Written in 1934, this applies closely to Pakistan today. Just goes to prove that these things are Universal and were forever there. Only civilizations change. The process continues..........
The original was written by Kahlil Gibran in 1934. It goes as follows:
Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.
Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave, eats a bread it does not harvest, and drinks a wine that flows not from its own wine-press.
Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero,
and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.
Pity the nation that despises a passion in its dream,
yet submits in its awakening.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice save when it
walks in a funeral, boasts not except among its ruins,
and will rebel not save when its neck is laid between
the sword and the block.
Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox, whose philosopher
is a juggler, and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.
Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting,
and farewells him with hooting, only to welcome another with trumpeting again.
Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years and whose
strong men are yet in the cradle.
Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment
deeming itself a nation!!
