm air.” The text also uses a metaphor—“their laughter a song”—to link this bygone era to a sense of uncomplicated joy.

“Mirza Shah was one of the first soldiers to desert his unit and join the mujahideen. His courage and his commitment quickly raised him to the rank of tej. Atiq met him again at the front and served for a while under his command until an artillery shell broke the momentum of Atiq’s jihad.”

Atiq emphasizes Mirza’s desire for violence and wealth, highlighting how people can capitalize on war and oppression to carve out a niche for themselves. Mirza’s success reflects how many other men flourished through unethical means.